Job Discussion Forums

[Meliska]

I am in the process of applying to take the CELTA course through the Instituto Britanico in Costa Rica. Does anyone have experience with taking the course there? If so, what did you think of the teaching you received and the experience as a whole?

Also, the application asks whether you are interested in working for the Instituto Britanico upon completion of the course. Are any of you working there, or have you worked for them in the past? Please share your experiences! Thanks in advance.

[Cdaniels]

A simpler way to do this is to click on the Search button beneath the caption "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!" above. I did a quick serach on "Instituto Britanico" and found a few recent posts including: http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=25227&highlight=instituto+britanico
Perhaps this information is not specific enough, but I wasn't sure if you were aware of this feature of Dave's Forums, which I have found to be very helpful.

[KTCAMP]

I took the CELTA class at Instituto Britanico in Costa Rica in August 2004 and had a fantastic experience. The training I received was specific, practical and demanding. By the second day we were teaching students in a classroom setting, so everything that we talked about in theory in the morning we were able to put into practice in the classroom in the afternoon.

They also taught us how to teach using the same methodologies that they were teaching us. We were never lectured and we were never sitting in our chairs very long. The 8 hour days flew by. We learned the methods by experiencing them instead of just talking about them in theory.

Don't expect that you'll have a lot of free time during this course. My days and evenings and weekends were consumed by the class for those four weeks. It's intense, but I'd prefer that over some of the joke courses I've heard about.

As far as working at Instituto after the course, don't expect to be hired. Out of the 12 people taking the course last August, just one was British and she was the only one who was hired to work there afterward. But don't despair, within two weeks after finishing the course, I had three full-time teaching job offers and I now teach at the largest, most prestigious private university in Costa Rica, Universidad Latina, where I earn twice what teachers at Instituto make. From what I've seen, IB would be a great place to work. Lots of teacher support and resources and the director, Ellen Hunt, is a wonderful person. But I believe you have to sign at least a 6-month contract and the pay is on the low side.

Let me know if you have more questions about the CELTA or teaching in Costa Rica.