Starting to think I should've done this instead of spending a buttload of money to do my PGCE in my home country. Not sure how tough Moreland's program is, but holy hell this PGCE is way tougher than I ever expected. Feels like I'm handing in 18-22 page assignments every few days. Not to mention teaching full time three days a week at an actual school, for the practical component. I have to teach a minimum of 52 lessons throughout the year, each of which should be accompanied by a full, super detailed lesson plan, and a full reflection on the lesson. Madness. Here's a random lesson plan plus reflection plus PPT (converted to PDF), for reference:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WTFSqFypVoGY-z5MFDm0EHvzTkd688yP?usp=sharing

Can you imagine doing 52 of these in 9 months, with a constant stream of tests and assignments?

Rant over :)

just took a look at your lesson plan and reflection...that is fcking THOROUGH.

you mind me asking what your plans are after you get your pgce? are you planning on trying to catch on here in Korea or somewhere else?

i've got my sights set on nepal / central asia / OR depending on a shitload of variables, finding an international school in china in the middle of nowhere that pays well. The only thing is, right now i've got a great position at a small little country school close to my home. they've indicated they want me to stay beyond this year and i would have a hard time turning down a guaranteed kush job for the unknown.

in the meantime, i've started looking at online master's programs. the only issue (and i think this is something people should be aware of) is that some countries, particularly in the middle east, do NOT recognize master's degrees if they are primarily done online. i don't want to spend time and money working towards getting my master's if it won't be universally recognized around the world. i'm hoping the negative stigma of online degrees / certificates will begin to disappear in the next year or two after the world has seen how much can be accomplished via Zoom and online learning.

I see you're doing Senior Phase. I take it you've got your honours or Masters in English?

My honours is in film studies, haha. I don't know how it is for other subjects, but having an undergrad in English Literature is good enough for teaching high school English :)

I'm doing FET phase English (i.e., grades 10 - 12) and senior phase Creative Arts (i.e., grades 7 - 9).

All the best with Cornerstone - sounds like you're on the homestretch! Hopefully they're more reasonable with their practicals than NMU.

Good question! My wife and daughter are in Korea, so I'm actually planning to sneak back into EPIK for a while :p I figured it'll take me a while to land a semi-decent international school gig, so I might as well take a step backward in the meantime. Long-term goal is to move my family somewhere nice, with a good salary/cost of living ratio. Thailand?

In all probability, I'll have to start in what the IS people call a 'hardship' position. i.e., some third-tier school in Myanmar or something. But hey, whatever gets my foot in the door and doesn't confine me to a lifetime of 회식. God I hate those lol

As far as the online master's goes, I'm really not sure how much credibility they have. My gut feeling is that you'd only have a problem if doing it through a distance-only institution, like UNISA in South Africa, or the Open University in the UK. Otherwise they'd have no way of knowing, surely?

One of my lecturers tried to convince me to do an MEd after the PGCE. My institution only offers it as a research degree though, i.e., a 50,000 word thesis, no coursework. I know having an MEd is quite valuable in the IS arena, but I have a feeling research-only degrees aren't very popular outside of South Africa

Yep - I think you're dead on with this. A healthy work / life balance is also pretty important. What's the point of making 6,000,000 or 7,000,000 a month if you're miserable from the stress / workload?

For some reason, the supposed hardship posts attract me. Azerbaijan? Dope. Bangladesh? Gucci. I think it's a combo of living/working somewhere that's Really off the beaten path AND the fact that those positions are usually much easier to get than the traditional hotspots for IS teachers.

I've talked to teachers at schools in the middle east and they've told me during the hiring process, staff will actually call your university and inquire about the instruction style of your master's (online vs. in-person) It is an extreme example for sure, but there are ways for them to check.