Hello all,
I'm a soon-to-be college graduate interested in teaching EFL worldwide. I'm about to apply to Oxford TEFL's 5-week TEFL certification course in Cadiz. I see that they are backed by Trinity College, which is allegedly one of the best, but can anyone speak to this program's effectiveness or Oxford TEFL as a school?
Otherwise, which other schools/programs offer a legitimate and well-known TEFL certification course?
TEFL Courses, first-timer
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chilagringa
- Posts: 335
- Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2011 7:19 pm
You would probably be best off asking this kind of question on a website like http://www.eslcafe.com/ because it's more geared to EFL. This site is more for teaching in actual K-12 schools.
But, for the record, I found that the CELTA was pretty good for EFL. I actually learned a lot. It's offered in a ton of different places.
But, for the record, I found that the CELTA was pretty good for EFL. I actually learned a lot. It's offered in a ton of different places.
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
Jack, your advice piqued my interest, so I looked it up really briefly. So you're saying that the PGCE/teaching cert is like an MAT degree-type thing like what you would earn at an American university?? And when you say English, do you mean ESL or English lit?
At any rate, it looks like a year of extra schooling. And that would definitely be on the table for me in the future. But to be honest, after being continuously in school for my entire life, right now I just gotta get out there and live a bit haha. I figured a 5-week entry level cert program can get me off the ground racking up some lower-level experience before I decide to advance my career and go back to school.
The sphere of international schools is interesting to me as well, but I don't know a thing about them or the certs/degrees I would need to get into one as of yet. Did you start out TEFL cert or go right to PGCE/ international schools?
Your advice is much appreciated btw, God bless.
At any rate, it looks like a year of extra schooling. And that would definitely be on the table for me in the future. But to be honest, after being continuously in school for my entire life, right now I just gotta get out there and live a bit haha. I figured a 5-week entry level cert program can get me off the ground racking up some lower-level experience before I decide to advance my career and go back to school.
The sphere of international schools is interesting to me as well, but I don't know a thing about them or the certs/degrees I would need to get into one as of yet. Did you start out TEFL cert or go right to PGCE/ international schools?
Your advice is much appreciated btw, God bless.
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
I did a 5 year secondary BEd back in the day when you could do such a thing in Canada...English is one of my teaching areas...taught in four countries, heading for a fifth in a few months. Currently teaching English at a uni to national students and quite enjoying it, but it is time to move for my wife's sanity LOL. I was not required to have a CELTA or DELTA or TEFL because of my overseas teaching experience and my time in country...
Please keep in mind that any of your ESL teaching experience will not count if you go back to school and do a post cert.
Please keep in mind that any of your ESL teaching experience will not count if you go back to school and do a post cert.
Reply
In the TESOL world, the Cambridge and Trinity programs/certificates are the gold standard, everything else is second rate. Of course a professional teaching credential in ESL/EFl/ELL/EAL/TESOL would be better (platinum?), since it would qualify you not only for language schools but international schools as well.
The quality of a TESOL program hinges on one factor, and thats the amount of practical hands on experience you get. With a professional teaching qualification your looking at student teaching for a term or a 1 year internship, added on to the condition that to enter the IS (international school) market you need 2 years of post certification experience. This is more then ven the best TESOL programs (including the Trinity and Cambridge certificate). So that should be your main criteria for evaluating a program how much practice do you get and who is it with (actual students are preferred over practice teaching with your fellow teachers, etc)
A PGCE is not equivalent to a Masters program/degree (technically the Bologna accords consider it a 1st cycle credential, which is the same category as a bachelors degree). A PGCE is the academic professional teaching qualification in the U.K. In the states it would be closest to a post-bachelors teacher certification program. In the UK, a teacher does the academic component of teacher training at university earning the PGCE after a year. There are some observations and demonstrations but they are minor components of the program. After receiving the PGCE, a teacher is referred to as "NGT" or newly qualified teacher. They then look/apply for a placement with a school and after a successful year of teaching and mentoring they receive QTS (Qualified Teacher Status).
