Getting a Master's before being licensed?

[cari]

I've posted before about how I want to do the Teacher Ready program to become a licensed US teacher while living abroad. Right now it's impossible for me to save up for Teacher Ready. But I could use loans for a Master's degree in elementary education. I found an online MA Elementary Education at a reputable school. It does not include licensure and seems to be targeted at teachers who are already working and would like a pay raise or to count it toward their licensure renewal requirements. But there are classes on classroom management and foundations of elementary education, so it isn't that advanced. I e-mailed the advisor and she said quite a few people without licensure do the program, for different reasons.

How bad of an idea is it to apply to this MA Elementary Education and if accepted, do it before doing Teacher Ready? I would really appreciate career advice. I want to become an international school teacher. If I can get accepted to this MA program, my hope is that during or after the program (it's only one year) I'll get a better job and then I can do Teacher Ready.

[cari]

I just saw that on another post here, aloha_ackbar wrote, "Many upper tier schools will prefer/require you to have a western certificate, while an M.Ed alone (without a credential) can be acceptable at many lower tier schools." Is this true? That would be encouraging if so, and I would just apply to the MA Elementary Education, and try to do Teacher Ready as soon as it's possible.

[PsyGuy]

@cari

So you borrow to pay for a Masters program and then are going to try and save up for a certification program while paying the loan back? Thats not a very wise allocation of resources.

Any adviser is going to 'sell' their program and a degree is not a substitute for a credential. How much is this Masters going to cost you?

Yes there are ITs that do not have credentials and are working in IE based on an academic qualification in education. They arent as competitive and they primary work at lower third tier ISs.

If funding is really truly the problem either:

1) Head back home do a traditional university program that you can fund with financial aid and get certified, you can can find post-bach programs that are about a year.

2) A PGCEi takes as little as 8 months and since the programs are through a university you can apply financial aid towards them. You will also accrue about a years worth of graduate credits towards a masters degree. Its about $5K for the program and you can use the PGCEi to apply for a teaching certificate in the states (such as D.C.) after taking the PRAXIS exams.

3) Since you can use financial aid at foreign universities you may look into completing a teaching course either a PGCE or PGDE in BK though a local university.

[sid]

A Masters is unlikely to help you get hired at decent schools. Good schools look to see if you have the qualification available in your home country. For the US, they expect certification, and questions are raised if you don't have it."I can't afford it" is not an acceptable reason.
In other countries, rules are different. Certification doesn't exist in many, so a BA in Ed is the official qualification in many. Or a BA in a subject connected with teaching courses and teaching practicum. It's all different, and hard to compare. But the simple answer is that if you're American, you should have official American qualifications, and an MEd isn't.
On the other hand, an MEd is a good way to learn more and advance your career in general. It's just not what you need first. Maybe go back, take a year, get some loans, and do a joint certificate and Masters program. It might be 12 courses instead of 10, but way better than doing them separately. You could be done in 4 terms, and using summers that's barely over a year.

[PsyGuy]

I disagree to a certain extent with @Sid, you are not limited to an American credential solely because you are American, any western qualification will be equally acceptable. You can be an American and get a PGCE in England, or be a Brit and get a PGDE in Australia, etc.
While various regulatory authorities do have different systems for the recognition of professional educators all western authorities (CAN, AUS, US, UK, EU) have some form of professional credential exclusive of a degree qualification. If your a westerner you cant claim that the country of Genovia recognizes a M.Ed as a teaching credential so your M.Ed. should be recognized somewhere outside of Genovia as a teaching credential.

[sid]

Not quite accurate. Not all EU countries have qualifications separate from degrees.
But the main point is ok: if you have a recognized qual from another country, you MAY be able to use that to get jobs. But it's not automatic. Will depend on which country, how seriously their qualifications are treated, and what school you're applying to.

[sid]

Not quite accurate. Not all EU countries have qualifications separate from degrees.
But the main point is ok: if you have a recognized qual from another country, you MAY be able to use that to get jobs. But it's not automatic. Will depend on which country, how seriously their qualifications are treated, and what school you're applying to.

[PsyGuy]

@sid

I dont know of any EU countries that dont? An assumption is how you define a credential, but I know of no EU country that doesnt have some recognition system exclusive of a degree for professional educators. It might be refereed to as registration or membership and may not result in what would be typically recognized as a certificate but which inclusion amounts to licensure to practice.

CAN was the last significant authority to move to a governmental regulatory authority.

[s0830887]

My view on this would be quite simplistic. Ignoring the cost, the location, the time, etc - I think you can ignore all of that for now. Teaching is no mug's game - it's pretty difficult, especially at the beginning of your career. It has taken me five years to feel I have reached a basic level of competence. I only reached this level because I did my cert, then I did the NQT year (the hardest year of my life; fighting children, being hounded by experienced teahcers, and having to justify myself/reflect on absolutely everything) which was the single most important year in shaping my abilities. Until you do that first year of full time, on the ground teaching, I believe everything else can wait.

P.S. - a LOT of people drop out of this job. My school has lost 4/8 NQTs it took on this year because stepping into a classroom is a shock to the system. I guess my point is this: take your time and do things the right way, make sure you actually enjoy teaching first etc, because otherwise it's a lot of time and money down the drain.

[aloha_ackbar]

@cari

I said that because at my current school, only about half of the teaching staff has an actual teaching certification. A friend of mine teaching in South America said it was similar at his school as well. However, the teachers (at my current school) that don't have a cert do have degrees in the subject in which they teach. Keep in mind, schools that do not require teachers to have a teaching cert are usually not great schools, they are typically lower tier.

