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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US
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 Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Martinaj wrote: |
| Does 6 hours of supervised teaching really trump 3.5 years of experience? This is just getting a little hard for me to wrap my head around. |
For some employers, yes (but not all). Experience doesn't necessarily result in good teaching. |
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Martinaj
Joined: 07 Sep 2014
Posts: 35
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| Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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| rtm wrote: |
| For some employers, yes (but not all). Experience doesn't necessarily result in good teaching. |
A fair point, but I would imagine in most cases it means, especially if your employer asked you to renew your contract three times, that you at least understand the ins and outs of managing a classroom and putting lessons together, and, by the same token, 6 hours of experience doesn't necessarily mean you'll be prepared for an entire term. I had been under the impression that the in-classroom course was less essential for teachers with prior experience. |
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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US
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| Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Martinaj wrote: |
| I would imagine in most cases it means, especially if your employer asked you to renew your contract three times, that you at least understand the ins and outs of managing a classroom and putting lessons together, and, by the same token, 6 hours of experience doesn't necessarily mean you'll be prepared for an entire term. |
One would think that renewals signified good performance, right? But, that's not necessarily the case. Some employers have no idea what their teachers do in the classroom, and as long as there are no (or few) complaints from students, contracts get renewed.
Some hiring employers would rather take a 'known' 6-hours of teaching experience than an 'unknown' 3.5 years.
Of course, some employers will prefer the 3.5 years of experience, and for some employers the in-class certificate won't be necessary. For others, however, they'll want to see the in-class certificate and supervised teaching experience. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 4:34 am Post subject: |
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To put it another way, working 3.5 years for an employer who required zero related qualifications doesn't assure another potential employer that 'you' can measure up where teaching standards are applied.
To elaborate a bit:
For all a potential employer knows, your Chinese employer may have renewed teachers (not you specifically, but their teachers in general) for reasons like:
1.they're blonde and blue-eyed
2. they are cool and play a mean guitar in the classroom
3. their lessons were super-fun and based on popular US culture
4. they made friends with your students and hung out regularly
5. they were quiet and low key and simply didn't rock the boat; easy to get along with on the admin side
6. other equally unrelated to the meat-and-bones of EFL teaching.....
Last edited by spiral78 on Tue Sep 16, 2014 6:22 am; edited 3 times in total |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 5:02 am Post subject: |
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| Martinaj wrote: |
| I had been under the impression that the in-classroom course was less essential for teachers with prior experience. |
Just curious - where did this idea come from? |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 5:20 am Post subject: |
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| Martinaj wrote: |
IDELT is, as is obvious from the website, a 140 hour certification course. It was modeled after the CELTA, and I guess one of their selling points is specifically delving into things like various teaching methodologies and generally getting more academic about things than Bridge's more standard TEFL. I am waiting to get this confirmed by UNC, but I believe that the university either reviewed their course or helped design it.
The certificate you get from the course does NOT indicate a connection to UNC. It is accredited by ACCET, which is on the certificate. Along with the certificate, you also get grade and a transcript of the course, and the transcript IS from the UNC and this IS indicated. They also provide a course breakdown that employers can look at, so they know exactly what the course entails, but I don't know how many would bother to look that. |
You have two separate components to your situation: one is academic, the other impacts employment. In terms of academics, if you're interested in eventually pursuing a TEFL-related MA (regardless of where it's taken), then it's worth it to follow up with UNC about the assessed grad credits from the IDELT. However, for employment, it won't matter that the IDELT may have been set up by UNC or that it's modeled after the CELTA. Your particular IDELT course falls short of that comparison.
| and wrote: |
Does 6 hours of supervised teaching really trump 3.5 years of experience? This is just getting a little hard for me to wrap my head around.
....
I would imagine in most cases it means, especially if your employer asked you to renew your contract three times, that you at least understand the ins and outs of managing a classroom and putting lessons together, and, by the same token, 6 hours of experience doesn't necessarily mean you'll be prepared for an entire term. I had been under the impression that the in-classroom course was less essential for teachers with prior experience. |
Ironically, you mentioned how you're learning a lot from your IDELT course---as if it's energized you. Supervised teaching practice would have been a continuation of your learning---giving you an opportunity to put those new concepts and techniques to actual practice under the expertise and guidance of a seasoned pro.
Anyway, as I and others have repeatedly pointed out, there's no proof you were properly trained to teach. Moreover, your teaching has never been observed and assessed. Simply teaching for 3.5 years on contract renewals means zippo to many potential employers, which is why you'll see job postings specifying CELTA, Trinity, SIT or a CELTA-equivalent TEFL cert. So keep in mind there are plenty of teachers who also have 3 or more years of experience gained after their CELTA/in-class equivalent teacher training. That's who you're competing against for jobs. Additionally, make sure you have a good answer if ever asked during an interview why you didn't get a TEFL cert that included supervised teaching practice.
By the way, many of us with relevant MAs are still formally observed and assessed; it's actually standard practice for the profession. In fact, I've personally been observed at least once a year for every year I've taught and consider it a professional development tool. Although observations vary in length, context, criteria, competencies, etc., the main objective stays the same: to guide and support the teacher toward becoming more aware of and reflective on his/her strengths and weaknesses (what's going well vs. what needs improvement) in the classroom in order to optimize the students' learning experience. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 6:21 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| By the way, many of us with relevant MAs are still formally observed and assessed; it's actually standard practice for the profession. |
I and my colleagues (at three institutions over the past decade +) have always been observed. Often far more often than annually!
it is normal, for the reasons nomad's noted above.
| Quote: |
Martinaj wrote:
I had been under the impression that the in-classroom course was less essential for teachers with prior experience.
