A degree.... in English?

[dstarsboy]

Another topic on here got me thinking of what my SO would like to do for a living when she comes to America. She said her dream is to teach small children, like, kindergarden to grade 3ish, I suppose. Of course, I already see a limitation being her imperfect English, but I wanted to see what the educational boundary would be.

 

She said she has a degree in English. I have no idea what this is. I asked her if its a bachelor's, but she said no, because bachelors degrees are from universities and this degree was from a college. Hmmnn... so I asked her how many years she went to school and she said 3. Can someone tell me what this would be equivalent of in the US? Or does this not hold any value here whatsoever?

[hakkamike]

Another topic on here got me thinking of what my SO would like to do for a living when she comes to America. She said her dream is to teach small children, like, kindergarden to grade 3ish, I suppose. Of course, I already see a limitation being her imperfect English, but I wanted to see what the educational boundary would be.

 

She said she has a degree in English. I have no idea what this is. I asked her if its a bachelor's, but she said no, because bachelors degrees are from universities and this degree was from a college. Hmmnn... so I asked her how many years she went to school and she said 3. Can someone tell me what this would be equivalent of in the US? Or does this not hold any value here whatsoever?

233137[/snapback]

My wife has a 3 year degree in Teaching with English as her major, she taught English at the Middle School level for 13 years in China. Get her sheep skin and transcripts when she comes here and take them to a local Junior College or University and have them evaluated for transfer credits. To answer your question it is simular to a BA Degree that we have here in the States, the problem is getting a Educational System of higher learning here to recognize it as such.

[Mick]

My wife was an English teacher in China. However, she had a four year degree...a Bachelors Degree....

 

I think the three year teaching degrees are from what are called "Normal" colleges, which specialize in training teachers. Some teachers in China complete the three year program, then, a number of years later, go back and finish their Bachelors Degree. During my first year teaching in China, many of my students were of this nature.

 

The last four years in China, I taught at a university. Most of my students there were standard, four-year students.

[corvette]

Another topic on here got me thinking of what my SO would like to do for a living when she comes to America. She said her dream is to teach small children, like, kindergarden to grade 3ish, I suppose. Of course, I already see a limitation being her imperfect English, but I wanted to see what the educational boundary would be.

 

She said she has a degree in English. I have no idea what this is. I asked her if its a bachelor's, but she said no, because bachelors degrees are from universities and this degree was from a college. Hmmnn... so I asked her how many years she went to school and she said 3. Can someone tell me what this would be equivalent of in the US? Or does this not hold any value here whatsoever?

233137[/snapback]

In China, all Bachelor's degree courses are at least with a length of 4 years. I think your SO's is an associate degree/diploma instead of a BEdu. I got my first degree in English Education (BEdu) at a teacher's college. Graduates of the 3-year diploma courses are only qualified to teach primary school students, while graduates with BEdu can teach students in middle schools/polytechnics. I used to teach high school kids.

 

It's not very likely that your SO can teach American kids without a US degree. My aunt, who got her MA in Music in Korea, is not qualified to teach students in the States. She's now working on her MA in music education in Princeton.