The advantages/disadvantages of a PGCE are:
+1) Its almost all academic work, and there are programs online and through distance that will get you a PGCE, without a field work (student teaching, internship, etc) component as typically required and part of a certification program in the USA.
+2) In ISs the PGCE by itself is the sufficient professional credential for a teacher. Outside of the certifying region/country you dont need QTS to work at an IS.
+3) PGCE's dont expire. They are like degrees in this case in that once awarded they stay with you for life. Their is a limit on obtaining QTS, but if thats not important to you then its not an issue. There are no current lifetime certificates in the states, all states for newly certifying teachers have a renewal period. Many of these states also require some form of PD to renew the certificate.
-4) A PGCE doesnt train or certify you to be a specific kind of teacher. The program is all methodology and pedagogy, so a PGCE certifies your teacher competence, but not specific subject matter expertise. Typically your undergraduate degree/major determines what your "qualified" to teach. So in the states you could get certified as a ESL teacher, it would be up to you in absence of a linguistics or other related degree to demonstrate your ability to teach language students.
-5) A PGCE would have a difficult time being accepted back in the states.
International Schools (ISs) recruit and need professional TESOL teachers as well as Literature teachers. However, non professional TESOL experience will not count if pursuing an international school.
The value of a TESOL certificate really depends on where your going, and how it makes you a better teacher. if you get nothing from the program except a piece of paper, its not going to mean anything. If the program awakens your inner teacher and gives you confidence in a room full of students then its worth it. Language school ELL teaching is more about edutainment then rigorous academics anyway.
The quality of a TESOL program hinges on one factor, and thats the amount of practical hands on experience you get. With a professional teaching qualification your looking at student teaching for a term or a 1 year internship, added on to the condition that to enter the IS (international school) market you need 2 years of post certification experience. This is more then ven the best TESOL programs (including the Trinity and Cambridge certificate). So that should be your main criteria for evaluating a program how much practice do you get and who is it with (actual students are preferred over practice teaching with your fellow teachers, etc)
A PGCE is not equivalent to a Masters program/degree (technically the Bologna accords consider it a 1st cycle credential, which is the same category as a bachelors degree). A PGCE is the academic professional teaching qualification in the U.K. In the states it would be closest to a post-bachelors teacher certification program. In the UK, a teacher does the academic component of teacher training at university earning the PGCE after a year. There are some observations and demonstrations but they are minor components of the program. After receiving the PGCE, a teacher is referred to as "NGT" or newly qualified teacher. They then look/apply for a placement with a school and after a successful year of teaching and mentoring they receive QTS (Qualified Teacher Status).
The advantages/disadvantages of a PGCE are:
+1) Its almost all academic work, and there are programs online and through distance that will get you a PGCE, without a field work (student teaching, internship, etc) component as typically required and part of a certification program in the USA.
+2) In ISs the PGCE by itself is the sufficient professional credential for a teacher. Outside of the certifying region/country you dont need QTS to work at an IS.
+3) PGCE's dont expire. They are like degrees in this case in that once awarded they stay with you for life. Their is a limit on obtaining QTS, but if thats not important to you then its not an issue. There are no current lifetime certificates in the states, all states for newly certifying teachers have a renewal period. Many of these states also require some form of PD to renew the certificate.
-4) A PGCE doesnt train or certify you to be a specific kind of teacher. The program is all methodology and pedagogy, so a PGCE certifies your teacher competence, but not specific subject matter expertise. Typically your undergraduate degree/major determines what your "qualified" to teach. So in the states you could get certified as a ESL teacher, it would be up to you in absence of a linguistics or other related degree to demonstrate your ability to teach language students.
-5) A PGCE would have a difficult time being accepted back in the states.
International Schools (ISs) recruit and need professional TESOL teachers as well as Literature teachers. However, non professional TESOL experience will not count if pursuing an international school.
The value of a TESOL certificate really depends on where your going, and how it makes you a better teacher. if you get nothing from the program except a piece of paper, its not going to mean anything. If the program awakens your inner teacher and gives you confidence in a room full of students then its worth it. Language school ELL teaching is more about edutainment then rigorous academics anyway.
