Teacher with a degree vs a teacher without a degree

[Yooyung]

Lets put this thing to bed.

While there may be some schools that may be able to get there teachers working legally without a degree, many cant/won't. I would not like to be in the situation (as I was before) where I am chained to one school like that. Having such limited options isnt much fun. YES, you can work at a language school without a degree...etc etct, but again that work is more often than not part time/casual and doesnt come with health insurance etc, so you dont work, you dont get paid. I dont want to limit myself to that either.

Having a degree in itself does NOT guarantee that a person is going to be a good teacher.....but not having one does???? Sorry I dont get the logic that some people use. I , and many people I work with have a university level education, we also have a lot of experience.........and a TEFL to boot! Now, I am happy to be in this situation. I worked here for a while without a degree but I saw the writing on the wall back in 2006/07. The rules may change again as we have all probably read. People that dont have degree may fall even further down the line. I may need to get a postgraduate qualifications for ****s sake!

Experience should count for a lot. I dont think that anybody would disagree with that. It just seems to me that there are a lot of degreeless teachers out there that are feeling the heat (I know I did as well) and are getting a little too defensive. I had to get a darn degree. To be honest I felt that I should have a degree while I was working here before. Something just didnt feel right about me being a teacher without having completed university level qualificaitions. I think its a reasonable place to set the bar. Anything above and beyond it needs to be backed up with better pay/ conditions.

On the issue of speaking Thai. I do use Thai sometimes. I think it does help, not only to get the message across more quickly when the students are struggling, it also helps me bond with the students. I feel I am respected more if the students see I have made, and am still making the effort to learn their language. For me it can be an exchange, I often learn new Thai vocab through my classes with my students help. We exchange ideas and help each other, i cant see anything wrong with it especially as the students seem to enjoy my classes. ALL the language teachers I had in high school could also speak English......I havent ever come across the 'dont use any Thai at all in the classroom' rule. I agree though that it should be used sparingly.