Travels with my Angst

In an ideal world all English teachers would be CELTA/TEFL/TESOL certified and hold four year teaching degrees. They would all speak perfect American or British English, and be from the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Barsoom, East Anglia or whatever we designate as a nation of Native-English speakers.
Wouldn’t those conditions be wonderful?
Who would the conditions be ideal for?
For government officials anxious to score points and make quotas, perhaps. Unlikely they help students anymore than the current system in South Korea has benefited anyone … not teachers, not school owners, not recruiters, and not the students in need of teachers.
Students need teachers who are knowledgeable, informed, willing to learn, active and involved. They do not need a particular accent, nor do they necessarily need a degree-trained teacher. Their teacher needs the structure that an intensive teacher-training program offers, especially one that is grounded in current practices and theory and makes use of real classroom situations.

Please inform me of one English major who acquired actual teaching skills in university. Having knowledge of Mark Twain, Chaucer and Cervantes is all well and good, but it doesn’t help you teach a class of 14 year-old 2nd language speakers whose world view is shaped by four hours of Warcraft every night.
It’s time for governments, South Korea, Indonesia and China to wake up and smell the white board.
Students and schools don’t need teachers with good papers, they need teachers who can elicit intelligent feedback, encourage interaction, and motivate good communicators. Train the teachers who are here, and hire those who wish and show an aptitude to teach. Hire teachers based on what they teach like, not what they look like. Hire local and foreign teachers. Cultivate a culture of awareness, improvement and involvement.
If a new paradigm is to be embraced let it be one based on need, common sense and sustainability.

Whatever your believe,faith or hope …
may the season bring you and yours health,happiness,security and prosperity

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TEFL means Teaching English as a Foreign Language, and it's a certification that is required by learning institutions to teach abroad. The current demand for teachers is huge. Upon completion you will have the credentials required to work or Teach English ... [Continue reading this entry]

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Top Ten reasons to TEFL

There are various reasons to leave home

We’ll try and focus on a few of the more positive motivations.

Money,adventure,love,experience,health and finally having some photos on Facebook that don’t have weird family members ... [Continue reading this entry]

We're going to swimming today Wyatt is excited We're meeting some friends visiting from Australia We'll post some photos later

On occasion you find it's time to take stock of your life, and re-assess your priorities. A few moments to consider your familial, emotional,physical and financial balance. As I look around at my family, more immediately my wife and young son, ... [Continue reading this entry]

It's completely in your hands where you want to place the items in the brief list I'm about to share with you. Is it a strange, inevitable or regrettable event? My holiday is coming to an end this week ... [Continue reading this entry]