Job Discussion Forums

[Augustus]

I went to an interview for a CELTA at Wigan and Leigh College last week and from the moment I arrived thought this place isnt for me! The staff talked (read bitched) about other staff members throughout our assessment making it really difficult to concentrate. They want a commitment of 2 full days a week as its a part-time course (Tues/Thurs) + homework and were quite snotty that nothing should get in the way of your "course commitment" but were thoroughly disorganised in everything they did ...

I figured well I have two more applications in anyway and they were my favoured venues anyway. However, Bolton have just emailed saying they have filled the course - would I like to be considered for the 2014 intake?!? This is despite the fact that I submitted my task several weeks ago and havent had an interview etc with them. So I am now depending on Blackburn College .......... How can this be so damm hard work? I didnt have this hassle when I applied to do my degree!

Anyway, I am now going to go through my Blackburn College application with a fine tooth comb and hope for the best as I cant do a cram course and there is a serious lack of places to go it seems........

Aug

[fluffyhamster]

Can't you do the CELTA almost entirely by distance study nowadays? Would certainly beat studying at a place that sounds so unprofessional! (I'm surprised the interview wasn't conducted in a nice quiet private room. It sounds like you had to make do with a corner of the staffroom or something!).

[Augustus]

[fluffyhamster]

IIRC my CELTA interviewer waited for me to complete the assessment part of the interview (though she may've left the room at some point to do something else quickly). I wasn't asked to go to a different, and certainly not a noisier, room. But then, it was quite a large school~training center, so space wasn't at too much of a premium!

[Augustus]

And to top it off .... They have decided not too offer me a place on their course. I feel thoroughly insulted!

[fluffyhamster]

Don't take it too personally. I guess there are more and more (read: too many) people entering ELT to escape the recession (even as salaries stagnate or indeed fall in ELT), so there won't always be enough places available now on these courses. They probably draw a lot of the "winners" out of a hat!

[Teacher in Rome]

Agree with Fluffy (who I so want to call "fuffie" - Italian equivalent of "fluffy" but so much cuter!) Don't get too disheartened. Really, if everyone took it as seriously as you do, the ELT world would be a better place.

You ask lots of questions, you put yourself out there, you want to find out stuff. If I was a DOS (and alas I'm not) I would hire you in a heartbeat.

Go on, apply to Liverpool. It's a fantastic city as you probably already know. Not dissing Wigan, but I know where I'd rather be.

You could even put in your application that you've been doing all your research, and point them to your threads here. I'm going to sound a bit old and boring, but having that curiosity and desire to learn is one of the best signs there is that someone is truly keen on the subject. And I'm going to say it, but a teacher who's always eager to learn is a damn fine teacher.

You go Augustus!

[Augustus]

Thanks - I know where I would rather be but the course running there starts earlier than the one in Liverpool.
Aug

[Archie Rice]

Sounds like you dodged a bullet there. Doing the CELTA is tough, your course teachers should be there to support you throughout, and provide role models for how to teach. If they're grim chaps then its going to be a grim 6 months.

[VietCanada]

Between this board and people I've run into who talk about it, I hear far, far more negativity about the attitudes of the people who who work those classes than I would think natural. I'd avoid CELTA and DELTA like the plague. Few countries legally require it and those who do will likely ask for your teaching experience post course.

[Archie Rice]

Strongly disagree with the above post. CELTA is a very good course that prepares you for a career in teaching. The actual teaching time of the course is invaluable.

[spiral78]

Archie's revived an outdated post. Augustus is now midway through her CELTA and her current thread on the topic doesn't exactly make out her instructors to be monsters
I'd personally be pretty wary of giving much credence to someone who hasn't taken CELTA or DELTA, but who consistently reports negative second-hand info.

[Archie Rice]

I did the CELTA part time for 6 months. It's the alternative to the one month intensive. I got a lot more out of the CELTA than just a certificate that benefits job seeking. I had great teachers and it was a great introduction to teaching English as a career. I'm sure you can 'get away' without it, I've worked with people who did, but teaching is a skilled profession and you should be prepared to do a little formal studying prior to taking people's money, in my opinion at least.

[spiral78]

Ah, yes, Archie- I'd forgot that CELTA now comes in the much-extended version. Thanks for the clarification.

[vabeckele]

About the CELTA, I have had a few friends do it and have really negative things to say about it; one of these had a PhD in languages got a pass A and said if he had known before hand about the structure and the nature of the trainers of the course he would have never have done it.

I have another friend, a graduate of Cambridge, and got the very same CELTA cert. from the same city remark the trainers and course were top notch.

Being a Brit, I know of the elitist and pedantic attitude of many in the education industry and it just puts my back up (especially when they reveal themselves to be incompetent). My only hope is that the Americans can somehow begin to shave some of that CELTA prestige away. I would love to do a 4 week course and learn all about methodology and language systems and such, but I would like to do it in an environment that I can trust being SUPPORTIVE.

I find it incomprehensible I have managed to get through seven years of education at tertiary level, but the CELTA course terrifies me. If I knew of an American, Australian, or Canadian provider that could provide the same marketable cert, I would be on it in a flash. However, if I had the money, I would probably go to Cambridge and do it. Sadly, I neither have the time or the money to do it.

I am, reading Scrivener and Harmer right now and they seem to be well written and of great help, but when I got the 'Celta course' book I seemed to 'switch off'.

My weakness, even before my master's (unrelated) is and was, grammar. After a couple of years or so of continuous teaching I know I must begin to master at least the rudiments of speech and grammar to be able to, not just walk into a class and pretend because I use the latest communicative methods, I know all there is to know about the English language, as I surely do not (some of the grammarians on here terrify me! Sasha, being one of them, Fluffy, another) - I know so much more about my second language's grammar than I do of my own (that's not too advanced either)!

Then, of course, there is my age, 41 this year, the UK institutions will not accept any of my experience before the completion of the CELTA course. I find it pretty insulting my experiences in China, Finland, and Vietnam can be just written off. These experiences have covered over 10 years (albeit most of it non-teaching related).

I will probably end up taking it anyway, there is only so much I can do at home with limited materials and Google. And, the other providers do not seem to be able to hold a candle to the CELTA just yet, but I get the feeling it is coming.

Augustus - you have done yourself proud! You are an inspiration for others.