Becoming a "Regular" Public School Teacher?

[moksori]

This may be a strange question, but I was wondering what steps I needed to take in order to become a regular, non-foreign public school teacher. I was born in the US, but I'm a dual citizen of Korea as well. I know there's teacher certification and I heard the exams are quite tough. I'm not trying to become one of those conversation teachers, but my goal is to become a full-time tenured PS teacher. :o

I have a BA that is unrelated to English or education (it's an art degree, lol), so would a Master's in English suffice? I've also heard about graduate degrees in TESOL, English education, etc. I'm not quite sure what's exactly needed in order to become a regular English teacher in Korea. I'm thinking about doing my graduate studies in Korea, but I was hoping a Master's degree from the US would do. Could I also receive teaching certification in English and art?

I'm planning on building up my experience by working as a NET for a few years, then try to transfer to a KET. Actually, do you think this is worth it?

Not quite sure if teaching at a university is possible - at least, not now. Isn't it very difficult to land a uni job as a K-citizen? Perhaps it's something to consider when I gain more experience.

I've done a search on Korean sites, but I was hoping someone here had advice. :) Admittedly, my Korean may be pretty fluent but English is my language of choice. (Gotta work on my Korean vocab.)

Thanks!

Edit: I wrote this post "there" as well, if you get what I mean. I've been getting some interesting comments. I really need to sit down and think about my options.

[Mountain Crocodile]

I have yet to meet a KT who is truly happy with their life. 

The most common word I hear from them is 'endure'.

It's a horrible existence. 

MC

[moksori]

Heh. Koreans use that word a lot.

I've done some searching/Googling/Navering... and I'm a little bit turned off to be honest. I apparently have to get a Korean degree in English education, which will set me back another 4 years.

I'm still interested in pursuing a Master's in English/TESOL though.

If anyone has more info or suggestions, please feel free to let me know. Thanks!

[Jozigirl]

"endure" gets used as often as "burden".  A friend of mine is ecstactic to finally be pregnant - with twins - but constantly tells me how she has to endure the pregnancy.  It's a different meaning to some extent.

OP, one of my co-teachers originally did a Telecommunications degree and worked for Samsung before taking 2 years off and studying to be an English teacher.  I am not sure what, exactly, he did in those 2 years but when he tried to explain it to me, he said that he had to take classes for the teachers' exam and for the English exam.  He didn't do a 4 year degree in English Education like all of the other English teachers at my school.  Some of my other co-teachers are busy with/have just finished their Masters degree: They're all a Masters in English Education.  My guess is that you would have to do a Masters degree in English Education rather than just English. 

As for getting a university position as a Korean, I know of two Koreans who grew up abroad (Australia and the US) and are currently employed in English positions at universities.  They do, however, face a lot more pressures than the non-Korean NETs because you speak both languages.  Our previous coordinator at the Office of Education was also a Korean who was born in NZ.  She applied to be a regular NET and was offered the job of coordinator instead because she is bilingual.  She recently quit the job (after 10 months) because she said that she found it too difficult to adjust to the Korean work environment where she had a foreign perspective but was expected to behave the same way as her Korean colleagues who had all grown up in Korea.  She said that she found the pressure was too much too deal with constantly.

As for the Masters in TESOL, it basically makes you an expensively qualified ESL teacher.  Yes, a lot of places do prefer a Masters degree to just a certificate and it will make some difference when applying for a university position, but a Masters in English will do the same thing.  I don't know much about English Graduate courses in the US but generally, unless you're planning to become an English lecturer at a university, they can be seen as a bit too vague by many prospective employers - unless you're in an ESL environment.  Even then, most Graduate courses in English focus on literature or creative writing rather than grammar and language per se. 

If your goal is to be a professional ESL teacher, I would do an MA in TESOL rather than English.  Even better would be an MA in Linguistics focusing on Second Language Acquisition, which still makes you an expensive ESL teacher but a more sought after one too in my experience, because you are very specialised.  You can always do a TESOL certificate or a CELTA on top of this to cover all of your bases. 

[Yu_Bumsuk]

There's no way that's going to happen unless you jump through a ridiculous number of hoops. First, you would have to enter an English education programme at a Korean university to get a contract job and pass the confusing series of two tests and one interview to get a permanent job. So you're looking at about five years.

