another newb looking for some advice...

[shirechai]

Hi there-

I received my BA (English) /MA (Literary and Cultural Studies) in one fell swoop (different schools, but graduated june '07 and may '08), now ALMOST through my first year teaching and wondering how many years I should spend in the real world before heading back.

Part of me thinks that I should just go with the 2 year minimum teaching experience required by most of the programs I looked at and apply for Fall 2010 or instead give myself some more time/an extra year or two to teach before heading back. Any thoughts on playing the numbers game? In the current economic state, it seems better to stay put in a job, especially as I'm overseas...

The other half thinks that if I want to do any comparative work, I should really have some substantive experience with at least one other school system/region/country... I'm currently teaching in Singapore, but my practicum was in the states (MA-certified for MS English) and have done some volunteer work for schools in PA, but no full-time teaching in the States.

interested in: middle schools, school reform (small schools, IB, coalition of essential schools, big picture, etc.), community/service learning,

arts ed, bilingualism (french/english, swedish/english), multiculturalism, sociology of education (particularly gender, language, and speech impediments)

Pretty sure I want to apply for:

ECS@Penn

ICE@SUSE

CIE@TC

CCE@Harvard

LLSC@Berkeley

JPEE or LLC @ Michigan

and am curious about programs at Wisconsin as well.

Would love to gain insight or advice from anyone! I've found that many of the programs I'm interested in do not list current students-- is the best way to find them by emailing the program, or is there a better way to look for CVs via google?

ALSO- I have not seen many/any professors at these schools doing research on Middle Schools. Do you know any?

Thanks!

-shirechai

[charmquark]

Would love to gain insight or advice from anyone! I've found that many of the programs I'm interested in do not list current students-- is the best way to find them by emailing the program, or is there a better way to look for CVs via google?

Hi shirechai,

try searching facebook groups. i have seen several for ed schools- usually divided by grad class year. if you find this year's students then chances are good you can post to the wall and ping several people at one time.