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For
many people around the world the term 'teacher'
and 'traveller' are, to some extent, synonymous.
For years English language students around
the world have seen entrepreneurs feed their
desires for a 'native English teacher' to
teach them 'real' English by offering backpacking
westerners a haircut, a shave, an advance
to buy a shirt and a pair of trousers, and
a few bucks an hour. Fortunately, although
the poster on the left (seen on Khao San
Road last year) may suggest otherwise, things
have generally got a bit more sophisticated
over the last few years. |
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Although
you can still get teaching jobs in Asia without
a degree, any form of teaching qualification,
or any experience, they are getting fewer - and
they really are not worth having. When I first
started teaching in Thailand I was pretty much
in this boat. I did my best, and I got a good
reaction from my students. I quickly became committed
to teaching and decided to give it a go as a career.
And over the months (and then years) I got better
at my new trade. Fairly quickly, the Thai students
at the schools where I was working asked for me
to teach their classes. They were happy to see
me; we enjoyed ourselves - in Thai terms everything
was 'Sanuk' (fun). There was only one thing wrong:
Although there was a lot of teaching going only,
and sometimes I broke into a sweat because of
the effort I put into doing it, there wasn't much
learning happening. In these circumstances you
leave a lesson recognising one thing - the bottom
line is that you are a charlatan. I was a well-meaning
amateur and my students were paying for a professional.
Without training you can't claim to be professional
and so I decided to get myself some training as
soon as possible. |
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Back
then teacher training was hard to find, but with
persistence, I got myself onto a month-long Teaching
English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) training
course. The result was almost divine revelation
- the techniques I learned put knowledge into
my students' heads and kept it there. Suddenly,
there was potential for my students to get real
value for the money they were spending on my services.
I enjoyed teaching from that point forwardÂ… |
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Well,
that was ten years ago. I progressed through the
ranks and ended up working for some of the best
institutions in Thailand. Along the way I have
seen new teachers come, and new teachers come
(I have to admitÂ… I haven't seen that many go)
and all of those who prospered had some form of
teacher training. |
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"But",
I hear you say, "I am only travelling for one
year during my year off - what a waste of time
p**sing around with a teacher training course".
Normally I would say you were right, but if you
head over to Thailand first, you can start your
travels by doing your teacher training right here
in Thailand. |
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Teacher
Training in Thailand |
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Over
the last couple of years Thailand has become a
leading centre for teacher training, not only
in Bangkok, but also virtually everywhere else
around the country. You can do it all - in the
city, on the beach - you can even take teacher-training
courses in a temple! All lead to some form
of certification and the skills that will give
you the self-confidence to know you aren't ripping
your students off. |
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It's
important to do a bit of homework if you
are going to do teacher training in Thailand.
If it's your intention to use Thailand as
a springboard for teaching around the world,
only certain training courses will do. But
if you are intending only to teach Thailand,
a variety of qualifications are available
to you.
Here's a basic introduction: |
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SEE Siam Educational Experience
Become an accredited TEFL teacher and teach
English anywhere in the world. SEEs 4-week
120-hour TEFL certification is internationally
recognized. In addition, participants receive
accredited cultural awareness training,
Thai language instruction and a job-interview
guarantee. 'Click
here for more information... |
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Teacher
Training Centre ECC (Thailand)
ECC (Thailand) offers the Certificate of
English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA)
at three locations around Thailand – Bangkok,
Chiang Mai and Phuket. The CELTA is the
single most widely recognized TEFL qualifications
in the world and a must for those serious
about taking up English teaching as a career
and would like to teach in many counties
around the world (rather than just Thailand).
The course is available to anyone with native-English
level English language ability aged 20+.
Click here for more on Teacher
Training Centre ECC (Thailand) |
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SIT
TESOL |
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| Steve wrote in
recently with information on the AUA's SIT
TESOL course: "The School for International
Training, Vermont, has been a leader in
the field of teacher training for more than
30 years as is recognized worldwide. Their
SIT TESOL Certificate Course is now being
offered in Bangkok in conjunction with the
AUA Language Center. This 130-hour, four
week course provides participants with professional
knowledge and skills in teaching English
to speakers of other languages as well as
tools for their own reflection and growth
as teachers. Click here for more on SIT
TESOL at AUA. |
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Chiang
Mai University TEFL |
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This is the only TEFL course in Thailand
(in fact one of the few worldwide) that
is accredited by an actual university.
It’s on a par with other certificate-level
courses in terms of depth and instruction,
with a full 120 hours of instruction
(over 4 full time weeks) and significant
classroom hours with hands on experience.
A shorter, cheaper online course is
also offered. Both methodology and phonics
are taught, along with classroom management,
lesson planning, interactive activities
and materials, textbook review and grammar
refreshers. Their certificate is internationally
recognised and Chiang Mai is probably
the cheapest and, students tell us,
the most relaxed place in Thailand to
be studying TEFL - the campus is beautiful.
Click here for more details on the Chiang
Mai University TEFL courses.
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This
is just a taste of what's available in Thailand...
there really are many more courses. Click here
for more
information on English language (EFL) teacher
training courses in Thailand ... Ask around,
see what people think... If you hear of any other
courses, send us the details... We'll post the
information... |
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Found a training course
we don't know about? Had a good/bad experience
doing training... Let us know
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