Job Discussion Forums

level · Joined: 04 Jul 2005 Posts: 34

Sorry, I know this question has been asked before but I could do with a few pointers. I want to work in Shanghai, probably only for 6 months but possibly for a year. After that I'm going back to the UK and will not teach again.

Do I really need to get a TEFL certificate? The decent ones cost nearly 1000 GBP. Also they don't finish until the end of August and I already have an offer from a kindergarden if I can get there by mid-August.
Cheers

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

Do you havea degree? If so, then that's all you need. Actually, for teaching kindergarten students I doubt one needs that much education. But being trained in Early Childhood Education would be useful.

I am completing my TEFL/TESOL certificate course now and I think it's useful. Even for people like me who have experience in teaching EFL, I think you can benefit because you will learn something that you didn't know or haven't thought of before. For anyone who has no training or no experience in teaching whatsoever, I feel that they should definitely take at least a NON-online TEFL course (minimum 60 hours). The most important things you'll learn is class management and lesson planning. Time and time again I have talked to new FT's whose biggest frustration has been not knowing how to get their students participating in class.

Also, more and more Chinese employers now are looking for TEFL certification whether one has a degree or not. You don't need some brand-name TEFL certificate like CELTA or by Trinity. They cost too much and only useful if you want to teach EFL as a career and/or teaching in developed countries like in Europe.

Don McChesney · Joined: 25 Jun 2005 Posts: 656

I agree with tw. TESOL is very useful in learning class management, and has lots of advice for anyone coming for first time overseas teaching, plus lots of resource material. You may not need it as you have a degree, but it gives you leverage over others.
In the provinces, there are so many jobs they don't expect TEFL, and don't pay any more if you do have it.
If you don't have time/money, most stuff can be picked up off the net anyway, but a workshop TESOL is a real grin and a steep learning curve.
Good Luck.
PS China can be addictive, don't bank on not coming back!!

anthyp · Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 1320 Location: Chicago, IL USA

It is not worth doing a TEFL if you are only going to be teaching for a year.

Take what tw says with a grain of salt, he isn't actually currently employed in the PRC and posts so often it must be hard for him to put much thought into each individual post. But if you are going to be "teaching" EFL in China for 6 months you absolutely should not get a TEFL, you wouldn't even be able to recoup the costs of that from your salary and it's not all that useful.

Of course, if you were serious about teaching, you would need to invest in the minimal qualifications (including a TEFL) to prepare yourself for that ... but since you're not, you don't need to. The teaching practice is valuable but we learn best through actual experience and these one - month courses wouldn't be all that useful to someone who's going to be teaching here for such a short time.

Don't do it, you could use the money for a nice holiday when your contract's up or for countless other things.

level · Joined: 04 Jul 2005 Posts: 34

It's more the time thing that's the issue. The course is 4 weeks and ends at the end of August. This doesn't really leave me any time to focus on finding a job. I know it would be really helpful but if I don't want to be a teacher and I probably don't want to do a whole year then I'm wondering whether it's worth it. I just want to experience living and working in a different counrty... money isn't really a motivator.

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

Since you are seriously considering working at a kindergarten I would say a TEFL is useless for you. You do not normally "teach" at kindergartens (although Chinese kindergartens differ from western one). What others may have learnt in terms of class management is irrelevant to you there. A much better foundation for your work would be some course that prepares you intellectually for the challenges awaiting you from preschoolers.

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

Volodiya · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:30 am Post subject:

I agree with those posters who have said that it would not be worth the time and money, in the very narrow circumstances you've presented, here.

For others, with a greater commitment to teaching, it offers a quick glimpse into the issues teachers face in the classroom, and the resources available to them. It gives them a chance to try their hand in front of a class. It is some insurance against a "flame-out", later, when the real challenges of teaching begin to become obvious, for the first time, to the person with no prior teacher training, or classroom experience.

sheeba · Joined: 17 Jun 2004 Posts: 1123

I think my TEFL would have been more useful after I actually had some classroom teaching experience . If you teach in a Chinese Uni then I really would not bother doing a TEFL especially if you are not taking this career seriously . Just be aware of some teaching methodologies and learn from your mistakes in the classroom . That's where my useful learning has appeared as apposed to the CELTA.

David Riddel - Teach Yourself TEFL (I think)
Read this book .Really easy to read and tells you as much as what a CELTA teacher would .