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If you work as an online/remote tefl/tesol teacher, what course is best to get into this?

19 replies

Graphista · 25/08/2023 22:11

I already have 2 undergrad degrees inc English, I have experience in voluntary roles with children and young adults, I was accepted for teacher training but for a number of reasons this is no longer a viable option for me.

Several people have suggested this career to me inc a couple who are also tefl (in person) teachers but I wanted to get an idea from more people which courses are considered worthwhile and more appealing to potential employers/clients.

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gingersnappz · 25/08/2023 22:19

I employ ESOL teachers and I always look for a CELTA qualification.

Brexile · 25/08/2023 22:22

CELTA is regarded as the best.

Graphista · 25/08/2023 23:45

Thank you, I look forward to more replies but this is what I thought would be the case.

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Graphista · 25/08/2023 23:50

@gingersnappz mind my asking how I might endeavour to make myself as employable as possible in this field? What skills, qualifications and attributes are employers seeking?

Any advice on how to find work ?

Thank you

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So1invictus · 25/08/2023 23:53

You'll get online work without a Celta but any reputable organisation will ask for a tefli qualification. Celta is tefli. You'll get paid more, and have the ability to actually teach using relevant materials you've sourced yourself, because you'll know and understand your students' needs.

There's a whole new (frankly) dark underbelly in this industry, operating mainly online, where dodgy as fuck companies employ anyone who can sit at a computer and talk, get them to read out loud from ready made "lessons" and call them teachers. Avoid like the plague.

I've been teaching EFL for almost 30 years and when moving online during Covid, joined various groups on FB and such to get a feel for what was happening online. What's happening in many cases is both clients and teachers being ripped off.

Graphista · 26/08/2023 00:17

Yea I defo don't wanna get ripped off myself and want to serve the students well

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margegunderson · 26/08/2023 00:22

You want a TEFLi qualification- means you can teach in a British Council accredited centre and basically anywhere. So yes a CELTA. Schools are crying out for teachers.

gingersnappz · 26/08/2023 02:07

We deliver CELTA too so if I'm looking for someone I'll quite often ask my CELTA tutor for recommendations of anyone who has shone on the course.

For extra CPD, Future learn do some good free courses for teaching non native speakers. Also worth checking out the British Council website for recommendations

If you're close to Brighton, the IATEFL conference is in April next year and is great for speakers, picking up ideas for resources etc.

Experience in working with refugees is always a bonus too - the last two teachers I have employed have volunteered with a local refugee group so they have a knowledge of the barriers that non-native speakers and asylum seekers face alongside patience and understanding.

A safeguarding qual is something that I don't need as an essential but a desirable.

When I interview, I look for creativity in the microteach - a well planned lesson that allows for things going off plan, is engaging and the ability to teach adults with patronising.

cariadlet · 26/08/2023 02:17

I'm going to be cheeky and jump on this thread.

I'm a qualified teacher. 30+ years experience as a primary school teacher. No experience teaching adults but hopefully transferable skills.

Hoping to retire early in a few years and move abroad. Online TEFL teaching seems a good way to make some money - I won't be old enough to qualify for a pension.

Any advice about how to know which course providers are decent and how to choose a reputable agency once qualified?

katscamel · 26/08/2023 06:24

Used to recruit when I worked at the British Council as well as other places and we would only employ teachers with CELTA or Trinity TESOL. If I was recruiting for online teachers I'd also ideally want teachers who have experience/further certification in online teaching as it is very different to f2f.
Places like NILE and IH have some good courses.

I'm not sure of reputable online companies but have a look on tefl.com to give you an idea of what is available.

Polkadotfleece · 26/08/2023 07:43

Place marking here

EmmaPaella · 26/08/2023 08:38

Me too.

So1invictus · 26/08/2023 08:42

cariadlet · 26/08/2023 02:17

I'm going to be cheeky and jump on this thread.

I'm a qualified teacher. 30+ years experience as a primary school teacher. No experience teaching adults but hopefully transferable skills.

Hoping to retire early in a few years and move abroad. Online TEFL teaching seems a good way to make some money - I won't be old enough to qualify for a pension.

Any advice about how to know which course providers are decent and how to choose a reputable agency once qualified?

Reputable means there will have been observed teaching practice (in a nutshell)

There are, as you can imagine, a million providers these days all offering online training courses. Some of these do offer courses with a teaching practice element and these, while not necessarily
conferring tefli status, will, in today's market (as above, reputable schools are crying out post-Brexit for suitably qualified teachers) probably get you some work. This is F2F obviously. Most bricks and mortar organisations use their existing teachers for any online contracts they pick up.

If the organisation you work for is accredited (in the UK by the British Council) then for every non-tefli teacher employed, they have to produce a written rationale detailing the AQs (alternative qualifications - a PGCE for example) We've just closed our summer centres (and been BC inspected) and had more AQ teachers than ever.

The industry is a bit weird at the moment - highly regulated bricks and mortar schools are having a hell of a job recruiting (mainly in summer obviously when the teenagers come) while the online sector is saturated.

The BC website holds the inspection reports of all the accredited organisations it inspects, and that's a useful starting point to make a list. As is TEFL.com as per pp. There's a Facebook group called online teaching of English (or sth, I'll fetch a link in a mo') that will give you an idea of the good, and the bad, of online.

Also, the BC is now expanding to online teaching and has been creating a "pool" of suitably qualified and experienced teachers for future online work for about a year now. You need to be UK based I think. Note: experienced though. I'm in the pool and have been doing this since 1994.

It's a great job though. I did the CELTA then DELTA back in the 90s and now do teaching, managing, syllabus writing, examining, recruiting, teach in an Italian high school and manage the academic side of a UK summer school. My youngest students have been 2 😳 (only gig I asked to be sacked from back in the day when I'd accept anything) and oldest 79. I prefer teenagers on reflection and only really work with them now apart from the odd uni student.

So1invictus · 26/08/2023 08:43

PS @cariadlet as a qualified primary teacher you'd get f2f summer work with no other qualifications. My best teacher this summer was a PGCE primary teacher who had spent a few years teaching abroad but no specific EFL qual.

So1invictus · 26/08/2023 08:46

https://www.facebook.com/groups/794264473944141/?ref=share

I'd say this is a useful indicator of companies NOT to go with more than anything else 😂 but it's handy to see just what's out there, how rubbish a lot of it is, and why a decent, properly qualified teacher, even with no EFL experience, is like gold dust!

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/794264473944141?ref=share

cariadlet · 26/08/2023 13:09

Really helpful replies (sorry for not acknowledging names - I'm on the app on my phone and can't see any previous posts when I reply).

Thank you so much for taking the time to give such detailed advice.

Rocknrollstar · 26/08/2023 13:21

Just want to say the CELTA course is excellent and very thorough but quite a lot of work.Unfortunately, I never used it. Never thought of teaching online.

Summerscoming23 · 26/08/2023 18:37

How much time/money is involved in teaching online?

Graphista · 27/08/2023 20:41

Many thanks to everyone who replied.

Good luck to those also looking into this. Very happy to accompany you here as it were.

I'm in Scotland, if anyone has info on good resources to look at that apply here?

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