Job Discussion Forums

corporatehuman · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 198 Location: Mexico City

Hello!

Yes I do want to become a good teacher. But CELTA is a bit more expensive than anything else. My question is, do job prospects in Mexico really IMPROVE that much when you have the CELTA? Or is it really equivalent to a respectable TEFL / TESOL...

How much extra income do you think CELTA provides? I assume if you have it you can ask for more money. I'm guessing it probably is worth it, but at the same time; I don't know.

- Chris

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

IMHO... a name-brand CELTA doesn't carry that much more weight than a generic 4-week TEFL certificate in Latin America. On your resume, you may want to mention in brief form that it is a 4-week TEFL Certificate with X hours of classroom time).

Actual teaching experience counts for far more than a piece of paper.

Note: added the comment about "in Latin America". In some parts of the world, particularly western Europe, CELTA's name recognition seems to have added value.

jillford64 · Joined: 15 Feb 2006 Posts: 397 Location: Sin City

I agree with ls650; I don't think it matters. Any decent certificate, a little bit of observed teaching practice or a little teaching experience, and a well written resume seem to go a long way.

For what it is worth, here is my TESL/TEFL experience so far: I have just started looking for a job teaching English. I have a TESL certificate from the University of California at Irvine, so neither a CELTA, Trinity Certificate, or a 4-week generic TESOL certificate. My long-term goal is to spend time teaching in both Mexico and Central Europe (where the CELTA and Trinity seem to be a BIG DEAL). As best I can tell, the CELTA and Trinity certs are 100 hours of classroom time with 6 to 8 hours of observed practice teaching. My certificate required 260 hours of classroom time, but had no required observed teaching. I took a lot more electives than were required, so I have actually completed 360 hours of classroom learning. The last quarter I was taking classes, the school offered a Teaching Practicum where we observed a master teacher, practiced lesson planning, wrote and taught two lesson plans that were a 1 and 1.5 hours each, and recieved feed back on the teaching. I have 36 hours of teaching experience (beginning and intermediate adults from Taiwan) comprising one 3 hour session a week for 12 weeks. I also have 18 years of technical/business experience. All of this was empasized in a polished resume.

I have been VERY worried about not having an "internationally-recognized certificate such as CELTA or Trinity" or the same amount of observed teaching practice those certificates require. So far, in my very limited job search, I have sent my resume to 2 schools in California, 1 school in Chile, 2 schools in Mexico, and 1 school in Bratislava, Slovakia. I have had a phone interview with one school in California; I have been invited for an in-person interview with the other school in California; and the two schools in Mexico and the one in Chile responded that they liked my resume, provided more information about the school, and asked that I contact them if I am still interested. I had a phone interview with the school in Bratislava on Monday and I have a second phone interview today at 10:30 am. NOT ONE of these schools expressed any dismay with the fact that I don't have the CELTA certificate. There has been no dicussion of where I got my certificate or what kind I have; just the fact that I have one seems to be good enough.

Fatcat · Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 92 Location: Athens, Georgia

I'm sure many others will chime in, but from what I've learned (I've been contemplating the same issue) is that CELTA doesn't cover and techniques for teaching children, which I guess TEFL does touch on. Also, CELTA is more internationallay recognized, but for teaching in Mexico a TEFL with practice hours 100+ is perfectly fine. I figure that I'll do the TEFL and teach for a while and if I like it enough get a MA in TESOL. That way I won't waste money on an MA if I really don't like it.

Try doing a search in the Mexico or General Latin American thread for this topic. It seems to pop up every now and then, I think I even started one months ago...

Buena Suerte!
Fatcat

Fatcat · Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 92 Location: Athens, Georgia

I'm sure many others will chime in, but from what I've learned (I've been contemplating the same issue) is that CELTA doesn't cover and techniques for teaching children, which I guess TEFL does touch on. Also, CELTA is more internationallay recognized, but for teaching in Mexico a TEFL with practice hours 100+ is perfectly fine. I figure that I'll do the TEFL and teach for a while and if I like it enough get a MA in TESOL. That way I won't waste money on an MA if I really don't like it.

Try doing a search in the Mexico or General Latin American forum for this topic. It seems to pop up every now and then, I think I even started one months ago...

Buena Suerte!
Fatcat

Sgt Killjoy · Joined: 26 Jun 2004 Posts: 438

TEFL is a generic term, CELTA is a specific course, ie CELTA is TEFL. There are many, many different TEFL Courses, CELTA, Trinity, Tefl International, etc, etc, online and offline. Some have observed teaching practice, some don't, some have grammar study, some, like the CELTA, do not.

So, the original poster wants to know what a cheaper alternative there is to the CELTA. Plenty of them, you need to spend time finding a program that meets your needs. If you are weak on grammar, then find a program that gives extra grammar help. If you have a confidence problem then take one with more observed teaching practice.

One thing to keep in mind is that these TEFL courses, the CELTA included, are introductory courses. If you have teaching experience, have decent grammar, and pick up a book on TEFL then you will be just as "qualified" as someone who took a CELTA.

How important is a TEFL Certificate? Only as important as the person doing the interviewing and most DOSes just want to know if you are able to teach or not. I would take someone with 6 months of verifiable teaching experience but not TEFL Certificate over a recent TEFL certificate grad anyday.

Elise9 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 32 Location: Celaya, GTO

Hi there,
I'm new here and have been wondering the same thing as the original poster.
I can't seem to make head or tail of the differences between all the certifications, but this is helping a little.
My question to add then would be - after reading many responses saying that teaching experience weighs more than certification at a school - what kind of teaching experience do you mean? If you don't have a certification, can you get ESL teaching experience anywhere? I have eight years of teaching experience, but in a completely unrealted field (which would be dance if you must know). So, I know I have confidence with teaching, I just need to know how to teach english to people who don't speak it.
Any thoughts?

Fatcat · Joined: 17 Mar 2005 Posts: 92 Location: Athens, Georgia

"If you don't have a certification, can you get ESL teaching experience anywhere?"

As for me, I'm still in the states and volunteer through a local Catholic Church teaching english. There are lots of other organizations in the area that have these volunteer opportunites as well. If you're near a University, contact their language departments to find out more info to.