Re: Reply
Psyguy's post contains some shocking inaccuracies.
A PGCE is at least 50% practical, teaching in a real school. See http://www.york.ac.uk/education/pgce/pr ... structure/ for an example.
You have QTS when you complete your PGCE and pass the numeracy and literacy skills test (which is a joke of a test)
A PGCE is at least 50% practical, teaching in a real school. See http://www.york.ac.uk/education/pgce/pr ... structure/ for an example.
You have QTS when you complete your PGCE and pass the numeracy and literacy skills test (which is a joke of a test)
Re: Comment
Please check PGCEs at any university in the UK. You will see that more than 50% of the time is spent in schools e.g. http://www.shef.ac.uk/education/courses ... o/pgceprac
http://www.hud.ac.uk/courses/2013-14/fu ... -with-qts/
You have QTS upon completion of your PGCE.
Maybe you are confusing a real PGCE with an PGCEi or whatever it is called from Nottingham University.
Please overwrite your current incorrect knowledge with this new correct knowledge so you can better inform people about stuff you dont really know about in the future.
http://www.hud.ac.uk/courses/2013-14/fu ... -with-qts/
You have QTS upon completion of your PGCE.
Maybe you are confusing a real PGCE with an PGCEi or whatever it is called from Nottingham University.
Please overwrite your current incorrect knowledge with this new correct knowledge so you can better inform people about stuff you dont really know about in the future.
Comment
@pgrass
No, mainly because your position is naive and inaccurate, and doing so would further distance an unfamiliar individual with the nuances of English (UK) teaching and the use of terminology as it relates in practical settings. The center of this issue is induction and what QTS and NQT mean. In common usage QTS refers to a teacher that has completed Induction, and NQT refers to a teacher who has not successfully completed.
To begin with this is the relevant source of Education law, and in particular section/paragraph 1.6
http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/st ... troduction
When a teacher completes their PGCE (ITT/Initial Teacher Training) program they have QTS (Qualified Teacher Status). HOWEVER, this QTS is conditioned as being NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher). This additional "flag" allows the teacher to serve as a qualified teacher ONLY in such capacities to: 1) Complete their induction program, making them eligible to teach in a public school in England. 2) In such teaching capacities where Induction is not required, such as an independent school.
When a teacher completes their induction program, the NQT designation is removed leaving only QTS. There is no technical term that referes to this new QTS status after successful completion of Induction. As such within the field the terms "NQT" are used to describe a teacher who has not completed induction, and "QTS" is referred to a teacher who has successfully completed their induction program.
A teacher who fails to successfully complete their induction period does not lose their QTS however, they cannot be employed lawfully as a teacher in a relevant school. Though they may still teach in an independent school (Section/Paragraph 1.9).
No, mainly because your position is naive and inaccurate, and doing so would further distance an unfamiliar individual with the nuances of English (UK) teaching and the use of terminology as it relates in practical settings. The center of this issue is induction and what QTS and NQT mean. In common usage QTS refers to a teacher that has completed Induction, and NQT refers to a teacher who has not successfully completed.
To begin with this is the relevant source of Education law, and in particular section/paragraph 1.6
http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/st ... troduction
When a teacher completes their PGCE (ITT/Initial Teacher Training) program they have QTS (Qualified Teacher Status). HOWEVER, this QTS is conditioned as being NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher). This additional "flag" allows the teacher to serve as a qualified teacher ONLY in such capacities to: 1) Complete their induction program, making them eligible to teach in a public school in England. 2) In such teaching capacities where Induction is not required, such as an independent school.
When a teacher completes their induction program, the NQT designation is removed leaving only QTS. There is no technical term that referes to this new QTS status after successful completion of Induction. As such within the field the terms "NQT" are used to describe a teacher who has not completed induction, and "QTS" is referred to a teacher who has successfully completed their induction program.
A teacher who fails to successfully complete their induction period does not lose their QTS however, they cannot be employed lawfully as a teacher in a relevant school. Though they may still teach in an independent school (Section/Paragraph 1.9).
