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pegasus64128
Joined: 20 Aug 2011
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 Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:03 pm Post subject: |
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| zombiedog wrote: |
| I'm 100% behind professional development...BUT, one must understand the cultural context. I only know hagwons in SK, and if you're doing CELTA, for example, you need a hagwon willing to work with the CELTA style. CELTA--an amazing training opportunity--is not culturally significant to Korean educational philosophies. |
I'm allowed to facilitate pair work and group work at my public school and I do, albeit with a large number of students. I run the show at my school - 'one teach, one assist'. My co-teacher is too busy and doesn't want or need the extra work. He's very impatient though so I'm thinking about shifting over to team teaching, with my co-teacher taking responsibility for modeling and scaffolding my activities. |
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YTMND
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!
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| Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 8:37 pm Post subject: |
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So, TEFL is a secret club and no one shares what they learned online?
If you are a bilingual teacher, it would be more effective to learn how it is taught in schools and improve upon it.
Being a TEFL certified teacher doesn't mean students will learn more. I have found it better to not be dependent on a teacher to learn. I wish I had done this earlier, because I would have performed a lot better.
But congrats if you are happy being a TEFL automaton. |
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The Sultan of Seoul
Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Location: right... behind.. YOU
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:10 am Post subject: |
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| zombiedog wrote: |
| I'm 100% behind professional development...BUT, one must understand the cultural context. I only know hagwons in SK, and if you're doing CELTA, for example, you need a hagwon willing to work with the CELTA style. CELTA--an amazing training opportunity--is not culturally significant to Korean educational philosophies. |
Ya, I was never talking CELTA, as mentioned before. Just a tefl that covers child pedagogy, developmental stages, learning styles and methodologies. That alone would be enough to turn the crappiest hakwan jockey into a pretty decent teacher for kids.
To YTMD - absolute baloney. I have taught for 7.5 yrs in SK. My classes were decent but had lots of holes. They are now even better than before and the kids are way happier. How on earth that and actually understanding why kids do the things they do and sometimes don't or can't do things you'd expect them to do equates to being an 'atomation' I have no idea, and I care not a jot to hear your 'rationale.' Been here a week, trolliest forum I've ever been to in my life.
Ta ta. |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:30 am Post subject: |
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| Seoulman69 wrote: |
While I agree that teachers should seek qualifications if they want to improve their teaching abilities something about your post makes me think that you are not a native speaker.  |
Non-native speakers get TEFL certified, too. |
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zombiedog
Joined: 03 Oct 2011
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 5:56 am Post subject: |
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| isitts wrote: |
| Seoulman69 wrote: |
| While I agree that teachers should seek qualifications if they want to improve their teaching abilities something about your post makes me think that you are not a native speaker. |
Non-native speakers get TEFL certified, too. |
When I did CELTA some of the best teachers were non-native speakers of English. And in that group, the worst were actually native speakers. |
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YTMND
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:17 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| To YTMD - absolute baloney. I have taught for 7.5 yrs in SK. My classes were decent but had lots of holes. They are now even better than before and the kids are way happier. How on earth that and actually understanding why kids do the things they do and sometimes don't or can't do things you'd expect them to do equates to being an 'atomation' I have no idea, and I care not a jot to hear your 'rationale.' Been here a week, trolliest forum I've ever been to in my life. |
I never made a claim that you wouldn't become a better teacher. However, let's look at Apple products, iphone and ipad come to mind. Let's just say for argument sake Apple was the first to make these type of gadgets, analogous to the TEFL certificate. After a while, the technology behind these gadgets is going to get leaked. Other companies will find ways to mimic or replace the item.
I am not claiming that by buying a Samsung product you will automatically invalidate anything good about Apple products. What I am stating is that if we bow to only one type of certificate, in this case the TEFL god certificate, then we are very much going to end up with one "factory" style approach to teaching English since we in theory would all be learning the same process.
I don't doubt you learned something valuable from these training courses. I do doubt that other certificates, other training, would never compare to a TEFL training experience.
I would more likely place value in a statement, "GET TRAINING IN DIFFERENT METHODS" than a specific program.
