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Hsinchuguy
Joined: 09 Apr 2003
Posts: 109
Location: Toronto
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 Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:28 pm Post subject: Do I need a CELTA to teach in Canada? |
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After 11 years teaching ESL overseas, I'm finally ready to return home. I expect to be in either Toronto or Vancouver in April or May. Although I don't want to make a career out of it in Canada, I'd like to do some teaching work to help me re-enter the orbit of working life in Canada.
Last year, I looked into it a bit and contacted a couple of schools. Their response was "no CELTA, no work". In the interest of full disclosure, I must hasten to add that both these schools offered the CELTA course. Something fishy there?
I have an MA in Applied Linguistics and have been teaching for more than a decade, including at the college level in the Middle East where I now am.
So, does one really need a CELTA to teach in Canada? |
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Gordon
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2007 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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| If you have a masters and 11 years experience, I'd say "No". Some schools may advertise that ALL their teachers have a TEFL certificate. When I was in the language school market years ago in Vancouver, every school required a tefl cert. I think it would be ridiculous for you to have to go back and get a tefl certificate now. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 11:33 pm Post subject: |
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There may be some new regulations in Canada. This month, some regulatory agency came to our university to ascertain minimum qualifications, and all they wanted to see was our original TEFL certifications. They accepted all certs from 30-day on-site courses (mine is a generic one from 1998). They showed no interest in our MAs or first degrees or experience.
It seems pretty strange to me that a 30-day cert could be more important than an MA, but it might be useful to check with some schools that don't offer a CELTA to see whether a cert if necessary. |
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GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 1:33 am Post subject: Re: Do I need a CELTA to teach in Canada? |
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| Hsinchuguy wrote: |
After 11 years teaching ESL overseas, I'm finally ready to return home. I expect to be in either Toronto or Vancouver in April or May. Although I don't want to make a career out of it in Canada, I'd like to do some teaching work to help me re-enter the orbit of working life in Canada.
Last year, I looked into it a bit and contacted a couple of schools. Their response was "no CELTA, no work". In the interest of full disclosure, I must hasten to add that both these schools offered the CELTA course. Something fishy there?
I have an MA in Applied Linguistics and have been teaching for more than a decade, including at the college level in the Middle East where I now am.
So, does one really need a CELTA to teach in Canada? |
Did you do your MA by distance? If so, then there couldn't have been a practicum that was monitored by an EFL teacher, it would have just been your every day work. That said, in Toronto, a TESL Ontario certificate is needed to work in goverment jobs, and most people who teach at private language schools have at least something equivalent to a CELTA and very often the one-year certificate that includes a practicum throughout the course. And if your MA is by distance, then I'm assuming it's not from a Canadian university (because AFAIK the only university in Canada to offer one by distance is a Christian university in BC, and then it isn't Applied Linguistics, it's Christian Studies/TEFL or something like that) Canadian people tend to go on about multi-culturalism and being so much more accepting of other cultures than Americans (which isn't even true, IME), but getting foreign qualifications accepted from anywhere other than the UK or the US (and even in those cases often only for university positions) is really very, very hard.
You may have more luck if you are actually in Toronto or Vancouver applying than applying overseas. But unless you are really set on living in Canada again, I would probably apply duirng a vacation back home instead of just arriving and having no other real plan, or else you could find yourself a Chapters/Starbucks/Block Buster retail manager trainee after a few months (especially if you are living in Toronto). |
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Hsinchuguy
Joined: 09 Apr 2003
Posts: 109
Location: Toronto
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:12 pm Post subject: Re: Do I need a CELTA to teach in Canada? |
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| GambateBingBangBOOM wrote: |
| Hsinchuguy wrote: |
After 11 years teaching ESL overseas, I'm finally ready to return home. I expect to be in either Toronto or Vancouver in April or May. Although I don't want to make a career out of it in Canada, I'd like to do some teaching work to help me re-enter the orbit of working life in Canada.
Last year, I looked into it a bit and contacted a couple of schools. Their response was "no CELTA, no work". In the interest of full disclosure, I must hasten to add that both these schools offered the CELTA course. Something fishy there?
I have an MA in Applied Linguistics and have been teaching for more than a decade, including at the college level in the Middle East where I now am.
So, does one really need a CELTA to teach in Canada? |
Did you do your MA by distance? If so, then there couldn't have been a practicum that was monitored by an EFL teacher, it would have just been your every day work. That said, in Toronto, a TESL Ontario certificate is needed to work in goverment jobs, and most people who teach at private language schools have at least something equivalent to a CELTA and very often the one-year certificate that includes a practicum throughout the course. And if your MA is by distance, then I'm assuming it's not from a Canadian university (because AFAIK the only university in Canada to offer one by distance is a Christian university in BC, and then it isn't Applied Linguistics, it's Christian Studies/TEFL or something like that) Canadian people tend to go on about multi-culturalism and being so much more accepting of other cultures than Americans (which isn't even true, IME), but getting foreign qualifications accepted from anywhere other than the UK or the US (and even in those cases often only for university positions) is really very, very hard.
You may have more luck if you are actually in Toronto or Vancouver applying than applying overseas. But unless you are really set on living in Canada again, I would probably apply duirng a vacation back home instead of just arriving and having no other real plan, or else you could find yourself a Chapters/Starbucks/Block Buster retail manager trainee after a few months (especially if you are living in Toronto). |
You're absolutely spot on.
I did my MA through distance education from USQ in Australia when I was living in Taiwan. One of the reasons that I left Taiwan is that no Taiwanese university would recognise a distance degree.
That being said, I'm now at the apex of the ESL world, teaching at a university in the Gulf. Big money, but really no future beyond ESL.
I am going to return to Canada because I want to take one last kick at the can before I realize that I was born in the wrong place.
I just want to pick up a few hours part time in ESL and pursue other options. But the usual Canadian anal crap applies. So I may end up at Tim Hortons yet.
It's sad but true that many a teacher who were used to holidays in Thailand and Japan end up with weekend trips to Niagara Falls and Barfallo.
May the force be with me... |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:21 pm Post subject: Re: Do I need a CELTA to teach in Canada? |
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| GambateBingBangBOOM wrote: |
| Canadian people tend to go on about multi-culturalism and being so much more accepting of other cultures than Americans (which isn't even true, IME) |
Oh, I see. |
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TokyoLiz
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1548
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:09 am Post subject: Multiculturalism and Canada's immigration policy |
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About qaulifications - TESL Canada lists both TESL Canada recognized training programs, and professional certification requirements, which I assume are meant to recognize overseas qualifications which meet the same standards as domestic TESL certifications.
http://www.tesl.ca/
Gambatte wrote
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| Canadian people tend to go on about multi-culturalism and being so much more accepting of other cultures than Americans |
Canada's policies on multiculturalism and foreign certifcation are not in sync. You can't build Babel in a day.
Consider Human Resources and Skills Development Canada http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/cs/comm/hrsd/news/2005/050425bb.shtml |
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