| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Boy Wonder
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 453
Location: Clacton on sea
|
 Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 4:42 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
Couldn't have put it better myself Decon.
I agree with every single word.
These people who pass themselves off as TEFL professionals couldn't cut it serving behind the local bar. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 5:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
Your post will generate a lot of different opinions..brace thineself.
|
Terrible. I'm reduced to quoting myself as there is little above that is worth the great effort of using the quote button.
To the OP...there you have it. I think you can now get an idea as to some of traps you can fall into. The lesson here is probably to ask a lot of questions before making a decision. Not asking questions, or stumbling blindly into things will likely have you on this forum in some years' time complaining and blaming others for the mistakes you might make. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 8:12 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Yep, you sure can read some remarkable opinions on Dave's...  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Spinoza
Joined: 17 Oct 2004
Posts: 194
Location: Saudi Arabia
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 9:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Last edited by Spinoza on Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:00 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Deconstructor
Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Posts: 775
Location: Montreal
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 10:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Spinoza wrote: |
| I'm inclined to sympathise with Deconstructor's harsh criticism of CELTA. It's a dreadful shower in many ways. But it's still worth doing because it gives you a bit of experience and also some handy things to say in interviews, like "it's crucial to understand the learning objectives of the lesson and how each activity contributes to the stage aims and how the stage aims contribute towards the overall proposed learning outcomes". |
You are right that CELTA "gives you a bit of experience and also some handy things to say in interviews", but you could've learnt all of those things off the net or at the local university library. As obvious as this may be, people often never step foot in the local university library and check under TESL/TEFL. Everything you ever want to know about teaching is there. What will also be there are the thousands of dollars in your pocket that you'd save from CELTA. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 10:07 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Everything you ever want to know about teaching is there |
Very true. Like the Internet, the library is a great place to start. However, one very important feature of any TEFL course or CELTA training is the practical teaching aspect.
No one should say that a TEFL or CELTA course will make you a teacher. You go to university and you study and you get a degree in Education to be a teacher. A TEFL or CELTA course should always have more focus on its practical aspect of inclass work with ESL/EFL students...particularly useful when taking the course abroad. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Deconstructor
Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Posts: 775
Location: Montreal
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 10:25 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Very true. Like the Internet, the library is a great place to start. However, one very important feature of any TEFL course or CELTA training is the practical teaching aspect. |
Of course, what could be more important than the practical aspect of teaching? When I began to teach, my first job was as a volunteer at a local community center. I taught new immigrants and refugees to Canada, real world teaching. There was a supervisor who made sure we didn't screw up too much and who recommended couple of books on teaching. I read those books and had a good general idea what teaching was about. Eventually when I decided to become a teacher, I changed my major and the rest is the rest.
My point is: you can get all kinds of knowledge and experience if you know where to look. Unfortunately, people are all too often ready to throw their hard earned money away. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 10:35 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| I taught new immigrants and refugees to Canada, real world teaching. There was a supervisor who made sure we didn't screw up too much and who recommended couple of books on teaching. I read those books and had a good general idea what teaching was about. |
Good for you! and I don't say that with sarcasm. Such efforts would make for better teaches all round. When looking at different contexts, such as EFL abroad or business-oriented classes, there is a higher expectation than just learning on the job. I've never had students myself who were planning on becoming refugees...mostly business-types who do business with English-speaking countries, or university-aged students who have English throughout a vareity of fields of study.
I might point out something as well concerning throwing hard earned money away. A good number of people decide on TEFL or CELTA as a cheaper alternative to working towards a Master's in Education. Not saying TEFL or CELTA replaces it...just that many people are unsure if teaching is the field that want to commit the rest of their lives to...a one year stint abroad through TEFL or CELTA is way for many to get some experience doing it, then decide on if it is the field for them. Sounds like you took this route yourself, albeit through an ESL context with immigrants back home. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
misstexas
Joined: 21 Jan 2005
Posts: 2
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 10:47 pm Post subject: Thank You |
|
|
Hi Everyone,
Thank you so much for your input/advice on my questions. I guess I should have told you that I do have an MBA and have tutored (not really taught, just formally talked to) international students before. There isn't a lot of desire to become a life-long teacher, it's more about the chance to earn a living while going through cultural immersion in as many places as possible.
So TEFL is a means to an end, that way. I want the knowledge of different places so I can come home to the states in middle age and bend corporate america over the barrel by becoming a cultural relations consultant. >
And Decon, your advice on the CELTA is interesting. I don't want to 3-4 grand for certification...glad to hear that I don't have to in order to find work. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Deconstructor
Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Posts: 775
Location: Montreal
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 11:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Guy, my humble beginnings are just as valid as any one month cert program, in fact more. I read the material, I practiced it in the real world and in the process saved thousands. Besides, what happens to all those with certs when they come back home? $15hr/20 hours a week if they're lucky. There will be no security such as health/dental plan, leave of absence if pregnant, etc. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 2:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Guy, my humble beginnings are just as valid as any one month cert program, in fact more. I read the material, I practiced it in the real world and in the process saved thousands. Besides, what happens to all those with certs when they come back home? $15hr/20 hours a week if they're lucky. There will be no security such as health/dental plan, leave of absence if pregnant, etc. |
Well, I don't know you at all to say if you are a better teacher or not for your experience. That takes a classroom test to see I'm sure you are a fine teacher who took a particular route to learn and grow and I congratulate you for it.
I don't think the point of a TEFL or CELTA cert is to go home and teach refugees. Isn't that what TESL is for? Like I posted earlier, it's often a step in the process, a first step at that.
I can only cite examples of people who have come through our programs or that I've met. Some do the TEFL/job abroad for learning Spanish/other languages. Some do it for religious purposes. One man from South Carolina in our TEFL program didn't even want to stay for a job. He went straight back home to begin to build a Christian mission to offer outreach to a growing Mexican community that had no congregation. He planned on creating ESL programs as part of the package. Would he have done better spending a few years working towards a Master's? For his immediate goal, probably not.
Others are attracted by specific fields, such as urban planning or development projects, and TEFL is a means to a higher career goal for them.
Still others I've met and worked with have done one years stints, then returned to become ESL teachers...even Spanish teachers, in the States. I understand that you are given some form of benefits when working for the state, though I have no idea how much or what.
And what of those who don't wish to go back? A career abroad is certainly possible. Just look at a number of posters on this forum and the careers they've made or are making.
I don't cheerlead for CELTA...I haven't taken the CELTA course and have heard just as much good as bad about it. It does seem pricey but that price is fixed by what providers there deem marketable.
We got hacked down on the other thread... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
shmooj
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1758
Location: Seoul, ROK
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 3:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Guy Courchesne wrote: |
| ...many good points... |
While I think Decon, you may well have a point, polarity isn't going to help others see it. Guy gives us a balanced view of the pros and cons of certification and some helpful examples to see why it may well be the most appropriate option for some people.
See that other thread for more of my thoughts on this MOD EDIT |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
