Masters of Science in Education

[brucetefl]

As part of a partnership between the small Thai University and a US University, my team will be developing A Masters of Science in Education. Following Thai rules of Masters degrees, this program will be 36 credits. I'm wondering which of the two options would be the most attractive:

A Masters degree issue by both the Thai University and US University jointly, with 18 credits offered by the US University and 18 by the Thai university. Some of the 18 credits offered by the US University will be distance-learning. The total fee will be approximately 170,000 baht.

A Masters degree offered exclusively by the Thai university with a fee of approximately 80,000 baht.

Thoughts?

Edited March 15, 2014 by brucetefl

[lostinisaan]

Could you please post a link of said Thai university, please?

[brucetefl]

No because we cannot promote an actual program yet, according to MOE rules. Right now I am just getting feedback on general structure.

[lostinisaan]

Is the program for Thai students still active, as the first post was about students who finished grade 12.

Now its' about a Masters'. in education. Guess for foreigners who'd like to continue teaching here, right?

Or will you run both programs/ courses? Please clarify. Thanks.

[thequietman]

The requirement is a BA in Education. Whilst a Masters is better, try explaining that to a government bureaucrat who has the requirements in front of him/her. He/she will not use common sense and realise that this qualification is higher than a BA.

On a separate note, I have been recently accepted for an online masters from an accredited Uni for total cost 50.000 baht.

Is this proposed MS a 1 year or 2 year course? Thanks.

[lostinisaan]

The requirement is a BA in Education. Whilst a Masters is better, try explaining that to a government bureaucrat who has the requirements in front of him/her. He/she will not use common sense and realise that this qualification is higher than a BA.

On a separate note, I have been recently accepted for an online masters from an accredited Uni for total cost 50.000 baht.

Is this proposed MS a 1 year or 2 year course? Thanks.

I know a guy who's doing a Master's in English at a Thai university in his third year, without having a BA. Just told him that this won't be successful to continue working here.

Is this MS for one or two years? Thank you.

Edited March 15, 2014 by lostinisaan

[brucetefl]

thequietman can you PM me some ino on your MA? What country?

I anticipate this MS ED will be mainly for foreigners but will also attract some Thais.

Not sure if we will have this for a single calendar year or 2 academic years. its 36 credits.

[zeichen]

"he requirement is a BA in Education. Whilst a Masters is better, try explaining that to a government bureaucrat who has the requirements in front of him/her. He/she will not use common sense and realise that this qualification is higher than a BA."

requirement for visa or for teacher's license?

The MEd will satisfy the requirement for the teacher's license if the person has a BA/BS in any subject.

The problem with the 18/18 would be to get true accreditation from the US sponsor school as most Grad programs only accept 6 credits for transfer at the Masters level.

If the program is to be accepted outside of Thailand then it should be fully sponsored and taught from the US sponsored school as long as it is accredited to do Master's programs. The price seems way to cheap to be legit for grad program.

Even Thai Masters can run 250k baht especially at good schools.

I do think that if the MOE approves your program to satisfy their requirement a lot of teachers here would be interested so as long as all classes are taught in English it wouldn't matter if it was a Thai/Foreign program.

[brucetefl]

Thanks for the useful comments zeichen.

The program right now is 18/18. The US University partner has developed a similar program in Eastern Europe on a 15/15 basis. That degree is jointly issued (unlike the bachelors degree programs which are dual degrees). We are planning to do the same--1 degree with both University names on it.

You are correct when you say similar Masters degree programs are 200,000 and up here in the kingdom. I've been looking into getting a PhD and the prices are about 700,000 baht which I think it's absolutely ridiculous for a PhD from Thailand. But that's exactly why I think this program will be so incredibly popular. This will not be a degree from a Thai university. It will be a jointly issued degree--US and Thai. In my book that makes the degree far more valuable than the Thai alternatives. Yet the price is actually slightly less. Of course I'm the one who sets the price. I prefer setting a lower price and having more students and setting an extremely high price and having only a few. I can tell you that when I set the price for my bachelors degree in TESOL the board of Directors of the University complained a lot. They said it was two cheap. But now we have over 100 active students, And about 130 who have participated. That's because the price is affordable. They started other degrees of the same time and have less than 10 participants on each.

This isn't my first rodeo. I have started several successful educational projects in the past and I'm quite certain this will be successful as well.

Edited March 16, 2014 by brucetefl

[culicine]

The title is a little confusing. Will this qualification enable teachers in Thailand get a full teaching licence? That will be the main thing to interest a lot of folks here. Then there is making sure it is accredited with the TCT. Who will teach the Thai component? Will there be practice teaching? Good luck with it. Most teachers here seem hesitant to take a Thai based course for their teaching qualification, so some foreign course will be very desirable. Also, keep up the entrance standard - especially for Thais who may want to do the course who have poor english and hope to slide by and pass based on that poor english level. Allowing that will be the fastest way to decrease the quality of your qualification. Good luck with it, I hope it's successful.

