Questions from the audience- Information to find out when choosing a CELTA course

I’ve had a request for advice on how to choose between different CELTA courses. The basic answer is that if you have decided on the Cambridge course (which is, shall we say, the ’safe’ option) there aren’t a lot of differences between the training you get from different course providers. The things that can make a difference are additional costs such as cost of living and how much they arrange other things like airport pick up that will allow you to concentrate fully on the course.

Here are my ideas for information you can find out to choose between different TEFL certificate courses, feedback gratefully accepted:

Questions to ask your TEFL course provider (e.g. CELTA teacher trainer) when choosing between courses

Academic questions

The trainers

How long have the teacher trainers been teaching?

How long have the teacher trainers been training?

What qualifications do they have?

How long has the head trainer been in charge of the course?

Is there anyone I go to if I have any problems with the trainers or head trainer?

Do the trainers also train people at a higher level? (e.g. Are they also DELTA trainers?)

Do they trainers have any article and/ or books published? Can I have a look at them?

Which other countries have the trainers worked in?/ Has anyone worked in (name of countries you are interested in working in)?

The course

How long has this course been in existence?

How many other centres in the world offer this course?

How long has the course been running here?

How many trainees have you had in that time?

What has the pass rate/ percentage of higher grades been during that time? How does that compare to other centres?

Do you teach any one particular teaching methodology? Why/ why not? Does that differ from other TEFL courses you know about?

How does the TEFL course you provide differ from others?

Materials

Will all/ most/ some of the books I need to read be available to borrow? If not, is there a system set up to sell those books on from previous trainees?

What stationary etc. will I need to bring with me?

Questions about getting a job

What help can you give me on getting a job in this country/ in other countries?

What was the rate of employment of the last group of trainees?

Do you have any particular contacts with other schools?

Will TEFL magazines etc. with job ads be available in the school to look at?

With your qualification, will I be able to get a teaching visa for Malaysia/ Turkey/…?

With your qualification, will I be able to get a job at the British Council/ a British Council certified school in the UK?

Can you give job seeking advice even after I have finished the course?

What kind of reference do you provide to prospective employers?

Do you offer jobs to any of your trainees in this school?

Accomodation

Do you provide accomodation?

Is it furnished?

What exactly is in it?

Do I have to share? Who will I be sharing with?

Will it be possible to move out/ be moved somewhere else if I don’t like it?

How long before and after the course can I stay in the accomodation?

What do I do/ who do I talk to if I have any problems with the accomodation?

Do I have to pay a deposit?

Is there a quiet place to study/ a desk?

Is it quiet? Does it have lots of natural light? Is it clean?

The premises

Is there aircon?

Can I see a photo of the school/ the classrooms?

What materials and equipment are available to help me plan and give my lessons (e.g. interactive whiteboard, OHP, teachers’ library)

Is there internet access at the school?

The workload

Am I likely to need to work evenings and weekends to get the lesson planning and other coursework done?

How many hours a week of ‘homework’ is there likely to be?

How many hours of pre-course preparation am I likely to have to do?

Misc

Can I see some feedback from previous trainees?/ Would it be possible for me to contact a previous trainee to ask some questions?

Is there an airport pick up service?

Anyone else have any more?

This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 1:56 pmand is filed under CELTA, TEFL, TEFL certificate, Teacher training, Teaching, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching qualifications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.