So what you are saying is that you have QTS upon completion of the PGCE and you never lose it, even if you fail your induction year?
How about your theory that PGCEs contain almost all academic work?
I like how when you are forced to research accurate information you still try and spin it to support your incorrect theories. Who is the idiot: you for being an idiot or me for arguing with one?
How about your theory that PGCEs contain almost all academic work?
I like how when you are forced to research accurate information you still try and spin it to support your incorrect theories. Who is the idiot: you for being an idiot or me for arguing with one?
Discussion
Yes, even if you fail your induction year you dont loose your QTS please see paragraph/section 1.9. However your not really qualified because you are no longer legally able to work as a teacher in a relevant school. A school can easily determine if a teacher has failed induction. At an IS, a recruiter and admin would have serious concerns about employing a teacher who did not successfully complete induction. However, technically, they would still be able to work legally in a independent school, which is why the working credential for a UK trained teacher is the PGCE.
In the UK system the term "NQT" is used to refer to a teacher that has not completed induction, and QTS is used to refer to a teacher that has successful. Regardless of the technical inaccuracy those are the terms of common usage. if a recruiter at a IS British school asks if you have QTS they are asking if youve completed induction, not if you have the QTS awarded upon successfully completing your PGCE. Answering "yes I have QTS" when you haven't completed induction would be at best considered naive, and at worst would be fraud.
Its not a theory, a traditional PGCE is almost exclusively academic work with some observations and demonstrations. A PGCE program can also be a school centered or school direct training program which have an increased emphasis and focus on practical skills and applied knowledge. These programs however dont appeal and arent feasible to those pursuing IS education, someone taking a PGCE trough online or distance learning isnt going to have the proximity to complete those type os "school centered" programs, they are going to be interested in programs that they dont have to constantly travel or make other arrangements to complete. In my experience the majority of British teachers working in ISs had very traditional academic PGCE programs.
While this isnt directly related to NQT and QTS status, PGCE's are available at a number of universities outside the UK in such places as Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, etc, and such programs offer options that are almost entirely academic. This is in addition to PGCE programs in Europe, etc.
A PGCEi (Post Graduate Certificate of Education-International) is a "limited" PGCE, its a university academic certificate of one year. It doesnt give you NQT and your not eligible for induction with one, and you cant earn QTS without induction. You would be better off doing a one year M.Ed, for what marketability a PGCEi would give you, but the program/certificate is new, and it would be irresponsible to claim how its going to work in the future, especially in the IS market.
In the UK system the term "NQT" is used to refer to a teacher that has not completed induction, and QTS is used to refer to a teacher that has successful. Regardless of the technical inaccuracy those are the terms of common usage. if a recruiter at a IS British school asks if you have QTS they are asking if youve completed induction, not if you have the QTS awarded upon successfully completing your PGCE. Answering "yes I have QTS" when you haven't completed induction would be at best considered naive, and at worst would be fraud.
Its not a theory, a traditional PGCE is almost exclusively academic work with some observations and demonstrations. A PGCE program can also be a school centered or school direct training program which have an increased emphasis and focus on practical skills and applied knowledge. These programs however dont appeal and arent feasible to those pursuing IS education, someone taking a PGCE trough online or distance learning isnt going to have the proximity to complete those type os "school centered" programs, they are going to be interested in programs that they dont have to constantly travel or make other arrangements to complete. In my experience the majority of British teachers working in ISs had very traditional academic PGCE programs.
While this isnt directly related to NQT and QTS status, PGCE's are available at a number of universities outside the UK in such places as Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, etc, and such programs offer options that are almost entirely academic. This is in addition to PGCE programs in Europe, etc.
A PGCEi (Post Graduate Certificate of Education-International) is a "limited" PGCE, its a university academic certificate of one year. It doesnt give you NQT and your not eligible for induction with one, and you cant earn QTS without induction. You would be better off doing a one year M.Ed, for what marketability a PGCEi would give you, but the program/certificate is new, and it would be irresponsible to claim how its going to work in the future, especially in the IS market.