What to do?

Hey everyone!
I have been trying to figure out the best choice for my time here in Taiwan. I am currently teaching with an English chain school (it’s my second year), and although the work is fair and the money is fine, I am feeling really hungry for something more. I have a BS in English Education and a MA in English, along with what comes out to about five years of teaching high school students and college students, and I really miss that kind of work i.e. work that has more to do with literature. I don’t want to grow professionally stagnant. Still, I want to stay in Taipei. What are my options? What can I do?

International School?

Some are Christian. For the European one, I see the requirements are by British standards, and I don’t fall under those. What is the competition for the others, or what else is available?

TAS only hires from outside the country. I don’t think any Uni will let you teach lit without a PhD. They didn’t let me do it at Tunghai…but that was a long time ago.

You might try getting an English Club on campus to hire you to teach literature to them.

good luck :rainbow:

jds

Are you serious? Where did you hear this? I checked on their website, and they are having a job fair in Taipei in January for people who reside in Taipei and wish to work there. What’s that about?

Well, I know someone who works there now, and that’s what she told me. Best way to find out for sure is to go to the jobs fair. There are many kinds of jobs one can get at TAS, assistant teacher for example…

I’m most interested in the opportunity to teach English at that school; I feel a bit frustrated teaching here and not getting to exercise the abilities and that kind of creativity in a high school setting. How long has your friend been working there? How did she get her job?

I know 2 teachers from my cram school who have teaching degrees and had been working in Taiwan for a year and then got jobs at TAS. They applied in Taiwan. So I think your chances are still pretty good.

The big thing is if you have prior teaching experience to coming to Taiwan. TAS, iirc, wants teachers who have taught in the school systems back home.

You could also think about colleges / technical institutes.

BTW, my husband and I were offered positions at TBS (I think it’s now Taipei European School?) a few years back (we were already here in Taiwan). The difference between being hired locally and being hired from overseas is that if you are hired locally, you are not given housing (or a housing stipend) like you would be given if you were hired from overseas. At least, that’s the way it was a few years back.

I have two friends who were hired ar Kaohsiung American School while already living in Taiwan. So, it’s definitely possible to be hired at the international schools from here, and I would think preferable for the school, since some may be saving cash by not having to offer housing.

I think that the colleges and technical institutes in Taipei want people with TESOL degrees, and that’s not my specialization, though I now have some good EFL experience and have worked with a large number of EFL students in one of my previous jobs. My previous teaching experience was 3 years of teaching English for the Saturday and summer classes in a special program for high school students, a half year of student teaching/practicum, 1.5 years of teaching lit to college students, and 1.5 years so far of teaching bushiban. Does that count for anything?

With the exception of the “national” universities, where a PhD seems the entry level requirement, the other smaller colleges and universities will hire you with an MA. It isn’t really up to them anyway. The MOE sets the requirements and the minimum “masters” requirement comes from the MOE. That said, English literature is typically taught by Taiwanese teachers. There has been quite a lot of discussion in the forums on this topic in the past. Just do some searching on “teach” and “university”.

Also, go take a look at Michael Turton’s website ( users2.ev1.net/~turton/teach_index.html ). He has lots of good info there, to include some specifically about teaching in universities.