Advice on teaching in further education?

[taylorsweet]

Hi,

I have been thinking about doing a CELTA course and going to teach English in college. I know that CELTA is mainly for teachers who want to go abroad and teach English to speakers of other languages, but what about doing it in the UK? Can it be a stable career choice? I can't make up my mind whether I should take up this course or go and teach in state schools (primary)? Any tips from experienced teachers would be much appreciated!! Thanks

The CELTA can be used in the UK - in fact, it is often a basic requirement for teaching EFL in a college or private language school. Also for a subject like ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) which county council adult education departments often run. ESOL is being cut back but there are openings. The TALENT website has lots of jobs advertised. You could get funding if you get this work, usually part time, for a higher level qualification to enable you to teach skills for life including literacy. Your employer would advise and the TALENT website has lots of information.

Also for FE teaching, you might consider the City and Guilds Further Education Teacher's Certificate - your local college may put it on and it does open doors as well. Part time, about 2 terms to a year.

It may be that the FE qualification will enable people to teach in schools. The TES website usually carries the news on this one as well as having lots of jobs, some of them in the FE sector. Good luck!

All the teachers in our ESOL dept at the FE college where I work have done or are doing CELTA. Some of the LSAs are doing it too.

The CELTA isn't just for those who want to work overseas. However, where I work, it can be hard to get into ESOL without any experience, although some CELTA centres may keep on really good trainees. Any experience you can gather will be very useful, whether it is in ESOL or EFL overseas.

Where I work, ESOL funding is being cut too so most jobs are hourly-paid and hours are guaranteed only for as many weeks as a class runs. This leads to job insecurity and competition for work even for well-qualified and experienced teachers, but this probably depends on your location. Several of my colleagues also hold qualified teacher status so they can do supply teaching if other work dries up. The job insecurity is the worst part of my job but I really enjoy my work and wouldn't want to do anything else.

It might be an idea to do some volunteer ESOL teaching before sending a lot of money on the CELTA to see if it's for you, or maybe speak to / email someone working at a local college to see how likely it is you'll get a decent amount of work as a newly-qualified teacher.