CELTA or Trinity CertPT?
When Trinity CertPT is not for you.
For some people there is no choice between a CELTA or a Trinity CertPT. The name tells you what you can and can’t do. The Cert PT is for Practising Teachers. If you have never taught before you can’t do a Trinity CertPT. Instead an initial course like CELTA or the Trinity Cert TESOL, is probably the best choice, though other courses are available. These short initial courses provide some background to principles of language teaching. However, they are mainly about mechanics of teaching – giving instructions and explanations, organising groups, when an how to correct. Observed teaching practice help you test those processes and get feedback.
What if you are a practising teacher?
However, if you are someone who has teaching experience and you are looking for an international accreditation, there is now a real choice. This will be the case for many non-native speaker teachers. Many of you will have done degrees in philology. Some of you will have had teaching modules within those degrees, so a CELTA can feel a step back. You may well get some tips and ideas from the initial course, but you probably want more. You may want to think more deeply about different ideas behind teaching and how to apply them to your context. This is what the CertPT does. It’s why it’s a higher Level 6 course than CELTA/Trinity CertTESOL.
Teaching Practice and its purpose on CELTA
I know that a lot of emphasis is put on the value of observed teaching practice (TP) in CELTA, but it is important to understand its purpose. When you have never taught, TP helps to speed up your learning of practical skills. You encounter problems of organising groups. You immediately get feedback on a better way to do it.
But observation of TP is NOT essential for change, but it may be slower. Imagine they have a problem putting learners into pairs or groups, What might happen? Their students might complain (what do we have to do?). The teacher might see the problem and be frustrated. If they have been a language student, they may reflect on how their teachers did it. They may try a different way. They may ask a colleague or look online. In other words, you may not need this particular kind of observed TP! The assessed reflection of the TrinityPT Cert on your practice, may be better.
CertPT teaching practise is for your context.
I say CELTA teaching practice is a particular kind of TP. I could say that it is a peculiar kind. The groups you teach, are often unpredictable from day to day. Some students may be forced into a lower or higher group to make up the numbers. In many cases they will not share a language. You do a small part of the class, in a limited time. You can hardly deviate from a plan, because others may be following you. You may follow someone who was a disaster and have to pick up the pieces. Within this context TP tutors may have rules to keep the class on track. Reduce TTT, increase pairwork, don’t translate/allow L1 use, use instruction or concept checking Qs.
But you may be in a completely different context – teaching one-to-one with regular clients, teaching large groups of teenagers, monolingual groups, almost entirely low levels, or mainly high. With time to consider ideas, and to practise them with YOUR learners, rules can become tools. You understand the underlying principles. You make use of them (or not!) to suit your situation.
Value for money and career goals
In determining value in terms of your career, there are questions. Firstly, the CertPT is a much cheaper option – at least with Lexical Lab. Most CertPTs are an add-on to other training courses (more on this in a future post). The 35 taught hours is paid separately (e.g. Teaching Lexically) and you then buy the CertPT assessment module and Trinity moderation. Typically, this is £320-£360. With Lexical Lab, you can do the CertPT through a Standout Teachers year membership for as little as £399. We also have monthly payment option of £36.99. If you are simply looking for accredited CPD or see doing assessments as the best route to improvement… why not join our programme!
A CELTA would normally be £1050 to £1500 full time (plus living expenses).A lot of schools (especially in the UK), want teachers to have an initial qualification that includes 6 hours TP. It’s unclear if those schools would accept the CertPT alongside your experience in the same way. I would, but I’m not a school owner.
The CertPT is, however, an accepted route on to a higher qualification such as Trinity’s Diploma or Cambridge’s DELTA, so if that’s your long-term goal … why not skip initial training and join our programme!
“A lot of schools (especially in the UK), want teachers to have an initial qualification that includes 6 hours TP. It’s unclear if those schools would accept the CertPT alongside your experience in the same way.” I think the issue for schools in the UK is more about how British Council inspectors would interpret this qualification, given that most language schools in the UK are accredited by the BC.
There is some flexibility in the accreditation scheme to employ teachers with qualifications that don’t clearly meet TEFLQ status, but I think judgement on suitability would depend on other qualifications and experience of the teacher in question. If it was seen as a cheap way of a teacher to get a qualification without any formal observation of their teaching, then I think the inspectors would (rightly) take a dim view.
Hi Peter
Thanks for your comment. I am glad to hear that there is flexibility. In terms of it being a cheap option, in money terms, it clearly is, but it is not an easy option. The overall expectation is 100 hours of study on top of experience. The four assessments require a certain standard that shows understanding of teaching methodology, context, and reflective practice. It is an OFQUAL approved level 6. (higher qualification than CELTA). I am not sure it would be easy to pass and be, say someone who would fail an initial training course.
What do you think of other ways of showing your teaching abilities in conjunction with a qualification like CertPT – self filmed teaching or student or employee references?
Hi again,
I agree that it wouldn’t necessarily be easier to pass than a CELTA/Trinity Cert TESOL, but it is obviously not testing the same skills, so that’s why I say it depends. I think it might depend a lot on how much weight is afforded to assessed teaching practice when BC assessors look at teachers’ qualifications (can’t say I know the answer to that, I’m afraid). From my limited knowledge though, I think assessors would look at the profile of all academic staff, so one teacher without a qualification that includes TP doesn’t automatically cause problems for the school being assessed, but having many teachers in that situation might raise a bit of a red flag.
With regards to your question, my experience is that it depends on the context. I live in Taiwan where it is very common to be asked to give a teaching demonstration at a job interview whereas asking for references from previous employers isn’t always asked for. In that situation, I think a video of your teaching might be quite helpful.
However, my experience of applying for jobs in the UK is quite different – seems to be more common to talk through a lesson plan at interview and references are usually (if not always) expected. Perhaps employee references might be a better barometer in this situation?
My own view (not necessarily of the BC assessors) is that someone who has some other kind of qualification aside from a CertPT (e.g. education-related degree), can demonstrate significant teaching experience and can demonstrate a good understanding of teaching practice at interview should be allowed to teach in BC accredited schools in the UK. However, I would be a bit more reluctant to say the same about someone with no relevant background who has gone to teach for a year or so at a school with little to no support (seems quite common in large parts of Asia, sadly). If they were then to get the CertPT (instead of say a CELTA), I’m not sure how many school managers/DoSs would be amenable to hiring someone in that situation. Perhaps some summer schools who are desperate for teachers would be willing to risk it, but they’d probably need to provide a good explanation to the assessors for it if they are a BC accredited school.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I think you explain my caveat well. In terms of the scenario you lay out at the end, I would also recommend a CELTA or equivalent, simply because such a person may struggle to pass the CertPT without any background knowledge of ELT or language learning. It is a somewhat more demanding qualification academically (level 6 not 5).