[brucetefl]

It should meet the requirements of the TCT. It will be an MS Ed. According to the (current) rules thats what they want. I hesitate to make any guarantees over an organization that is so opaque.

In my very personal opinion, an opinion that could be very wrong, the TCT acts in a way that seems much more interested in getting fees from foreign teachers than actually improving the teaching standards.

Edited March 16, 2014 by brucetefl

[irishtoffy]

The requirement is a BA in Education. Whilst a Masters is better, try explaining that to a government bureaucrat who has the requirements in front of him/her. He/she will not use common sense and realise that this qualification is higher than a BA.

On a separate note, I have been recently accepted for an online masters from an accredited Uni for total cost 50.000 baht.

Is this proposed MS a 1 year or 2 year course? Thanks.

I would also be very interested to know some more information on this course? If possible could you send my PM please?

Cheers

[Yooyung]

I am also interested to get more info on this proposed course. I am in the same boat as a lot of people here. I have an accredited degree from my home country but it seems that will not be enough anymore. I am seriously looking into what steps I can take to meet the new requirements. There are a few courses out there,Ramkamhaeng being one of them, but I would like to look into all available options.

Cheers.

[lostinisaan]

I am also interested to get more info on this proposed course. I am in the same boat as a lot of people here. I have an accredited degree from my home country but it seems that will not be enough anymore. I am seriously looking into what steps I can take to meet the new requirements. There are a few courses out there,Ramkamhaeng being one of them, but I would like to look into all available options.

Cheers.

I am also interested ,as we seem to sit on the same boat. Either an upgrade of my existing BA into one in education, doing some units, or a Master's in education.

Any input wold be deeply appreciated and considering the demand, it would be successful for all involved.

Edited March 30, 2014 by lostinisaan

[sirchai]

I've just heard of a possibility doing that through a university from the Philippines, but would definitely be interested as well.

I'm also holding a BA, but not in education and would have to do it online,or on weekends. Some units to gain a BA, or a Master's would be superb.

Edited March 30, 2014 by sirchai

[thequietman]

The requirement is a BA in Education. Whilst a Masters is better, try explaining that to a government bureaucrat who has the requirements in front of him/her. He/she will not use common sense and realise that this qualification is higher than a BA.

On a separate note, I have been recently accepted for an online masters from an accredited Uni for total cost 50.000 baht.

Is this proposed MS a 1 year or 2 year course? Thanks.

I would also be very interested to know some more information on this course? If possible could you send my PM please?

Cheers

Its not a masters in Education but in Business Admin, so no help to you. I am doing it to prepare for teaching in China in maybe a year or so. I realise I am pissin against the wind here in Thailand and will never earn a good wage because I don't have a Ba in Education. I have 5 years experience teaching here but what do I know.

[sirchai]

The requirement is a BA in Education. Whilst a Masters is better, try explaining that to a government bureaucrat who has the requirements in front of him/her. He/she will not use common sense and realise that this qualification is higher than a BA.

On a separate note, I have been recently accepted for an online masters from an accredited Uni for total cost 50.000 baht.

Is this proposed MS a 1 year or 2 year course? Thanks.

I would also be very interested to know some more information on this course? If possible could you send my PM please?

Cheers

Its not a masters in Education but in Business Admin, so no help to you. I am doing it to prepare for teaching in China in maybe a year or so. I realise I am pissin against the wind here in Thailand and will never earn a good wage because I don't have a Ba in Education. I have 5 years experience teaching here but what do I know.

A real difficult decision to move to China to make more money.Might be a huge difference to here.

Edited March 31, 2014 by sirchai

[thequietman]

The requirement is a BA in Education. Whilst a Masters is better, try explaining that to a government bureaucrat who has the requirements in front of him/her. He/she will not use common sense and realise that this qualification is higher than a BA.

On a separate note, I have been recently accepted for an online masters from an accredited Uni for total cost 50.000 baht.

Is this proposed MS a 1 year or 2 year course? Thanks.

I would also be very interested to know some more information on this course? If possible could you send my PM please?

Cheers

Its not a masters in Education but in Business Admin, so no help to you. I am doing it to prepare for teaching in China in maybe a year or so. I realise I am pissin against the wind here in Thailand and will never earn a good wage because I don't have a Ba in Education. I have 5 years experience teaching here but what do I know.

A real difficult decision to move to China to make more money.Might be a huge difference to here.

For 109,000 -130,000 baht a month, which I was offered when I put the feelers out, I could certainly put up with it for a year or 2.

[fifthcolumn]

Despite me being sluffed off as the village idiot, I see you have nevertheless dropped the other escspade and embarked on something that under the right conditions be if value to teacher expats.

36 credits sounds like MA degree. What makes it an MS?

Well done BruceTEFL ,

you are welcome.