Just like the Apple products getting cloned, TEFL training would then too be cloned. |
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semphoon
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: Where Nowon is
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:35 am Post subject: |
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| I would also recommend the CELTA. It has vastly improved my teaching ability and the benefit students get from the class. Also, because of the low teacher talk time, the actual time in the classroom flies by. The hard work is at the planning stage as you have to anticipate problem areas, consider how to pre-teach important words, decide where students should sit in class (beside a student of higher level or equal level etc depending on the task). I'd say in the 90 minute class I teach, I speak for about 20 minutes total. The rest of time students are busy working. |
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Soldier
Joined: 21 Oct 2011
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:04 pm Post subject: TESOL/TEFL/TESL/CELTA/DELTA |
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I am studying a 100 hour TESOL course. I got many ideas on how to deliver a better ESL class. Also, CELTA is not the only program that gives outstanding ESL teacher training; there's TESOL, TEFL, TESL training. I want others to be aware of this. It's not about which course is better as experience, and how you apply what you learn from the courses matters the most. A CELTA/TESOL course will be useless you have an earnest desire to change the way you teach ESL classes.
While CELTA/DELTA/TESOL/etc courses certainaly help you do your job better; at the end of the day, there is also no teacher like experience. Get both: a TEFL qualification and teaching experience. Make notes, observe how your teaching impacts your pupils.
As a LT investment, consider a masters in TEFL. |
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Soldier
Joined: 21 Oct 2011
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:08 pm Post subject: Correction |
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A CELTA/TESOL course will be useless you have an earnest desire to change the way you teach ESL classes.
This sentence should read: A CELTA/TESOL course will be useless unless you have an earnest desire to change the way you teach ESL classes.
Sorry about the omission. |
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YTMND
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Location: You're the man now dog!!
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 2:21 pm Post subject: |
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You can just edit your post in the future instead of posting a correction in a new post. There should be an edit button near the quote one with each of your posts. That's usually how I notice I am not signed in  |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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| zombiedog wrote: |
| isitts wrote: |
| Non-native speakers get TEFL certified, too. |
When I did CELTA some of the best teachers were non-native speakers of English. And in that group, the worst were actually native speakers. |
Yeah, that can often be the case. They've gone through the process of learning English as a second language, so that can put them in a better position to teach it. I was partnered with a non-native speaker in my TEFL course and she was great.
Anyway, don't want to get off-topic, so as long as I'm posting, yeah, I agree with the OP. I was really frustrated with teaching before taking my TEFL course. It really is helpful for teaching and building your confidence to teach. I was excited, too, when I completed my course. And the course itself was a lot of fun. |
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goreality
Joined: 09 Jul 2009
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:29 pm Post subject: Re: My advice to all teachers - get TEFL quals asap |
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| Brilliant epiphany. |
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slothrop
Joined: 03 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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edit
Last edited by slothrop on Sun Apr 29, 2012 11:47 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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The Sultan of Seoul
Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Location: right... behind.. YOU
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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| slothrop wrote: |
does anyone have the list of required reading for TEFL and CELTA ? i would like to see what all the fuss is about and get the knowledge but don't really care about obtaining an actual certificate.
thanks |
TBH, and really, truly not wanting to sound like an advertiser, just reading is not the same.
For example, mayn things I learned I at first wanted to - and did - disclaim as nonsense or not reflecting my 7+ yrs experience etc. It was only in having these ideas suggested to me and then seeing them work in observations, discussing them in troubleshooting sessions etc that led me to try them out and then susprisingly realise that they were right and worked.
There is something to be said for having guidence and peer support and observations etc so you can apply the theories and ideas and evaluate them through experiencing what others are doing and evaluating what worked and what didn't etc. |
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pegasus64128
Joined: 20 Aug 2011
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:38 pm Post subject: Re: TESOL/TEFL/TESL/CELTA/DELTA |
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| Soldier wrote: |
I am studying a 100 hour TESOL course. I got many ideas on how to deliver a better ESL class. Also, CELTA is not the only program that gives outstanding ESL teacher training; there's TESOL, TEFL, TESL training. I want others to be aware of this. It's not about which course is better as experience, and how you apply what you learn from the courses matters the most. A CELTA/TESOL course will be useless you have an earnest desire to change the way you teach ESL classes.
While CELTA/DELTA/TESOL/etc courses certainaly help you do your job better; at the end of the day, there is also no teacher like experience. Get both: a TEFL qualification and teaching experience. Make notes, observe how your teaching impacts your pupils.
As a LT investment, consider a masters in TEFL. |
yeah, there's no substitute for getting used to the way things work in Korea, and accepting that you can't get used to certain things and just have to endure them 
I worked for a place in Korea (won't say the name) and there was a foreigner involved in management. I think she thought it was a bit out of my place to ask her how much experience she had in Korea, or Asia for that matter. I think if someone was to ask her that same question now, she would respond with the duration on the spot, as if it was a very relevant question. She went through the same noob incubation period we all went through, and it was tough for her to accept, given that she was higher up but she's better for it in my eyes. |
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