Category Archives: TEFL working conditions

Some new ideas about CPD in ELT

Posted on 22/07/2009 by alexcase

From July’s MET, and now here on my “CPD portfolio”* The aptly named article “CPD” by Keith Harding has some interesting ideas I hadn’t come across like a Self-SWOT Analysis and a snap-shot observation, but the really weighty matters are … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge Delta, Cambridge ESOL, CELTA, CPD, Diploma in TESOL, ELT publishing, Lesson observations, modern english teacher magazine, Peer observations, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL qualifications, TEFL working conditions, TEFL workshops | 5 Comments

The other side of Oxford Street

Posted on 16/06/2009 by alexcase

A guest piece by “Holden Coalfield” “‘No thanks’, I said to the leafleter who offered me and everyone else a flyer for an English school as I walked out of Oxford Circus tube into this crowded and surprisingly tacky centre … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative teaching techniques, Cambridge Delta, CELTA, Dodgy TEFL school owners, ELT management, finding good TEFL jobs, first TEFL job, Job security, Learner motivation, Oxford Street schools, Teacher training, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL certificate, TEFL in the UK, TEFL qualifications, TEFL scams, TEFL working conditions | Tagged | 6 Comments

How’s your ultimate job and/ or life going?

Posted on 04/06/2009 by alexcase

Not got either, you say? Well, maybe you should try a job with is “the most exciting employment opportunity of your life” which is “not hard” and “pays well”. Apparently you can “forget the commute, over-time …missed lunches… jammed photocopiers and … Continue reading →

Posted in Bruce Veldhuisen, Dodgy TEFL courses, finding good TEFL jobs, first TEFL job, links, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Thailand, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL celebs/ TEFL heroes and villains, TEFL certificate, TEFL International, TEFL qualifications, TEFL scams, TEFL working conditions, TESOL | Tagged | 2 Comments

How to spot a bad TEFL job Part One

Posted on 05/05/2009 by alexcase

– Job ads that start with descriptions of the place instead of the school. Here is a particularly extreme example: “You may have heard of the world-famous Bogor Botanic Garden in Java, Indonesia. This is Indonesia’s first and foremost botanic … Continue reading →

Posted in EF, first TEFL job, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Indonesia, Technology, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL chains, TEFL working conditions | 4 Comments

The secrets to being happy as a TEFL teacher

Posted on 11/04/2009 by alexcase

1. Low expectations Working as a care worker when I came out of university and in chicken nugget and packaging for Chinese takeaways factories nights in the holidays certainly helped for that, as did having a family for whom working … Continue reading →

Posted in TEFL career planning, TEFL working conditions | 34 Comments

Interview- Jason West Dishes on Guardian Languages and Sets the TEFL World to Rights!

Posted on 04/01/2009 by alexcase

It’s a great interview, stimulating, controversial, and full of TEFL insider tidbits. So many ideas did the CEO of English Out There have, in fact, that it takes a good 10 minutes to read. Please feel free to leave questions … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative teaching techniques, British Council, British Council accreditation, Distance learning, EFL exams, ELT publishing, Guardian TEFL, Job security, Linguistics, applied linguistics and SLA, links, Materials, self employed TEFL teachers, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching methods and methodologies, teaching online, Technology, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL celebs/ TEFL heroes and villains, TEFL chains, TEFL in the UK, TEFL scams, TEFL working conditions, textbooks | Tagged | 9 Comments

Maybe we should riot too

Posted on 19/12/2008 by alexcase

…sometimes it’s the only way for us barely-working classes to get any attention. The French and Russian revolutions may have been tragic for many people in those countries, but they were a godsend for the bargaining power of us prols … Continue reading →

Posted in TEFL career planning, TEFL celebs/ TEFL heroes and villains, TEFL strikes, TEFL unions, TEFL working conditions | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guardian TEFL wises up

Posted on 12/12/2008 by alexcase

The latest TEFL infomercial from the alleged newspaper the Graudian doesn’t, for once, have a by-line saying it was written by a representative of a TEFL course provider with everything to gain from the industry selling more courses and nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Cactus TEFL, Dodgy TEFL courses, finding good TEFL jobs, Guardian TEFL, Job security, links, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Korea, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL certificate, TEFL scams, TEFL working conditions | Tagged | 6 Comments

23 Experiences of Language Teaching

Posted on 22/11/2008 by alexcase

Finished reading the Experience of Language Teaching a week or two ago, and here are some of my favourite quotes: on continuous enrollment “like teaching on a moving bus, or in the middle of a railway station, with people coming … Continue reading →

Posted in CELTA, Cultural differences/ cultural training, Experience of Language Teaching, Grammar, Lesson planning, MA TESOL, Problem students, Teacher training, Teaching young learners, TEFL, TEFL games, TEFL in the UK, TEFL qualifications, TEFL working conditions, textbooks | Tagged | 6 Comments

TEFL scabs

Posted on 05/10/2008 by alexcase

Seems that there is an interesting TEFL strike story going on right on my doorstep that I hadn’t even heard about, including loads of juicy controversy. You can see the recent open letter by the leader of the Berlitz strike … Continue reading →

Posted in Berlitz, David English House, Eikaiwa, English Teachers in Japan, JALT, Job security, links, Teacher associations, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Japan, TEFL, TEFL chains, TEFL conferences, TEFL strikes, TEFL unions, TEFL working conditions | 3 Comments