If you're a teacher of English as a Second or Foreign Language* you might already have heard of Cambridge CELTA.
If you haven't, the CELTA is a certificate that gives you notoriety and credibility in the eyes of the language teaching community. The certificate was designed and created by International House London, in 1962, and from the 70s to 88 it was administrated by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA); later, Cambridge University, more specifically Cambridge English Language Assessment, took over the running of the training courses for teachers of English, so the CELTA formally known as CTEFLA or RSA/Cambridge CELTA, as for 2001, has been simply called Cambridge CELTA. By the way, it used to stand for Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults, but now it "stands for": Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
The CELTA
from a tutor's point of view
The backstage, what you might not know...
Originally, CELTA has been designed to train anyone with zero or little experience who wants to be a teacher of English to adult learners. Well, the 'teaching adults' is still true, but the audience of 'zero or little experience', not quite... I have no idea if in the beginning most candidates, in fact, had no background in teaching, or when this change started to happen, but for some years now, at least in Brazil, rarely do we see candidates with no experience in a CELTA course.
I personally believe that because it's internationally recognized, any teacher with or without experience sees the value of having such certificate that opens doors to better opportunities (locally and abroad) and/or a chance to travel the world with a job. For example, some schools or language centers only hire teachers who have a CELTA, and lately, I've even heard of bilingual regular schools also giving preference to hiring CELTA holders. I also suspect that for some teachers who have some baggage, getting a Delta as a first teaching award may be a bit daunting, so they go for a CELTA first.
All in all, it's actually good to have a mix of backgrounds. I see this context as favorable. It's in the nature of the job of teaching to be able to learn from anyone, it doesn't matter if they have more or less experience, if they are teachers, tutors or students. Also, it's a great way to see (and assess) how a person behaves in a professional environment like this, that's part of the CELTA assessment.
How does this mixability have an impact on the course?
From my experience, on the one hand, it can be really tough for teachers with experience, for the simple reason that sometimes it's more difficult to change old habits than learning something new. On top of that, sometimes old teachers see a novice teacher thriving while finding out their teaching is not as effective as they thought it was.
On the other hand, new teachers can feel intimidated given the fact their repertoire of activities and ideas are more limited, they might feel misplaced or as if they are not doing a good job. In both cases, each candidate's self-esteem is put into test.
In terms of evaluation, this mixability doesn't affect candidates' grades. Cambridge not only has a criteria that must be followed in any center around the world, but it also makes sure that every single CELTA course is evaluated at its end by an external assessor in order to keep a standard. So, no matter how experienced or not experienced the teacher is, the criteria is the same. As a rule of thumb, what matters is the big picture, if the class was somehow effective, if there was an outcome, if students had a good time, and if there was learning from the part of the teacher.
"I've heard that CELTA is hell and tutors are mean"
This is another point I often hear... Well, taking a CELTA demands high levels of maturity, energy and commitment (like any course). Period. It's in the nature of most human beings to complain, to feel frustrated when something doesn't go according to plan, to feel insecure when stepping on new grounds or to feel really nervous when being assessed, and that's OK. A CELTA lesson (and candidate!) doesn't have to be perfect. But, in my opinion a minimum of self-awareness, social skills and emotional control is a must.
For this reason, choosing wisely from the 3 formats in which the CELTA is offered may be helpful. For instance, if you know you need time to digest information and you need to sleep an average of 8 hours/night, don't pick the intensive course.
Here are the three formats:
Online
It's a blended course, that means that all the theory and documentation is done online, but the teaching practices are face-to-face. This is the same for all Cambridge Centers. This means that at a given point, candidates will come to the center to teach a total of 6 hours, usually divided into 8 or 9 classes of 40, 45 or 60 minutes each, during 2 weeks straight.
Advantage: like any other online course, candidates can do (almost) everything through the Internet.
This choice is very popular for those who don't live in the city where the CELTA is being offered.
Disadvantage (maybe): Candidates have to teach all their lessons (usually) within 2 weeks. This means they don't have much time to plan and memorize their lessons. They teach every day.
Candidate's profile (in my opinion):
A person who...
- don't mind reading on a screen
- is good at keeping up with chats and forums online
- is good at keeping track of files online
- will be able to manage the stress of teaching under pressure every day, during 2 weeks.
- rebounds quickly from mistakes
- has potential to be more autonomous as the course goes.
Full-Time (or intensive)
It's a super fast course, candidates cover all the material and do all the teaching practice in 4 weeks (it's like 4 months in 4 weeks).
There's teaching practice and input sessions every day (except weekends), this takes about 2/3 of a day, leaving candidates only with a few hours to study, do lesson planning, and write assignments.
Advantage: it's over in 1 month!
Disadvantage (maybe): Candidates have to cope with a huge amount of information and stress during this one month.
Candidate's profile (in my opinion):
A person who...
- is good at making friends quickly
- likes to work in groups
- is very organized and can deal with a great amount of information in little time
- can quickly take feedback on board
- can quickly put theory into practice
- rebounds quickly from mistakes
- can write one or two papers (1500 words) in one week
- is able to stay healthy and positive especially because he/she will be sleeping very few hours/night, during one month.
- has potential to be more autonomous as the course goes.
Part-Time (or extensive)
Meetings happen once a week, during 4 months.
Advantage: candidates have a whole week to plan lessons, and nearly a month to write an assignment. There's time to reflect upon feedback and time to digest all the info received.
Disadvantage (maybe): It takes 4 months. It seems easier, but at the end of the day, it's the same kind of pressure, especially for those who work while taking the CELTA, in other words, candidates have to manage the CELTA and their jobs.
Candidate's profile (in my opinion):
A person who...
- needs time to digest information
- usually needs more time to write, edit, review assignments
- likes to do further research and wants time to plan and deliver lessons putting theory into practice
- lives in town or in a city not too far from the CELTA center.
Any of the formats above take 120 hours - not including the time you need to write or re-writing assignments, plan lessons, observe lessons of experienced teachers and do some reading. Taking the course does not imply candidates get a certificate at the end, they need to pass the course.
Other curiosities you might not know about the CELTA:
- Assignments are chosen to be double marked (by 2 tutors) randomly; But everybody gets at least one assignment double marked.
- Every CELTA ideally has at least 6-10 candidates and 2 tutors. If there are more candidates, there should be one tutor for every 6 candidates.
- The CELTA center where you choose to take the course keeps your portfolio for 6 months after the course is finished. So, it's a good idea to have copies of everything in case you want to use any of your lesson plans or revisit your assignments right after the course is over.
- The lesson observation procedures may differ from center to center. During teaching practice, for instance, in some centers your tutor might interrupt your lesson, give you some tips and advice, and ask you to do that part again, but more effectively.
- Candidates liaise and help each other during the course, some continue close friends for life.
- Each tutor has a different personality, style and manner . Having different levels of experience and baggage might contribute to different reactions, but, it's important to keep in mind that the course is standardized by Cambridge, for you to have an idea, all tutors all over the world have to, once a year, observe a video lesson and correct assignments, grade them and compare notes. They also get a grade "within standard", "too strict" or "too lenient". And based on this grade, each tutor will take action, for example, shadow other tutors, correct assignments together, etc.
Final word...
So, if you decide to take a CELTA, keep in mind that it's intense. If you have some experience, go with an open mind. The CELTA will shake your beliefs and you can decide later if you're going to take what you learned on board, or not. And if you've never taught before, the CELTA will open doors, show you the real deal and give you a taste of what it's like to be 'real' teacher of English to speakers of other languages.
*If you don't know the difference, you can find it