But this is what you have to realise - they don't want fluently bilingual gyopo educators who will leave KETs in the dust. If they did, don't you think they'd target them in their recruiting? No, they want clueless young (mostly white) people who won't make them look bad. At my school there are some things I can do much better than the KETs and some things they can do much better than me; so, they still have an invaluable role. Stick in a gyopo who can do everything both I and my CTs can do right down to grading, and what role is there for the KETs? They'd look like idiots (as would I, working with someone who can translate perfectly, assess according to government regulations, and speak and write English just as well as me).

If you want to spend years attempting to break some amazing ground go for it, but they don't want to give foreigners (even of Korean descent) any sort of directing role over anything greater than directing the school play.

[Yu_Bumsuk]

BTW, a number of years ago there was a young Brit, fluent in Korean, who completed a four-year English education degree in Korea. He wasn't able to get a job as a KET because he wasn't a Korean citizen, and he wasn't able to get a job as an NET because his degree wasn't from an English-speaking country. Just why he did that I have no idea. There was an article about him in the Korea Times you might be able to find if you have better luck with their search engine than I do.

[gilbert.a.h]

My first co-teacher asked me if I ever wanted to do that. I didn't but he decided to give advice anyways. He said basically, you'd be required to get a BA in Education. He said if you want to teach at a high school, going the MA route is ok, but for an elementary, you are required to have a BA from an Education university. Also, age is very important. If you are over 30 years old by the time you finish a BA IN Korea, you will never get a public school job, even if you are Korean.

[Yu_Bumsuk]

If you are over 30 years old by the time you finish a BA IN Korea, you will never get a public school job, even if you are Korean.

That's why there's an "interview" stage. It would be possible if the teacher had family connections with a "private-public" school, however.

[justanotherwaygook]

BTW, a number of years ago there was a young Brit, fluent in Korean, who completed a four-year English education degree in Korea. He wasn't able to get a job as a KET because he wasn't a Korean citizen, and he wasn't able to get a job as an NET because his degree wasn't from an English-speaking country. Just why he did that I have no idea. There was an article about him in the Korea Times you might be able to find if you have better luck with their search engine than I do.

I remember that article.  Poor sap.  I tried to find out what became of him but came up dry.

[JahRhythm]

BTW, a number of years ago there was a young Brit, fluent in Korean, who completed a four-year English education degree in Korea. He wasn't able to get a job as a KET because he wasn't a Korean citizen, and he wasn't able to get a job as an NET because his degree wasn't from an English-speaking country. Just why he did that I have no idea. There was an article about him in the Korea Times you might be able to find if you have better luck with their search engine than I do.

Wow, that's unfortunate.
For a presumably bright, ambitious guy he dropped the ball bigtime.
Hard to imagine that he didn't realize (or be advised) of this predictable problem
Over a 4 year program.

To the OP- a MA TESOL is a better choice than linguistics if you are looking to teach here  and apply your studies to your practice.
Linguistics is great, too but arguably less applicable to teaching in Korea and more academic than practical.

[Yu_Bumsuk]

BTW, a number of years ago there was a young Brit, fluent in Korean, who completed a four-year English education degree in Korea. He wasn't able to get a job as a KET because he wasn't a Korean citizen, and he wasn't able to get a job as an NET because his degree wasn't from an English-speaking country. Just why he did that I have no idea. There was an article about him in the Korea Times you might be able to find if you have better luck with their search engine than I do.

Wow, that's unfortunate.
For a presumably bright, ambitious guy he dropped the ball bigtime.
Hard to imagine that he didn't realize (or be advised) of this predictable problem
Over a 4 year program.

To the OP- a MA TESOL is a better choice than linguistics if you are looking to teach here  and apply your studies to your practice.
Linguistics is great, too but arguably less applicable to teaching in Korea and more academic than practical.

It could be that he was on a scholarship and stipend (to make the uni look more international and for use in photo-ops) and figured, hell, why not?

[moksori]

Yup, I found the story about him here: http://www.rjkoehler.com/2008/01/22/how-fucked-up-is-koreas-english-teaching-racket/

Thanks for everyone's advice! I really appreciate it. :)

But this is what you have to realise - they don't want fluently bilingual gyopo educators who will leave KETs in the dust.

I'm pretty sure this is the biggest reason why my co-teacher wants me to keep my Korean ability a secret around everyone but her. Meh.

If you are over 30 years old by the time you finish a BA IN Korea, you will never get a public school job, even if you are Korean.

I'd be 30, in Korean age, by the time I finish my education BA in Korea. Looks like I'll have to abandon this idea unless I figure out what Jozigirl's co-teacher did to bypass this. Oh well!

I'm sure there will be other opportunities for me.  ;)

Thanks again, everyone.