Just curious - where did this idea come from? |
We've often seen this idea from providers of online certs, I'm afraid....Though it might understandably be an assumption of some experienced teachers themselves. After all, if they were successful in one context (country, culture, school) why NOT in another? The gap in reasoning is that students and expectations vary SO greatly across the EFL world. |
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Sashadroogie
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 11061
Location: Moskva, The Workers' Paradise
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| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 6:34 am Post subject: |
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That's what I thought too. It looks like marketing bumf to justify not having in-class TPs with real language learners. "You already have experience of this, so we don't need to spend money designing our course to provide you with more!"
We might be wrong, though. Maybe this idea comes from elsewhere. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 7:08 am Post subject: |
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| Probably so, Sasha. Plus, online cert providers are likely working out of tiny storefront offices or from home. That's way more economical than leasing and furnishing classrooms and hiring a full staff in order to provide onsite classes. Besides, the online TEFL cert biz doesn't seem to be hurtin'. |
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suphanburi
Joined: 20 Mar 2014
Posts: 916
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| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 9:24 am Post subject: |
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| nomad soul wrote: |
| Besides, the online TEFL cert biz doesn't seem to be hurtin'. |
Tough job tho running a TEFL skool ....
Suphan's on-line skool of TEFL.
140 hours of coorswork.
U two can "Teech n travel" around the world when you are done.
Hot sail today. Only US$99. PayPal accepted.
Sponsored by PhotoShop.
http://www.hotTEFLtoday4cheap.com
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esl_prof
Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 2006
Location: peyi kote solèy frèt
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| Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:27 am Post subject: |
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| Martinaj wrote: |
| Well this is all rather distressing news. It's starting to sound like I may just be wasting my time with this cert? |
Based on what you've shared so far, it sounds like this has been a productive professional development move in terms of your learning and growth as a teacher, so I wouldn't consider it a waste of time at all. That being said, I understand your disappointment in learning that this program isn't going to do what you anticipated in terms of opening the doors to better employment opportunities.
One option, which Nomad already suggested, would be to see if you can work with Bridge to add a supervised teaching component. If that's possible, this would be the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to access better job opportunities.
However, since you've indicated that you're planning to make a career out of English teaching, you should really start looking into completing a master's degree in TESOL. If it turns out that UNC actually awards graduate credit for the IDELT and if you can actually transfer that credit into the graduate program of your choice, then you may have already started on this path without even knowing it.
Whether or not you can persuade Bridge to add a supervised teaching component to your program, I would suggest that your next move be either (1) research and begin applying to graduate programs or (2) look for entry-level work in places (e.g., Korea) that will allow you to save the kind of money necessary to put yourself through grad school a year or two down the road.
In short, don't be too hard on yourself for past mistakes (and, in the big scheme of things, this was a small one). Just keep your eye on the long term goal and keep moving forward. |
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suphanburi
Joined: 20 Mar 2014
Posts: 916
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| Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:42 am Post subject: |
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IF a long term goal is professional teacher then a teacher certification program coupled with an ESL/EFL endorsement and home country licensure is probably a better option than an MA (unless of course becoming a tertiary lecturer or research is his end goal).
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esl_prof
Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 2006
Location: peyi kote solèy frèt
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| Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 3:04 am Post subject: |
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| suphanburi wrote: |
| IF a long term goal is professional teacher then a teacher certification program coupled with an ESL/EFL endorsement and home country licensure is probably a better option than an MA (unless of course becoming a tertiary lecturer or research is his end goal). |
True, depending on the age group and country where the OP intends to teach. Keep in mind, however, that many U.S. universities now offer graduate-level teacher licensure programs that allow one to simultaneously earn an M.A. (or M.Ed.) plus state licensure so it could be a both/and rather than either/or proposition. As the OP mentioned that s/he has a BA in English already (as opposed to some totally unrelated field), it seems like this would be a viable proposition if s/he chooses to study in the States. Teacher certification elsewhere in the anglophone world, of course, could be a totally different ballgame. |
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MENA_chica
Joined: 28 Sep 2014
Posts: 82
Location: Middle East
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| Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 11:32 pm Post subject: |
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| rtm wrote: |
For some employers, yes (but not all). Experience doesn't necessarily result in good teaching. |
So true! I once worked with a fellow Brit approaching the end of his illustrious 40-year long TEFL career. He was dismissed after a couple months as students in all of his classes consistently complained that they weren't learning anything. He was observed, deemed ineffective and sent packing. I was absolutely gutted as he was a great guy. |
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snowboard
Joined: 13 Oct 2014
Posts: 24
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| Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2014 11:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Sashadroogie wrote: |
| Which is the uni in Colorado with the rep for being a party college bereft of any learning? Not the one mentioned on this thread, one hopes! |
Yes, bereft of any learning never mind that CU Boulder is the only institution in the world to have designed and built instruments that have been launched to every planet in the solar system and to Pluto. And the school holds five Nobel prize winning faculty members. |
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