Job Discussion Forums

[Guy Courchesne]

MELEE, you're in a great position to comment on this. Leaving brand names and number of hours aside, what would you most value in a training program? What does someone need to know (or have done) for you to hire them, if you were in the position to hire?

[Justin Trullinger]

Not sure about SIT's "left leaning" tendencies, but from their course offerings, I could definitely see the possibility of certain internationalist tendencies. Fine by me, although they'll probably have to lean a bit further left to get to my personal positions...

For me, the brand of the cert isn't the thing, but the training is. I think I said this in another thread, but what I would look for in a cert is:

At least 120 hours of instruction time.

Teaching practice, observed, of at least 6 hours.

Well trained, experienced teacher trainers. (I'm thinking diploma or masters level here, who have been teaching EFL for at least 5 years)

Previous grads who have positive things to say about the program, and went on to have positive, succesful teaching experiences. (If a program won't, or can't, put you in touch with previous grads, forget it.)


As someone who hires teachers, I expect a cert to have included real teaching, with real students. In an interview with a first time teacher, I ask about the teaching they did on their cert. (What went well, what didn't, and why, what was easy, what was hard, etc) And then I ask about hypothetical teaching situations. (What would you do with a certain kind of student, a certain grammar point, or a certain classroom problem.) What's interesting to me about these last questions is, I really don't expect a first time teacher to know the answers. A good first timer response is to tell me how they would go about finding out. (Where to look things up, who they hope to be able to ask, needing to know what our discipline policies are, etc) A potential teacher should know that, as DOS, I expect new teachers to need support, and I'll give it, as will more senior staff. A teacher who knows when, and how, to ask, is showing their potential to continue learning to teach. This, to me, is the essential characteristic, because nobody learns it all on a 4 week cert.

It would make my life easier if I could hire only experienced teachers, who are already on a well established learning curve, but the reality of the Ecuadorian market is otherwise. And I find that a balance between recently qualified teachers and older warhorses makes for a much better working environment. (The older ones bring their experience, the newer ones their enthusiasm, and everybody benefits. )

Regards,
Justin

[MELEE]

Guy,
Practice teaching hours, and hours observing both their classmates and experienced teachers. Ideally it'd go a lot higher than the 6 hours Justin mentions. If the candidate is a recent MA grad, they should have at least a semester of mentored practice teaching.
I'd also like a training program to prepare teachers to work with a wide variety of materials. I know one now defunct course used to train people to plan lessons based on the Interchange text. Grads should know how to plan lessons, with any or no textbook.
I would also love it if Micheal Lewis's book The English Verb was required reading on a certificate course.

Mostly I agree with Justin. I can't always hire experienced teachers because I often have to find someone after a new hire backs out. But as a rule, we want at least a year's experience in an overseas environment--I've found that the US or UK ESL teaching experience doesn't transfer that well.
I used to think that people should have previously lived off the beaten track, that it would help them stick it out in our town, but several people on both sides of that characteristic have proven me wrong.

Over the years I've gotten better at reading references. (And in turn writting them.) I also now know how to spot a faked CELTA

I also agree with Justin that its good to have a mix of experienced and new teachers. I often ask experience teachers what they have learned recently that has changed their teaching, if they haven't learned anything new in the last couple of months, I don't want to work with them, I don't think anyone in any field ever finishes their training.

Cheers,

[Justin Trullinger]

How do you spot a fake Celta?