Greetings All, as I am contemplating the ever-growing possibility of making the leap to Thailand, I see it fit to present a few thoughts on qualifications beyond that of an undergraduate degree.

I understand an am empathetic towards proper international schools asking for a teaching license from one's homeland. As I am an American, I am not in a position to speak on the value of a teaching license from other countries. But, I will take some jabs at the perceived value of one from the U.S.

The recent data from the U.S. indicates that at most, one-third of 4th-8th graders can read at a "proficient" level. As that is one step above as barely basic, I cannot glorify what it means to be "proficient." Additionally, graduating seniors fall within this realm, though some data points have not come out as of yet. Furthermore, proficiency in History, and Civics are abysmal..some individual states at 12%. Interestingly, roughly 80% of pubic schools teachers in the U.S are women (traditional men are not wanted in the classrooms, there).

While I am certainly able to go on, along with providing the appropriate references for review, getting preoccupied with the data-matrix is not my main intention ((if Ajarn wishes me to do so, please let me know).

Literacy is everything and in the U.S., there is a distinct difference between literate and functionally illiterate: which U.S. public schools have, by design, created a rapidly growing society reflective of the later. When public schools took the systematic teaching of phonics out of the curriculum, electing to teach the "whole word" approach, a distinct demographic was highly impacted by this. Unfortunately, while teachers' unions have decided to jump on the rails of malevolent ideology as opposed to teaching what matters most, across the country, the nation's largest metropolitan areas (and once-great cities) have been under control of the Democratic Party (for quite some time). In these cities, minority-majority demographics represent an ironic reality.

What I am getting at, is that in all of these cities, crime, violence, gangs and murders are all the norm. With that said, during the early 90's, the Clinton administration commissioned a study on the sources of juvenile delinquency. The overarching theme with the source, was illiteracy. Though, there are more narratives to point fingers at but we can do that another day.

So, why would a teaching license from the United States be considered to hold any value? The data is there and the U.S.. has regressed to become a very dumbed-down, violent, anxious and ignorant society in which literacy skills are genuinely as bad as I noted (I only gave you a taste and matters are worse, due to COVID).

Personally, and I do have a bias in this debate, an experienced ESL teacher with an M.A. related to Education, History, English or Political Science can do better. This comes with the assumption that a genuine enjoyment and level of dedication to the job are prevalent, along with the right personality and disposition(s) being included. See, experienced ESL teachers have a major advantage: experience teaching phonics (especially if you have taught in South Korea). Furthermore, I believe along with many of my colleagues, that teaching is NOT a science...as the likes of Thorndike, Dewey and the followers of their progressive gospel, carrying their measuring sticks, wanted folks to believe. In fact, William C. Bagley was right all along, and has all but disappeared from the curriculum in teachers' colleges in the U.S. BOTH Essentialism and Perennialism have been demonized by Progressive (and Post Modern) education in the U.S. for decades and are portrayed as some fictional narrative from the past.

As noted, I cannot speak on the value of a teaching license from other countries. However, if I am Director of Studies at an international school and two candidates are competing for the job, each from America with one having a teaching license and the other having in M.A. in one of the aforementioned disciplines, along with some experience as an ESL teacher....I'm going with the candidate with the M.A.

As an American, you could not pay me enough to buy into failure by obtaining a teaching license here. Why would any rational individual want to invest in designed failure?

Knox