Job Discussion Forums

[DeeLyrical]

Hello,

I am a retired librarian with dual citizenship and an interest in teaching in Europe, and I would like to take an online course which provides in-class teaching practice as part of its certification. (I've found a couple that look good.)

I've read many postings wherein folks say that all online training is garbage. (And I understand the CELTA is the industry standard.) Obviously a BIG drawback regarding online courses is lack of actual classroom experience; however, if I had a good online course with an excellent syllabus that included in-class teaching experience as part of my certification, would jobs be open to me?

IF you have any experience with this type of training (a mix of online and in-class) I would greatly appreciate hearing from you (whether your experience has been positive or negative), but =please= no more generalized statements about all online coursework being worthless.

[nickpellatt]

This thread should be of interest to you. There should be a lot of useful information in it, and it relates quite directly to the question you have posed in this thread.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=75752

I hope my statement in your other thread arent the ones that are too 'generalised' for you It may not be what you want to hear, but rather then being generalised statements, they are kinda factual unfortunately. This can be referenced by reading the job adverts on TEFL.com and here on Daves, where employers often state quite clearly that online courses are not acceptable.

Anyway .. Ill avoid enraging you further Do read the thread I have linked for you ... there are lots of comments from very experienced teachers, who both hire and train new teachers.

Good luck!

nick

[DeeLyrical]

Thank you Nick, the thread is an excellent one. It's just the type of conversation I'm looking for (and no, I wasn't referring to your comments, but, rather, to comments made by someone else on another thread).

[spiral78]

Having been based in Europe for 12+ years now, I can say that a blended course (online + real classroom) will be less than what most newbies on the job market have. Regardless of any logic behind the on-site courses, having less simply puts you at a disadvantage on the job market.

[DeeLyrical]

I have been looking at ontesol.com (affiliated with Coventry House International in Toronto). Their 250 hour program includes 10 hours of observation and 10 hours of teaching; it appears to exceed the 120-hour standard intensive, and it is recognized by ACTDEC and TESL Canada. With all due respect, I don't see how this could be considered to be "less".

If I had this training and letters of recommendation from academics (who know my work ethic and transferable skills [from a 30-year career in librarianship, which, btw, includes components of teaching]), surely I would be marketable (or am I totally in the dark here)???

[spiral78]

I think the problem would not be with the course itself, but simply that many employers won't be familiar with it, and will therefore discount it, particularly if they note that there is an online component.

Further, I will say that 20 hours in a classroom setting IS lesser in many ways: during a 120 hours on-site course, the classroom approaches and methods current research in the field supports are generally modeled in all classroom activities - GREATLY increasing a trainee's exposure and raising consciousness considerably.

It's a matter of applying theory to practice, both in terms of modeling and in actual teaching practice.

[DeeLyrical]

Thanks, Spiral. I will certainly take your comments into consideration.