Odd, really. Most of those are pretty much prerequisites for every job that I've ever had in EFL. The only thing I certainly can't say is that we've formed a frat group for ourselves. Still, whatever floats your boat.Dengchao wrote:I couldn't really be bothered to go all the way through that, I think Hemmingway covered most of the things I would have said anyway (so thanks mate); but just to make myself clear:vladimir wrote:eric, do you mean paper qualifications or practical?erictheking wrote:Vladimir, I'm certainly not having a pop at you (Dengchao seems to be a bit of a knob anyway), but what constitutes a qualified teacher?
To my mind, a good teacher is someone who can communicate a new concept/ new information effectively, in such a way that it brings out the maximum potential of every student. I don't care about a degree so much, but I do object to applicants lying about their qualifications and /or criminal record. I'd rather employ a teacher who was honest about his/her qualification sthan some jumped-up 'doctor' who could not form academically productive relationships with his/her students.
Knobheads cling to their 'qualifications' as they know they can do none/ little of the above, and try to impose country-of-origin standards on employers here as to who they should employ. Perhaps they feel aggrieved that some have had opportunities they might never have/ had ever had, I don't know, I don't care, but the obvious anger they feel at life is probably a deterrent to most learning environments.
I really have no problem with TEFLers coming through and working for a casual employer; what I will quite gladly remind them and anyone else is that they do not have any claim to the professional title of 'teacher.' There is rarely a need to get upset about it because few Teflers will insist that they are professional teachers in public.
There is no professional teachers' body in this and many other Asian countries anyway; if there were, I wouldn't mind if a TEFLer who got his registration calling himself a 'professional kru, or ajarn, or laoshi,' but "teacher" is the word used for those of us with the professional admission to a teachers' fraternity in Anglophile countries such as UK, US, Canada, Oz, NZ and SA. Yes, "teacher" is an English word.
TEFLers quite simply have no right to use this as a professional title. Registration (sorry, not too sure on every country I named or primary teachers, but this is my experience) involves:
- Undergraduate degree (3-4 yrs)
* with - a course of study that allows one to offer two high school subjects up to G12 (so if you have a double major in IT and Maths, then you can offer two subjects at a greater level than a senior kid would typically grasp)
- Police clearance to work with children. If you have lived in any other country for more than a year then they will typically want to see police certificates from these countries (take heed professionals! NEVER leave a country without a certificate of goodness)
- Post-graduate degree in Education (1-2 yrs)
* this involves quite a lot of practical work place days, say from 50-100
- Application for a provisional teacher's registration (3 months)
* this involves an extremely invasive history check, all records are available to Teachers' Colleges, if you got done shoplifting a yo-yo when you were 12 they WILL see it!
- One years probationary employment with a school in the state or country you trained in. (1 year)
* heads (real heads, professional ones) often deny full registration to underperforming teachers
- Ongoing yearly payment to the college, whilst satisfying any requirements they have (ongoing professional development) (annually)
* usually a window of a set period of time not teaching can be grounds for striking from the register.
* we are required by law to report any change in our circumstances!
- Register searches are available to the public via the internet where a real teacher's full details, registration status, degrees and period of registration (or previous reg) provide the means for independent verification..
You've obviously met different TEFLers than I have. While some may lack qualifications, I haven't met too many who didn't care about their students and who weren't equally respected by them. People choose to work in EFL because there's the constant opportunity to see the world and do something which is enjoyable while providing a service, often in developing countries, to people who wouldn't ever have the opportunity of learning English from native speakers. Freedom and independence to go pretty much go where you want, when you want.Dengchao wrote:[Thing is mate, you just don't seem to understand that you are insulting professionals who have had their title virtually destroyed beyond salvation in Asia because of TEFLers. Putting your two cents in on a discussion about ISPP indicates to me that you really are out of touch with your own little reality.
There's also the opportunity, for those who desire, to gain numerous professional teaching qualifications along the way and, like it or not, almost all of them say the word "teaching" too. Personally, I wouldn't change a thing and, whether you like it or not, the EFL industry isn't going away any time soon.