Edit: Oops. Made a weird typo.

[Jozigirl]

To the OP- a MA TESOL is a better choice than linguistics if you are looking to teach here  and apply your studies to your practice.
Linguistics is great, too but arguably less applicable to teaching in Korea and more academic than practical.

It seems you haven't had much exposure to Linguistics outside of TESOL then.  There are numerous fields in Linguistics and yes, while some fields are more academic than practical, it depends on how you specialsie.  I have a MPhil in Second Language Acquisition and did separate TESOL and CELTA certs while at university.  My Masters involved a lot of theory but I have been able to apply all of that theory to my teaching both in SA and here.  I learned a lot in the TESOL and CELTA but it was the Masters that made the biggest difference to my overall effectiveness as a teacher. 

[JahRhythm]

Fair enough.
I did say "arguably."

[Yu_Bumsuk]

I'm sure there will be other opportunities for me.  ;)

No doubt, and probably more lucrative ones for a bilingual dual citizen, but it would sure be cool if you could go ahead and do it.

[madison79]

I have yet to meet a KT who is truly happy with their life. 

The most common word I hear from them is 'endure'.

It's a horrible existence. 

MC

Are all your days cloudy and full of misery?  My co teacher loves her job but is very busy sometimes. 

[peasgoodnonsuch]

Yup, I found the story about him here: http://www.rjkoehler.com/2008/01/22/how-fucked-up-is-koreas-english-teaching-racket/

Thanks for everyone's advice! I really appreciate it. :)

But this is what you have to realise - they don't want fluently bilingual gyopo educators who will leave KETs in the dust.

I'm pretty sure this is the biggest reason why my co-teacher wants me to keep my Korean ability a secret around everyone but her. Meh.

If you are over 30 years old by the time you finish a BA IN Korea, you will never get a public school job, even if you are Korean.

I'd be 30, in Korean age, by the time I finish my education BA in Korea. Looks like I'll have to abandon this idea unless I figure out what Jozigirl's co-teacher did to bypass this. Oh well!

I'm sure there will be other opportunities for me.  ;)

Thanks again, everyone.

Edit: Oops. Made a weird typo.

First off, you should be grateful to your co-teacher for keeping your Korean abilities a secret rather than exploiting them. Many gyopos complain that if the school knows they have even a limited level of Korean they'll treat them like they do the young Korean contract teachers. In other words, swamp you with work you have no place to be doing and treat you like scum.

Also, I'd argue a little but with Yu's pessimism. There's a clear change in policy in progress to switch to young, English-fluent Korean teachers. One of the big plans they have as they get rid of the foreigners is to replace us with young Korean teachers that have the full teacher's certification and a high enough level of English to teach class entirely in English. It seems to me like you could possibly fit into that category. However, I hesitate to suggest taking another BA that would be useless outside of applying for this job unless you know 100% for sure that it will indeed get you a job as a KET.

I don't buy complaints from KETs about their jobs either. Everyone gripes about work everywhere in the world, and being a teacher is one of the most difficult jobs on Earth. However, it's still considered a desirable one because of it's relative stability, work benefits, and long vacations. The real question is: are you passionate about teaching?

[moksori]

First off, you should be grateful to your co-teacher for keeping your Korean abilities a secret rather than exploiting them. Many gyopos complain that if the school knows they have even a limited level of Korean they'll treat them like they do the young Korean contract teachers. In other words, swamp you with work you have no place to be doing and treat you like scum.

Yes, I read about those experiences. But she specifically told me to act like I didn't know any Korean because it would make her look bad. She even admitted her English was "really bad." Not kidding. "I know you want to get along with everyone, and speaking in Korean to them would make it easier, but..." complete with a "부탁한다" (please).

I don't buy complaints from KETs about their jobs either. Everyone gripes about work everywhere in the world, and being a teacher is one of the most difficult jobs on Earth. However, it's still considered a desirable one because of it's relative stability, work benefits, and long vacations. The real question is: are you passionate about teaching?

That is a really good question. I admit that a huge chunk of the reason why I want to be a KET is because of the benefits you mentioned. Honestly, with the little experience I have, I can't say if I'm truly passionate. Do I enjoy it? Of course. Do I want to go further with it? Definitely. I thought I was passionate about art, but here I am trying to teach English. If I have other opportunities, I will go for them. I don't know if spending 5, 6, or 7 years on a journey to become a KET would be worth it, especially if it's actually that much harder if you're older. I haven't completely abandoned the idea yet though.