Job Discussion Forums

jasperella · Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 21 Location: Czech Republic

I filled out the online application for the CELTA course last Sunday 22nd May, so it would have been waiting for the course admin staff on the Monday morning. After I submitted the form I got the page saying that the submission was successful. I've applied for the course starting in August.
I haven't heard anything back yet, not even a confirmation e-mail, and I was wondering if I should send a follow-up e-mail.
What do you think?
Thanks in advance!

tbiehl2000 · Joined: 22 Jul 2004 Posts: 87

I took the Celta at IH Krakow. Good course. Great tutors. If they don't get back to you today (30th) go ahead and contact them. At least that's what I would do. I'm sure they'll contact you...they need the money Wink

jasperella · Joined: 16 Mar 2005 Posts: 21 Location: Czech Republic

That's good to hear, thanks!

I'll send an e-mail today then.

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

Applications to do CELTAs are always successful.Don't work for IH ,they pay awfully in Poland.

philyyy · Joined: 29 May 2005 Posts: 93 Location: Wroclaw

The IH Celta course providers were a bit slow in replying to me when I applied so I ended up signing up for the Wroclaw course instead as they seemd much more interested, prepared and organised.

Alex Shulgin · Joined: 20 Jul 2003 Posts: 553

gregoryfromcali · Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2005 10:32 pm Post subject:

tbiehl2000 · Joined: 22 Jul 2004 Posts: 87

I'd like to hear from anyone that has worked for IH. I heard they pay less than the going rate but that they help to develop their teachers through workshops etc. Has anyone out there had positive experiences with IH? Positive or negative, I'd like to hear about it. Thanks.

gregoryfromcali · Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2005 8:32 am Post subject:

I haven't worked for IH but I can tell you that everything depends on the DOS.

I think they do offer a lot in terms of a teacher who wants to continue to live in foreign countries and I hear that they do have training sessions which is always better than none at all.

But I don't think that the pay is high.

However I can tell you what you may want to look for in a school.

I work for a Bell school and I can tell you that training sessions, monitoring and schools taking student feedback seriously definately helps a teacher develop.

The reason is that you can start out as a "not so good" teacher and in a place that offers support you can develop into a good teacher. Because the school will point out your mistakes and help you develop. On the other hand it can also be more stressful because the school has a standard that they want you to meet and it is a standard set by good teachers with years of experience.

I've also worked at places that don't offer support and the school basically leaves you alone. Which may sound like fun at first but I have noticed that more teachers at those schools are frustrated with their students or simply don't really care about teaching English grammar (as teaching grammar is the most challenging part for a native). I partially blame the schools though because they don't offer support therefore these teachers have no idea how to please their students and become jaded.

Although the school will expect more from you I would try to find a school that prides itself on some standards especially if you're going to get your CELTA. Because the CELTA only lasts for a month and it takes more than a month to be a good teacher and it also takes some time to develop your own style of teaching that includes the communicative method along with other methods.

Martin P · Joined: 18 Nov 2004 Posts: 16

There are several different groups of IH schools within Poland. Even the different schools within eah group have noticeably different characters.

It's hard to compare without knowing what you've experienced before.

In terms of teacher developement, the best schools are as good as anywhere in the world.

Salary, not so good, but depends on the school.

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

I worked for IH Bydgoszcz in 96-97.The pay was, and is, awful.The teaching development was hit and miss.Workshops are only useful when you can apply them.Personally,I'd never work for them again because you need a living wage in any profession.

Martin P · Joined: 18 Nov 2004 Posts: 16

I think it depends on your values.

If you want to be able to buy Adidas, Levis, Jack Daniels and Nissan
x-trails
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?p=41999
then no, you won't be impressed with salaries at IH or pretty much any schools in Poland!

You may be right that teacher development in IH Bydgoszcz in 96-97 was 'hit and miss', but the teachers I've talked recently to have lots of praise for the teacher development in the IH schools (Katowice, Wroclaw, Koszalin) they worked for.

Incidentally, biffin, you're also wrong that 'applications for CELTAs are always successful'. There's nothing worse than a complaining or needy candidate, so tutors do reject applicants. You can find people moaning about not getting on courses on other eslcafe boards.

Alex Shulgin · Joined: 20 Jul 2003 Posts: 553

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

Alex is right.Martin ,methinks you are an IH DOS or something like that although you seem to know a bit about me so maybe I knew you from Doha.I was in Poland last week and I signed a contract paying 70zl an hour net.30 hours a week will pay me 2100zl (weekly).IH's salaries are a disgrace that is a fact.Wake up and smell the coffee.

biffinbridge · Joined: 05 May 2003 Posts: 701 Location: Frank's Wild Years

And one more thing...a DIP gives no-one the right to wax lyrical about neurolinguistic programming and the like.As anyone who's been in elt for a while will know most of what you learn in workshops is common sense.I remember going to an IH workshop on 'Action Research' and laughing at the teacher trainer who clearly took himself far too seriously, while explaining that it was a good idea to get feedback from your students.Another's key motto was 'Response-ability'.(He thought that was really amusing).I knew the last three DOSs of IH Bydgoszcz and I knew the ex DOS of IH Torun.They all came to the Gulf because they were broke after working for IH for many years.Most teaching development is worthless unless it is practical.Knowing about Chomsky and Krashen will not help you teach Headway/Cutting Edge,which is probably what you will teach at IH.'Teaching Development', in my experience of only 11 years,is a term used by HR departments in poorly paying schools to attract new teachers who don't know any better.Put that in ya pipe and smoke it and don't criticize my value system.None of us are teachers for the money but a living wage is necessary anywhere.