Considering CELTA? (A Personal Quest)

Considering CELTA? Although CELTA  certification was once recognized as the premier TEFL certification, things have changed over the years. The following is a personal story based on my experience comparing CELTA with Paradise TEFL Chiang Mai I underwent many months back when I was first relocating in Thailand. Hope that it provides a sense of the key differences in cost, methodology, teaching experience and approach. Enjoy! Admittance to Costly CELTA As an American classroom teacher with years of classroom and outdoor teaching experience, I was required to take the CELTA in order to obtain my job the British Head of School who explained to me how vastly superior the CELTA program was to all the other TEFL certifications out there and that I must take and pass the Cambridge based course at my own expense if I wanted to obtain a teaching position in his international school.   After attempting to enroll in San Francisco, near where I lived, I was promptly rejected on the basis of two factors. One was a lower than average test score for their entrance exam (despite all my years of being a published author and teaching History and Science, apparently  I wasn't schooled well enough in all the nuances of English Grammar) in order to do that well with their test; the other was overcrowding of the class.  The cost was around $2,500 USD and thinking I needed to have the certification in order to get the job I looked around for CELTA certification in other locations in the world. The timing was poor for other programs, and I needed to get certified quickly.    Apparently there was a CELTA program in Denver which was still available, but I would of had to pay to reapply and move and rent a place to get my certification within my narrow time frame, which in turn would double the cost. Needless to say, I felt it made more sense to me to take the course in the country where I would be teaching, that way my student teaching would be working with the same type of student nationals who I would be working with for the future, but I was reluctant to inform the administrator of this change, so I did not. Once I paid my application fee (around 100 usd) and studied for the lengthy and in many cases irrelevant entrance exam, I had a phone interview with the instructor and was accepted. Incidentally, I never got back the application fee from SF however, and to this day wonder how much money is made by encouraging applicants merely to obtain the application fees as a source of easy revenue for their "educationally  driven" corporate business schemes. Authentic Accreditation I researched and found a course offered through the ECC in Chiang Mai that offered an authorized CELTA certification. (I later learned that in terms of accreditation that Cambridge CELTA was actually started through a committee of the British Council which also certifies the CELTA program.) This kind of blatant nepotism is not unique to CELTA in that this parent founder of CELTA is similar to many similar accreditation organizations out there, which no one educational body actually governs.  In conclusion then, it is not so important who accredits a program (although it is an important factor in determining the level of legitimacy in some regard) but rather it is the motives of any accreditation organization which certify a TEFL that matters most. In my book, one that is truly independent of the program which it certifies is usually best, if you can find one that is! "Text and Talk" in Chiang Mai is certified by the Thai Ministry of Education which is independent of its ownership, however being certified by an non-English speaking entity may not be the ultimate in terms of high quality English language non-political educational agendas.    Choosing Chiang Mai With my application accepted, I headed off to Chiang Mai shortly after purchasing an airplane ticket to the ECC run CELTA program located just outside the campus gates of the Chiang Mai University campus and, after some searching around, was able to locate decent affordable accommodations for the course, which in fact, was a big advantage for studying in Thailand to be sure.    Once I arrived and went to the ECC office I was dismayed by the facilities for which I paid around $1700 to attend. The quarters were cramped and inefficient. The access to a copy machine and computers was second rate and the resources sparse. I was also informed I was required to buy several text at quite a high fee and that the books I needed where nowhere to be found in Chiang Mai, but that the ECC could help by ordering them from a store they knew of in Bangkok.   After several sessions with my instructors it quickly became apparent that the two gentlemen had little to no experience actually teaching English in Thailand, rather they had vast experience in teach students how to get certified in the CELTA. I found them both ethnic and egocentric as evidence by one instructor who, in a discussion of different terminology for American and British idioms, stated that the teaching and acquiring of English language globally would have been "much easier without the bastardization of the language." CELTA Critera (A Euro-Centric Approach)  The assignments and lesson plans were overly detailed, complex and completely unrealistic. I was scolded and shamed for not sticking to their suggested "White-board plan" by using specific areas of the board for certain topics and using the required array of colors in my visual presentation. If I went beyond the required minute for an introduction or explaining a misunderstood aspect of the lesson, I was interrupted and told to stay on track. As a credentialed teacher with multiple certifications and a master's degree in Education and Multicultural Studies, I found this extremely unprofessional, counter-productive and annoying. Learning takes place in many ways and modalities.   At one point one of the instructors asked all the Thai students to sit on the floor without providing a mat or any items for them to sit on, which showed a complete lack of understanding for Thai culture and traditional customs. They reprimanded and pestered the Thai student volunteers, many of whom worked or attended school full time, when they arrived late or failed to complete homework assignments and in the process ended up alienating many to the point where they were reluctant to return.     Without a enough students to teach a meaningful observed lesson on numerous occasions the ECC's own Thai staff was used as replacements. I feel this was a bit of unfortunate kharmic justices which ensued, due to the instructor's own ignorance and unwelcoming approach. As an unfortunate result, I saw truly sincere and potentially highly effective teachers lose their confidence and desire to continue the program, which instead of bringing the class together ended up tearing it apart. It felt more like a boot camp, where by, once the money had been obtained, the aim was to weed the weakest links out, utilizing fear, intimidation and shame as the main exterior motivating forces.   Welcome to Paradise Luckily, I had signed up for Paradise TEFL Chiang Mai prior to the International School headmaster's ultimatum that I enroll in CELTA in order to be employed. After attending the 4 week training session at the Paradise Chiang Mai TEFL program, I learned valuable, applicable, hands on training and ESL specific effective techniques. I grew as an educator, not by turning away from my past experience and desire to improve but because of it.   During the duration of the course I found I was supported by the Paradise staff and my colleagues (not only in terms of teaching but both professionals as friends) and ended up so enamored that I ended up leaving my high-paying international school teaching position, to work in the highly rewarding field of teaching conversational English. In my free time, I even began to volunteer at the one room school house established by the local temple in my rural village near the lavish campus of the international school because of the satisfaction I gained by working with learners who's quality of life I directly influenced by being a conversational language teacher.   Today,  I continue to volunteer and spend my time meeting my professional aspirations and financial obligations by working as an instructor for Paradise TEFL Chiang Mai, teaching those seeking to find meaningful, and financially sustainable program, and applicable work throughout the world as well as right here in the South East Asian region. I look forward to the opportunity of contributing to the lives of new teacher recruits and those who benefit from learning English and a second or foreign language the world over. We at TEFL Chiang Mai English Language Certification  (a fully accredited and globally recognized TEFL program) strive for our students  to learn conversational English with the latest proven strategies and methods, but share up to date pedagogy and strategies as part of our teachers career development through the latest teaching paradigms. As part of TEFL Chiang Mai's goal to increase cultural and religious sensitivity among our participants, we also offer a TEFL Buddhist Exchange program where future TEFL teachers have the opportunity not only to become certified instructors but to participate as student's of the Buddhist philosophy and tradition with daily monk chats and dharma talks to better understand the religious beliefs which permeates our student's lives through out many parts of South East Asia. For more information and registration for this, or any of the "Paradise TEFL" franchise programs, please don't hesitate to contact us today!