any idea?

Saying that, God knows if I’ve passed and what the remaining 4 days hold in store. Fingers crosses, hey!

The fact is that many new teachers and CELTA graduates think they’re brilliant teachers and that the students should be ‘grateful’ to be taught by them. Worse still some think the schools that employ them should be grateful too. There is a ‘colonial’ mentality among many native speakers of English who believe that just because they can speak English as a first language they can teach it as a second language to students, and can do so flawlessly.

I’ve seen this horrendous attitude with many teachers, watched them give appalling lessons, tried to guide and correct their technical skills and attitudes and only have to face their negativity and stubborn refusal to accept that they are rubbish at what they’re doing and basically short-changing the students.I’ve been tactful when managing teams and have never done anything to ‘destroy’ a member of staff. However, as a school manager I have a moral and legal obligation to ensure that students are taught well and treated as equals. I therefore have to be honest about giving feedback and explaining the rules of conduct in the job which many course graduates can’t take. The more educated the teacher, the more difficult it is for them to see that the sun doesn’t shine out of their a*** and having a degree in literature or business will not prepare you for the technical and cultural aspects of teaching a language to people who process ideas, thoughts and language differently to native speakers of English.

Most holders of English degrees have been taught the English perspective on language and this sometimes sets their mind into a specific mentality which is not compatible with students’ needs – studying Shakespeare or Bronte does not prepare one to teach a Chinese student to get by as an immigrant in the USA, UK and to cope with all the aspects of existing in a foreign language and helping them to understand that language from the their own perspective. In my experience graduates of science subjects usually make the best EFL teachers because they are able to distance themselves from the topics they are teaching and assess the information scientifically and logically – they’re slightly better at analysing things objectively and will see the language as a structure which the students need to learn in clear and simple terms. I’ve often found that English language graduates are so obsessed with the literature and ‘superiority’ of the culture of their language that they’re not able to ‘translate’ these into real-life terms which are more important to students. You average Afghan, Chinese or Japanese who has spent his parents’ life savings to have English lessons doesn’t give a hoot about the Brontes poetry or Shakespeare – they’re learning the language to make a living or escape their country and the successful English teacher must see and respect this. There are other issues too, such as assertive management of difficult students, cultural sensitivities etc., not getting drunk with students and not making an idiot of yourself in front of people who sometimes come from very conservative cultures. Most newbies get these things wrong and it usually take them 3-5 years to learn the ‘culture’ and demands of the profession.

The brutality and toughness of the CELTA is ideal as it prepares you for the criticism you will get from your employers and sometimes absolutely horrible students. Not all students are the meek and ‘inferior’ citizens of some remote country that many teachers romantically imagine. They are demanding clients who pay very, very hard-earned cash to better their lives and those of their children. Some of them are very highly qualified and if you do not know how to explain what a mixed conditional is or the ins and outs of participle clauses they will catch you out very quickly. You do not need to speak a language well to be able to understand its structure and components. It is a little like reading music – you may be able to identify notes but it doesn’t necessarily mean you can play or read a musical score. Students are like this – they know the technical aspects of the language and grammar but don’t know how to ‘play’ it the right way. A teacher who doesn’t know the jargon and technical aspects of the language will be put on the spot sooner rather than later. You will be exposed as a pompous and superior western fraud who thinks they can come to a foreign country and educate the ignorant locals. The students will despise you for this.

They will demand and push you to your limits. If you can’t take this level of criticism then it is not the job for you because that is what happens every day on the job in real-life. The CELTA is actually just an introduction to what will happen in your classroom. No matter how good the teachers really are there will always be students who make really snide remarks and have absolutely no qualms about doing this in front of a class full of students. I’ve had teachers quizzed about their qualifications, told they smell, told they don’t know how to speak their own language and insulted in every manner possible just because the students didn’t like them. This has been said openly in front of whole classrooms, in the presence of the teachers themselves and in whispered in my office behind the teachers’ backs. I’ve sometimes had the unpleasant task of telling my subordinates what the students have said about them – and yes,sometimes the students are right.

Teaching a foreign language abroad or to international students is a very high visibility job – you are putting yourself out in front of a group of people and subjecting yourself to observation, judgement and scrutiny. By your very presence in the classroom you are announcing to the students that you are in a position to ‘teach’ them, which really means that you think you know more than they do and are therefore ‘superior’ – this will be tested. It is a little like being on TV or a celebrity. Students will focus on you and what they notice may not always be positive. This can be aspect of your appearance(are you good-looking, too fat, too thin, too old, too young), your technical knowledge of the language from the perspective that students need, the fact that you may be perceived as a negative stereotype(e.g. the slutty western woman), your accent (do you speak BBC English is a frequent question), your teaching style, your ability to mark homework on time, your ability to explain, engage and entertain. ALL of this will be analysed, scrutinised, criticised and commented on. At the very end if the students find anything wrong with you they will approach your manager as demand a change of teacher. Dealing and balancing these factors has been a daily part of my job over the last 16 years and I have been the buffer zone between students and teachers.

Those of you who can’t take the pressure and criticism on the CELTA will not have been toughened up enough and grown the thick skin that you need to do this job well. The CELTA is a baptism of fire and you will need it because things can get much, much worse in real classrooms. Unless you experience this and keep it in mind throughout your teaching career you will not have developed the humility, self-reflection and self-criticism necessary to be a good and compassionate teacher. A great teacher learns throughout their whole life and admits to their own ignorance and is willing to take advice, criticism and guidance from those who have been doing the job longer than they. If you can’t take it for 4 weeks then what chance have you of lasting any longer than that on the job – you might be better advised to seek a job in a profession which is less demanding, less ‘visible’ and in which you will not be scrutinised by people whose livelihoods depend on the quality of your teaching and professional conduct.

Some feedback was legitimate but some was pure BS- on my mid-term report he actually wrote “you need to stop using capitals at the beginning of words, unless needed”; I’m fine with the feedback, but to put it as a main point on my report?? seriously?

It was a bit stressful at times and I think this stress could’ve been seriously reduced if they actually gave you the full picture of the course ahead of time. I mean why would you make us plan the first 4 lessons using one template, then “ease” us into a completely different template- this is an unnecessary adjustment we can do without. I’m sure everyone on the course can handle the “official” lesson plan template from the start. Not to mention those stupid observations we had to do made me question everything I was learning. NONE of the lessons we observed employed the CELTA method.

It is just a single method really and you can take from it what you wish and leave out what you wish.