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Steinmann
Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Posts: 255
Location: In the frozen north
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 Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:26 pm Post subject: |
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| DebMer wrote: |
| Thanks for your replies, Nomad and Spiral. |
Indeed, gratitude for everyone's input. |
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tttompatz
Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 1951
Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 12:16 am Post subject: Re: Certification Question |
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| Steinmann wrote: |
I ran across this rather blunt advice at http://www.wikihow.com/Get-a-Job-Teaching-English-in-Asia:
"Don't bother with getting online teaching certificates, or ones that you get from a twenty hour weekend workshop. They are a waste of time and money. Any reputable school will tell you that you need a CELTA or a Trinity College TESOL certificate. Any worthwhile certificate course will have:
At least 120 hours of training
Classroom observation of experienced teachers
A minimum 6 hours of observed teaching practice with real language learners
Several written assignments
Any course offering anything less than the above, is a scam."
Is that about the size of it? Anything other than a CELTA or a Trinity College TESOL certificate isn't worth the paper it's printed on?
I'd be curious to hear opinions. |
With deference to those in other parts of the world and not to negate anything that was said in the posts above mine....
In Asia, for the most part, a TEFL/TESOL cert is NOT a requirement for your visa nor is it a requirement for employment.
By and large, the vast majority of employers in most of east Asia wouldn't know a TEFL cert from a Boy Scout membership certificate nor do they care.
The requirement from the different immigration services, in order for you to get a visa, is a bachelors degree. Beyond that, as long as you can get a visa and appropriate permits, employers don't usually care. They want the white face to show the parents.
CAVEATS:
*If you want to work at a public school position in Korea and do not have a teaching certification you will need (as of this year) to get SOME sort of 100hr TEFL cert. on-line is acceptable.
*IF you want to work in China on a "Z" visa you are required to have a TEFL cert (no standard listed - Photoshop TEFL School has been known to work).
*If you want to work in Indonesia you are supposed to have a TEFL cert.
*In Thailand, the majority of employers don't care provided you hold a degree and a passport from an anglophone country. For those few who do care: CELTA is king.
The list continues but you can clearly see the pattern.
This is NOT an endorsement for a lack of credentials or training. Just a simple statement of the current state of the language academy market in Asia.
Working in public, private (K-12), or other primary/secondary schools often (but not always) require experience and/or some sort of teacher training (TEFL, etc.).
Language academies or dispatch agencies typically don't care at all beyond what is necessary to get a visa. Bring in and keep the butts in the seats and you stay employed. Lose students and they replace you with the next white face to walk in the door.
BIG note here: The majority of jobs in East/South East Asia are working with KIDS (K-6) where a CELTA or other TEFL course does little to prepare you other than teach the mechanics of lesson planning. Encouraging pair work to utilize dialogue and teaching grammar to a 6-year-old is about as effective as talking to a cow.
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Prof.Gringo
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 2236
Location: Dang Cong San Viet Nam Quang Vinh Muon Nam!
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 12:34 am Post subject: |
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| Steinmann wrote: |
| HLJHLJ wrote: |
| I may be wrong on this, but it is my understanding that employers won't know whether a CELTA was in-house or online, as in the certificate will just say 'CELTA'. |
I imagine that they could figure that out with one phone call. Anyway, the question wasn't whether they might notice but whether they would view them as equal. Spiral78 seems to think so. |
I have never seen an employer do any kind of a background check in Mexico and that includes colegios teaching kids & teens.
No check of education, employment, references, criminal history-NOTHING, NADA, ZILCH!
Again, that is Latin America, folks might actually check to see if you aren't on the FBI top ten most wanted list before hiring you, but that seems doubtful as that would mean more work for the admin. |
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scholar
Joined: 18 May 2012
Posts: 159
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 1:42 am Post subject: |
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| Sounds like tttompatz doesn't value teacher credentials very much. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:24 am Post subject: Re: Certification Question |
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| tttompatz wrote: |
With deference to those in other parts of the world and not to negate anything that was said in the posts above mine....
This is NOT an endorsement for a lack of credentials or training. Just a simple statement of the current state of the language academy market in Asia. |
| scholar wrote: |
Sounds like tttompatz doesn't value teacher credentials very much. |
Not so, scholar. I'm sure we all acknowledge that TEFL cert requirements vary worldwide. Asian employers generally tend to be lax or indifferent about TEFL certs; whereas, in other parts of the world, like the Mid East, employers specify a CELTA, Trinity, or an equivalent TEFL cert as a requirement. |
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tttompatz
Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 1951
Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:44 am Post subject: |
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| scholar wrote: |
| Sounds like tttompatz doesn't value teacher credentials very much. |
Actually, tttompatz is very much in favor of appropriate training for the job to be done.
Tttompatz is NOT a blanket endorser of any particular brand, flavor or theory of the month of teacher training.
CELTA or equivalent for teaching adults (young or old) works perfectly well for me.
Appropriate training is needed for working with kids (they are not short versions of tall people) and the CELTA isn't it.
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 1:32 pm Post subject: |
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| What needs to be mentioned is that while online TEFL certs provide a quick solution and are adequate for some TEFLers in their current teaching gig, those substandard qualifications are worthless for teachers who want to branch out into other regions and/or compete for better TEFL career opportunities. I've seen posts throughout these forums from panicky teachers---those with online or no certs---who have to quickly get a CELTA, Trinity, or other equivalent TEFL certificate because the particular job opportunity they're now interested in requires it. Or their present employer is suddenly requiring one and has imposed a deadline---the message is either get the cert or start looking for another job. My point is that it's best to be proactive about obtaining a valid, proper TEFL certificate up front that will sustain you throughout your TEFL career. Otherwise, you may find yourself limited and possibly disappointed. |
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