Job Discussion Forums

[kurtz]

Some questions.

1) Is it comparable to the CELTA in terms of stress/workload?

2) Did you feel you were better equipped for the classroom after it?

3) Where did you do it?

4) Has anyone done the one in Bangkok with IH as the course dates fit well with the end of my contract and I live in a nearby country.

5) What kind of job did you get after completion?

6) How hard is the exam? I haven't done an exam for years and the thought of it freaks me out a little.

I'm getting kind of annoyed in the language mills and would like to improve my teaching skill and general competitiveness in the ESL world where every man and his dog has got a CELTA and a degree.

Cheers.

[mmcmorrow]

Hi Kurtz,

I did the forerunner of Delta in the 1980s. I've worked as a Delta trainer and assessor at various times. Here are a few answers - they're fairly subjective, of course.


1) Is it comparable to the CELTA in terms of stress/workload?

Yes. Different challenges, but comparable, I would say. Planning and teaching lessons, being observed and evaluated is inherently challenging. I flunked my first attempt, but got the hang of it after that.

2) Did you feel you were better equipped for the classroom after it?

Yes. In my case, it helped tighten up my teaching methodology, sharpen up my planning, helped me learn more about language and assessment.

3) Where did you do it?

I did my own course in a College of Further Education in London. I've run part time courses in English Language Schools and also worked on the orientation course for the Distance Delta.

4) Has anyone done the one in Bangkok with IH as the course dates fit well with the end of my contract and I live in a nearby country.

Don't have any information about that one.

5) What kind of job did you get after completion?

I carried on teaching - but moved to a better school. Trainees who I've worked with have mainly moved up to positions of responsibility and/or gone into teacher training etc.

6) How hard is the exam? I haven't done an exam for years and the thought of it freaks me out a little.

Difficult to say. We gave students practice and feedback and they generally did fine.

Good luck with it.

Martin McMorrow, Learning Consultant, Massey University, New Zealand

[Teacher in Rome]

Like Martin above, I also did it in the 1980s.

1) Is it comparable to the CELTA in terms of stress/workload?
No idea - I never did the CELTA (went straight from uni into the DELTA).

2) Did you feel you were better equipped for the classroom after it?
Absolutely. It taught me everything from the ground up. Grammar, pronunciation, skills, methodologies, how to assess and use coursebooks... The discipline of doing lesson plans was also enormously helpful as you get a great overview of your lesson and can get a better balance of activities.

3) Where did you do it?
At an institute of higher education. A nine-month part-time course.

4) Has anyone done the one in Bangkok with IH as the course dates fit well with the end of my contract and I live in a nearby country.
Can't help you there.

5) What kind of job did you get after completion?
A pre-sessional teaching job at a university, then full-time teaching work at a language school.

6) How hard is the exam? I haven't done an exam for years and the thought of it freaks me out a little.
A lot depends (imo) on what you already know. I was a new grad, with absolutely no experience, so it was tough for me. I read huge amounts (theoretical stuff on language acquisition / handbooks / ELT coursebooks / grammar books etc) and needed the nine months to do all this plus my TP.

We did practice exams (great for timing) but remember back to when you were a ft student for good study skills! Don't forget to plan your essays and get up to speed in physically writing - if that's how they do the exam still.

Good luck!

[kurtz]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I think the CELTA provides the bare minimum in preparing someone for the classroom. This is not putting the CELTA course down in any way, I thought it was very helpful but it was just 4 weeks long. I need to do the DELTA to gain more skills and get a better job.

Doing it part-time while still working is an option too. It would be nice to have a job and an income and still be able to study, rather than not working for two months and then trying to find a job; my school might subsidize the cost of it too. How does the part-time/distance option work out? Not sure how the practical can be done, I suppose you'll have to be observed somehow.

[mmcmorrow]

About part-time courses ...

If you are in (or near) a Centre which offers a part-time course, you attend classes once or twice a week (e.g. evenings / Saturday mornings etc) and the tutor comes to the school where you are working to observe your teaching practice (this might be once a month, or once every two months or so, depending on the timetable)

I should mention that the Delta is now a modular course. The three modules can be taken separately - at different times etc. There's information about this on the Delta website. Module 1 is assessed through the exam; Module 2 is assessed through practical teaching assignments - with some written work focusing on language teaching and learning; Module 3 is assessed through a 4500 report on a specific area of English language teaching (e.g. teaching younger learners, teaching English for specific purposes etc).

If you are not near a Delta centre, you might want to look at the Distance Delta. To do this, you need to attend a 2 week orientation course, which might mean flying to London, Barcelona, Auckland etc. Then you complete your written work in the same way as other online study (e.g. with discussion forums, online contact with tutors etc) over the following 9 months. You need to have a local tutor who can guide you and report on your internally-assessed teaching practice. This person doesn't have to be a Delta trainer, but someone generally qualified and experienced. And you'll need to have your final teaching practice (including the background essay and the lesson etc) assessed by someone like me - depending where you are, this could mean some extra costs. Anyway, there's info about all of this on the distance Delta website ...

Martin McMorrow, Learning Consultant, Massey University, New Zealand

[LongShiKong]

For start dates and costs: http://thedistancedelta.com/

[LongShiKong]

Surprising how few responses this thread's generated given the interest in the recent 'CELTA Method' thread and consensus that a CELTA's just a starter course.

[fluffyhamster]

[kurtz]

[LongShiKong]

[tttompatz]

[Denim-Maniac]

[scooby doo]

Did it last year. Loved it! Hugely stimulating but very hard work and quite stressful.

Hi there, Martin McMorrow, you were my external examiner. Small TEFL world...

I didn't think it was like the CELTA which I did 10 years ago. In fact I would say the Delta wants you to forget most of what you learned on the CELTA and get you thinking about new approaches and deeper aspects of your teaching practice.

It's more stressful then the CELTA because the standards are much higher and the workload is much heavier. I didn't feel like I was at the required standard until the end of the course. I guess that's saying how much you are stretched to develop in such a short period of time. It humbled me too as I began to realize how much there is to learn even after 10 years of being in the classroom.

Definitely improved my teaching and made it more enjoyable.

Am still in the same job.

The exam was my favorite module but it is hard, I studied almost every day for 2 months. Past tests and examiner reports were very useful.

[Sashadroogie]

[Jbhughes]

MA for the career, DELTA for teaching, isn't it? That's the overiding impression i've got from these boards anyway.