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Jetgirly
Joined: 17 Jul 2004
Posts: 741
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 Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 7:18 pm Post subject: B.Ed vs. CELTA (Ha!) |
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A few years ago I did the CELTA, worked in Europe for a few years, and then came back to Canada, got a B.Ed, got certified and entered the public school system. A friend of mine from the B.Ed program did a year of teaching in the public system here, then decided to move to Spain and teach EFL. Her qualifications are mostly similar to mine- a four-year undergraduate degree, a two-year Bachelor of Education degree (including a six-month overseas practicum in a Spanish-speaking country teaching full-time EFL), Canadian teaching certification and public school experience. Oh, and unlike me she's 100% fluent in Spanish. She is currently in Spain with the legal right to work... and she's finding schools are turning her down because she doesn't have a TEFL certificate!
I totally understand how the CELTA is useful for someone with no prior teaching experience (like me, at age twenty)... but for someone fluent in the local language, with a DEGREE in Education, coursework in ESL/EFL and a six-month EFL practicum supervised by the university, why would a four-week certificate be a job requirement? The only thing I can imagine is that most of the schools she's applied at offer a four-week certificate, and it's a good business decision to demand their teachers have the same qualification they sell. Any administrators care to chime in? |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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My guess:
Job market jammed with applicants. CELTA is the name brand and requires no further thought on the part of a DOS.
They're simply not reading her CV carefully - presumably because they have millions to choose from..... |
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Sadebugo
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 524
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:41 pm Post subject: Re: B.Ed vs. CELTA (Ha!) |
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| Jetgirly wrote: |
A few years ago I did the CELTA, worked in Europe for a few years, and then came back to Canada, got a B.Ed, got certified and entered the public school system. A friend of mine from the B.Ed program did a year of teaching in the public system here, then decided to move to Spain and teach EFL. Her qualifications are mostly similar to mine- a four-year undergraduate degree, a two-year Bachelor of Education degree (including a six-month overseas practicum in a Spanish-speaking country teaching full-time EFL), Canadian teaching certification and public school experience. Oh, and unlike me she's 100% fluent in Spanish. She is currently in Spain with the legal right to work... and she's finding schools are turning her down because she doesn't have a TEFL certificate!
I totally understand how the CELTA is useful for someone with no prior teaching experience (like me, at age twenty)... but for someone fluent in the local language, with a DEGREE in Education, coursework in ESL/EFL and a six-month EFL practicum supervised by the university, why would a four-week certificate be a job requirement? The only thing I can imagine is that most of the schools she's applied at offer a four-week certificate, and it's a good business decision to demand their teachers have the same qualification they sell. Any administrators care to chime in? |
It's the same thing that happened to me once. An employer in an Asian country demanded the CELTA even though I already had an MATEFL and 10 years of teaching experience. Some people don't seem to understand that a CELTA is an entry level qualification and not the primary one. It's a good warning sign actually because such an employer probably is uninformed in many other ways as well.
Sadebugo
http://travldawrld.blogspot.com/ |
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80daze
Joined: 15 Oct 2008
Posts: 118
Location: China
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| Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:47 am Post subject: |
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Clearly the management of the schools she applied to either did not read her CV (as previous poster said) or are completely incompetent (ignorant of higher qualifications).
It's ridiculous! |
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bdbarnett1
Joined: 27 Apr 2003
Posts: 178
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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| Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 2:26 am Post subject: Re: B.Ed vs. CELTA (Ha!) |
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| Sadebugo wrote: |
| Jetgirly wrote: |
A few years ago I did the CELTA, worked in Europe for a few years, and then came back to Canada, got a B.Ed, got certified and entered the public school system. A friend of mine from the B.Ed program did a year of teaching in the public system here, then decided to move to Spain and teach EFL. Her qualifications are mostly similar to mine- a four-year undergraduate degree, a two-year Bachelor of Education degree (including a six-month overseas practicum in a Spanish-speaking country teaching full-time EFL), Canadian teaching certification and public school experience. Oh, and unlike me she's 100% fluent in Spanish. She is currently in Spain with the legal right to work... and she's finding schools are turning her down because she doesn't have a TEFL certificate!
I totally understand how the CELTA is useful for someone with no prior teaching experience (like me, at age twenty)... but for someone fluent in the local language, with a DEGREE in Education, coursework in ESL/EFL and a six-month EFL practicum supervised by the university, why would a four-week certificate be a job requirement? The only thing I can imagine is that most of the schools she's applied at offer a four-week certificate, and it's a good business decision to demand their teachers have the same qualification they sell. Any administrators care to chime in? |
It's the same thing that happened to me once. An employer in an Asian country demanded the CELTA even though I already had an MATEFL and 10 years of teaching experience. Some people don't seem to understand that a CELTA is an entry level qualification and not the primary one. It's a good warning sign actually because such an employer probably is uninformed in many other ways as well.
Sadebugo
http://travldawrld.blogspot.com/ |
I'm gonna have to agree with this one. |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 9041
Location: home sweet home
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| Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 4:39 am Post subject: |
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| Sigh, I guess in the future I'll haev to do a DELTA then. |
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tttompatz
Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 1951
Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines
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| Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 5:06 am Post subject: |
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| naturegirl321 wrote: |
| Sigh, I guess in the future I'll haev to do a DELTA then. |
And pray that you don't get refused because you don't have a CELTA.. 
. |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:56 am Post subject: |
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While what Spiral has said about the CV not being read properly is most likely the case, it is also possible that the employers didn't have much faith in her higher quals. Unless the CV really stresses the practical nature of the degree, most employers will assume it is 'only theoretical' and opt for the candidate with a CELTA who 'can do the job'. Experience in teaching in public schools won't be much good if you are teaching EFL to adults. A degree in education may not train you in EFL at all. Next CV from the pile please!
Ridiculous, true. But safer. Why risk recruiting someone with 'unknown' quals when there is another applicant whose training you fully recognise? |
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Justin Trullinger
Joined: 28 Jan 2005
Posts: 3110
Location: Seoul, South Korea and Myanmar for a bit
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| Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 1:41 pm Post subject: |
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