Post
by Gregor » Sun Jun 12, 2005 2:50 am
I went to NWT as well (in Puerto Vallarta, JA Mexico, and it ROCKED). The school is now defunct. This sort of thing happens. And it's sad, but not a serious problem, as far as the teaching certificate is concerned, and here's why:
For starters, a TEFL certificate (or CTESOL, or RSA/CELTA, or any number of these things) is an entry-level qualification. It's good, even necessary in many places now, to have. But it's entry level. Once you've done your first, say, year of teaching, the certificate is largely redundant. Many places will want to see it anyway, even if you have experience, as it's become a comfortable and familiar qualification for hiring (remember, we DoSes are hiring people from overseas, and sight-unseen, so the more comfortable you can make us, the better chance you have of getting a job). Also - it's becoming a requirement in some countries for hiring teachers.
If the school that issues your certificate later goes under, the chances are that no one would ever know it. If you can describe the course to the satisfaction of someone else who has done a similar course, then it's a legitimate qualification, because, at the moment, There is no governing board for issuing TEFL certificates. If you are looking for a place to get an entry level certificate and you want to be safe, do an RSA/CELTA course, or (better, in my opinion) a CTESOL from a Trinity College, London course provider. At the moment, if a school says their certificate course is the same as Trinity's, chances are it IS, only cheaper. But you never know. There are a lot of bad courses out there, so if you want to be sure that you have a legit qualification, THAT'S how you can do it.
I've heard talk that a governing body is forming, and soon they WILL have to comply with...something or someone. I don't know how they would do that, or even who "they" might be. But keep your eye on this. If someone comes up with an accreditation system for TEFL certificates and convinces enough countries to go along with them, you will have to be a LOT more careful, or else you will end up spending ONLY $300 for your certificate! That's CHEAP for a CTESOL, but it's a LOT OF MONEY to just throw away.
For the moment, Trinity College, London or RSA/CELTA (which is Cambridge University).
By the way, I was also trained by Patricia DiMaggio, back in 1996, and we're still quite good friends. It was a good course, and she was a HELL of a good trainer.
Further, is there anyone who graduated from any of their learning programs 