I believe you can get some type of loan(s) for Teacher Ready. I do not believe they are the federal subsidised loans, but might be worth investigating. Check out: https://www.teacherready.org/about-teacherready/costs

As a couple posters have already mentioned, you do seem to have a few options to becoming certified first even if funding is your issue. Maybe it would be useful to get your cert through one of these previously mentioned pathways then get a masters later on after you have some experience as you'd have a better idea of what to pursue.

[peachestotulips]

Why not just do a Master's program that offers a teaching licensure option?
George Mason University has several programs that lead to Virginia state licensure.
https://gse.gmu.edu/teaching-culturally ... entration/

A plus is that most of these programs are actually focused on international education rather than the dull national/state standards that do not touch many of the issues you'll face as an international teacher. GMU is a bit costly but once you find a great school to work in, the M.Ed will pay for itself in a few years.

[PsyGuy]

GMU is an option, but with certification and the international masters you are looking at a 3 year program, and GMU isnt just trivially pricy graduate tuition is about $24K a year thats almost $75K for those three years compared to the $5K for an ACP/PGCEi certification program. A Masters in your home state of residence would cost you about a third of that and you could do a course at an international student at somewhere like Nottingham for less than half, and thats as an international student.

[cari]

Thank you all for the suggestions, I really appreciate it.

@peachestotulips Thanks, I have seen that program at George Mason University and I've been thinking about it recently. It's only 36 credits max and I read they have a discount on tuition for the international education program. It would be somewhat affordable if I could get accepted, but I'm really not looking to move back to America. Part of it can be done online. I would need to apply very soon but I'm on the fence about it.

@aloha_ackbar Thanks for explaining what you said before. I would really love to teach in South America. My undergraduate degree is in French, but I don't feel confident to teach French. That's why I wanted to get an MA Elementary Education; I've heard there are a lot of openings for elementary teachers at international schools. I wouldn't mind starting at a lower tier school, if I made enough money to save for Teacher Ready. I'm sure my credit isn't good enough to get a private loan for Teacher Ready.

@s0830887 I know there is a high turnover in teaching but, I'm pretty sure this is what I want to do. I did teach full time at a school in Korea for 3 years, though I had a co-teacher. Plus at this point with only ESL experience and an online TESOL certificate, I don't see myself getting hired to teach full time in a K-12 setting anywhere.

@PsyGuy Thank you for the information on the PGCEi and how it could be transferred to a DC teaching license. I think I would rather pursue an American teaching license from the beginning. As for getting a PGCE (and maybe the PGCEi as well, I'm not sure), it's very expensive with international student fees. I don't really want to stay in Bangkok but there are a couple of universities that would allow me to do an education degree here, if I were planning on staying.

@sid I guess if all else fails I'll have to return to the US. Of course you're right, it would look a lot better to have the certification first, and as part of a Master's program. I would just like to be finished sooner rather than later and Teacher Ready seems like a convenient way to do it from overseas. I just need a better job first, to save for Teacher Ready, and I thought working on a Master's would help me with that step.

Actually I'm so broke at the moment, applying for several graduate programs would be a stretch. All the applications require $50, $60, $75. Some require the GRE or PRAXIS. And if I'm going to ask my professors for letters, I would want to apply to several schools. One thing I like about Teacher Ready, and the MA Elementary Education degree I've found, is that no letters or test results are required for admission. So I can do this on my own, and with Teacher Ready I would take the Florida teaching exams after I study and finish the program.

[PsyGuy]

@cari

Yeah thats pretty hard when youre that broke.

I would look into the Teach Now program out of D.C. the advantage is they use PRAXIS and you wouldnt have to incur the cost of travel as you can take those exams in Thailand. Though Teach ready is inherently cheaper than Teach Now by about $1K.

Another option is to apply for a TEACH grant these are $4K grants, and while you owe service you can skip the service and have the grant converted to a unsubsidized federal loan, its a means of getting a federal loan where you wouldnt otherwise be eligible.

You can use federal financial aid at a lot of overseas Unis, Try this page which contains a spreadsheet of international Unis that are eligible.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/prepare-fo ... ng-schools

If you have a choice between an American credential or a British or other Western/European credential, you would be more marketable getting a cross curriculum credential. The assumption is you already know the education system in your home country.
In addition you can get a bursary (grant) to get a PGCE in certain high needs fields in England that will cover all your fees and allow you to live off. The PGCE is equal to one year of Masters work, and gets you half way there for nothing.
Though personally I would consider one of the French Unis.

As a final option (the membership will condemn this) I dont know what your name is but if its really common or common enough you can Google US teachers with your name and then go to that states virtual certificate page and print the persons online certificate and use it as your own. You can then move into a better job, save some money and then do a certification program.

[peachestotulips]

At GMU the International Elementary track in the M.Ed. in Teaching Culturally Linguistically Diverse & Exceptional learners requires 18 months to earn the teaching license & 2 years to complete the M.Ed. Its a hybrid course and you would only need to be there on campus from the end of June to the end of July for 2 summers. There are other tracks in this program that are online only. This course in particular costs $557/credit and it requires 27 credits, not 36. So at most you're looking at somewhere around $17000 tops including the cost of attending the hybrid courses.
No its not $5000, but its nowhere near $75K as was suggested. You also can receive the IB Teaching & Learning Certificate if you take one additional course.
https://gse.gmu.edu/teaching-culturally ... ertificate