Job Discussion Forums

[Wilkor]

So I'm mid way through a CELTA course,

And I must say I'm very pleased that I chose to do it. Asides from brushing up on my previously lacklustre grammar, it's certainly helped me get started with teaching. The 'throw you in the deep end' approach to teaching practice, while daunting, has certainly helped me become confident to walk into a classroom and just start teaching, and the more theoretical aspects of the course are certainly giving me much food for thought.

In short, I can see why it is valued by many employers.

What's everyone else's opinion? Have you used the things you've learnt from the CELTA course in your real world positions? Has it been helpful? Both in the classroom and in looking for work?


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[malu]

Before I did the Trinity TESOL (broadly similar to the CELTA) I already had a couple of years' experience as a science teacher. I walked in with the attitude that the course would be a piece of cake - and I was wrong. ESL teaching is quite different to 1st language subject teaching.

One of the things that sticks in my mind was that we had to do a unit on learning a completely foreign language from scratch without any L1 in the classroom. My group learned Scottish Gaelic. It was an eye-opener into the experience of a beginner language learner.

Some of the lesson materials that I made on the course came in very useful afterwards, too. Don't imagine that your first teaching gig will be as well resourced with materials as the CELTA training school...

[Wilkor]

I had a similar experience, being put into a class being taught solely in Spanish... While I'd previously learnt Indo, it was a different experience to learn without any use of your native tongue...

I've also noted that I seem to have a very well-resourced place of study, which I'm sure won't exist in Indo. In the past I've always wondered why people have used 'Very little teaching materials' as a major complaint when referring to schools, but now I know. Working from a curriculum and textbook seems to be quite easy. Working without... would be much more difficult.