Job Discussion Forums

[fluffyhamster]

Move along, move along, nothing to see here except two Eddie Hitlers asking "What is gas?".

[Sashadroogie]

Ha ha ha! Funny!!!

[mmcmorrow]

I've been a Celta trainer on and off for twenty years in various countries and contexts. Some aspects of Celta which I don't believe are outdated would include:

Its practical, hands-on focus, with teaching practice and observations interwoven with input sessions on language, learning and teaching issues. It's the interaction of these elements which is the key. There's little point in extensive pre-course reading (in my view) since it doesn't really become meaningful for the teachers until they realise the need for this knowledge through the experience of the classroom.

Its close relationship to the classroom teaching context (generally in a large language school or institute)

Its practitioner-trainers (i.e. people with extensive and generally ongoing language teaching experience)

its flexibility - in my city, for instance, it's available as a four or five week intensive course in a language school; as a semi-intensive part-time course over three months in a university language centre; or as a module embedded within a four-month polytechnic certificate in language teaching (with a greater focus on literacy etc). That's not the case in every city, of course, but overall, there is quite a diversity in course designs (including a blended course, incorporating online instruction)

its standardisation procedures (all courses are visited by an external moderator - i.e. an experienced Celta trainer from another centre. These assessors take part in a global standardisation procedure themselves every year. During their assessment visit, they spend a day at the centre, checking through documents and observing a sample of teaching and assessment and discussing tutors' grading of all the candidates at that point in the course - and again at the end of the course. They write a report to Cambridge, including all of their notes, and that is referred to at a meeting, in which the grades recommended by the tutors are confirmed by Cambridge (or not, as occasionally happens). The fact that this is done by trainers (and not by some Ofsted inspectors, for instance) means it is not only a way of standardising grading, but also a means of professional development and sharing of expertise / concerns etc among trainers and centres. If mainstream schools followed a similar approach, I think it would have a very positive effect on how teachers perceive assessment of performance).

That's not to say Celta is the be-all-and-end-all of training. It's intended to be an introduction, giving teachers basic knowledge and skills and strategies to work satisfactorily in the classroom while building up their knowledge and personal style over however long they choose to stay in the profession. Content of courses varies a bit from centre to centre and is as affected by conservatism as our profession in general. Even if you'd like to change the content of courses, you have to bear in mind that the teachers you are training have to be able to work within the profession as it is - not as we'd like it to be: like politics, teacher training is the art of the possible.

Anyway, teachers who would prefer a more through grounding in language and learning theory should be able to find alternative one, two, three or four year programmes. Similarly, those who would prefer more of a reflective, self-assessment based course will find a number of university level diplomas to their liking. Each to his / her own.

Martin McMorrow, Auckland, New Zealand

[Sashadroogie]

Thank you Martin for that post. Insightful, well-written, and, most importantly, it accords with my point of view : )

Bravo!

[fluffyhamster]

[Sashadroogie]

And you know this, any of this, how exactly, Fluffy?

[fluffyhamster]

Through personal experience, and from various comments on these forums. So no, no skin-melting commandments from the Ark of the Covenant IME.

[Sashadroogie]

Personal experience? So, you have received or given Celta lesson observation feedback since your CTEFLA days, and can compare it to the quality of feedback offered in-house free in many jobs?

As for various comments on this forum re the Celta, they range from the ignorant bickering of the clueless to the majesty of a post such as Martin's which is fully supported by real experience. Which comments helped you to form the conclusion that the quality of observation feedback offered for free in many jobs is about the same as on a Celta course?

[spiral78]