Nice to see some kind of variation on the TEFL blacklist model- the change in technology makes the repetition of the same old complaints slightly less tedious for a while. I predict it will all end in tears. You can follow its attempt to get added to Best TEFL Soap Opera Part Two here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9205333585
Or not, but boy would they like you to read that article so quickly that you don’t realise that.
i-to-i is another organisation that gets all kinds of alarm bells ringing in my head, but can’t quite work out why… Just because it all sounds too good to be true??
This interview was conducted by email over the last week or so, with me submitting the main outline and then asking a few follow up questions when the main answers came back. My questions are in bold, and the follow up questions and answers are in italics.
1. A brief history of your career
This was covered in a recent interview in the BKK Post but here it is again:
I began life in a completely different field—selling industrial equipment and negotiating Joint Ventures in China. When the company I worked for had a problem with our customer in China, I was sent to Hong Kong to resolve it.
When the company went under, I was somewhat abandoned in Hong Kong.
The job market back home was not that good (and my field was very specialized) so I thought I would look for a job in Hong Kong. A friend suggested I teach English to earn some money to pay the rent.
Before long I was teaching full time and loving it! I then started opening small schools around Hong Kong. But after several years I was burned out. Married by then with a small child, we decided to move to Thailand. Soon afterwards I decided to pen up a TESOL course. The main purpose was to find and train qualified teachers for the schools in Hong Kong! But after some initial success I decided to expand.
2. A brief history of TEFL International, the secret of its success and the principles behind it
Started out as a Trinity course. After some differences of opinion with the CE of Trinity at the time, we became independent on 1 Jan 2000. As a small, newly independent school, I decided that the only way we could credibly tell our students that our course was internationally recognized was to be truly international. Thus, the rapid expansion.
3. A list of some of the things that TEFL International does now
· TESOL Courses
· Volunteer Programs
· Guaranteed Jobs programs
· Teacher Training for local teachers (usually through the Thai Ministry of Education)
· Teach/learn language programs
· Teach/Intern programs
4. Can you give some details of TI’s charity/non-profit status and structure
First of all, we do not need to be a non-profit. We could avoid all taxes by moving our base to some offshore tax shelter. And it’s not like I enjoy having all of our accounts (including my salary) available to the public. But we work with universities and universities feel better working with a non profit than a for profit. Plus, we do a lot of things that non profits do like real volunteer work and assistance for the less fortunate.
I do not know a lot about US tax laws (which are extremely complex). But every year we have to hire a special accountant to do our taxes and submit them to the IRS to ensure we continue to meet US non-profit status. (more…)
“In order to teach English in a private language school you need to be able to speak English fluently and have a certificate from either Trinity or RSA CELTA. These courses are around 4 weeks long and can even be completed online.”
Just could not think of an interesting title to this post, and as the limitations of this method of teacher training is obvious to most people not financially tied up in the teacher training busines, neither do I think I have anything particularly original or shocking to say on this often discussed point:
Unless it is a qualification to be an online teacher, it is always better to have face to face observed teaching practice as part of your course. This is not possible with a 100% online course; therefore it cannot be as good as, for example, the CELTA- end of story. Whether an online course could offer better value for money, be more convenient or even be the only available option for some people are the only debatable points.
Can anyone argue with that?