Tag Archives: Professionalism

TEFL as often private education- often good or often bad?

Posted on 07/10/2009 by alexcase

Or actually, it is perhaps better to ask “often better or often worse”, as we can only choose from the options we have available (as in my usual Dip post obs litany “Yes, you can criticise my lesson, Ms DELTA … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Mass ELT, EFL exams, ETS, Job security, self employed TEFL teachers, TEFL, TEFL blogs, TEFL unions, TEFL working conditions, The Marxist TEFL Group | Tagged | 13 Comments

How can we increase TEFL pay?

Posted on 17/09/2009 by alexcase

The question in the last blog post “Does better pay lead to better teaching?” seems more or less agreed on- maybe, but probably less so than other ways of investing that money and anyway we can never prove it well enough … Continue reading →

Posted in finding good TEFL jobs, first TEFL job, International House, Teacher training, TEFL career planning, TEFL chains, TEFL pay, TEFL strikes, TEFL unions, TEFL working conditions | Tagged | 22 Comments

Why I'm not annoyed by the TEFL dossers

Posted on 06/09/2009 by alexcase

A brief recent clash with Jason Renshaw over whether something is rotten in the state of TEFL (my answer- yes, but no worse than the rest of this crazy world), reminded me of our only other disagreement about what he called … Continue reading →

Posted in TEFL working conditions | Tagged | 13 Comments

25 things I have done that have less value than TEFL

Posted on 22/02/2009 by alexcase

Jim’s comments  about the pointlessness of TEFL in previous posts below has got me thinking, and as that’s not something I do very often I thought I should probably try to get a whole blog post of out of it. … Continue reading →

Posted in TEFL career planning | Tagged , , | 31 Comments

TEFL quotes of the year 2008

Posted on 24/12/2008 by alexcase

In reverse order by when they appeared on the blog (the first two are new): “Now Skinner did reign in the land of psychology, and it came to pass that Chomsky smote Skinner and begat Krashen, and Krashen begat Long, … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, CELTA, History of English teaching in Japan, Kaplan, KOTESOL, Linguistics, applied linguistics and SLA, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, TEFL chains, TEFL heroes- Scott Thornbury, TEFL in the UK | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

6 Ways TEFL Certificate Courses Try to Rip You Off – Part 1

Posted on 17/12/2008 by alexcase

The first of hopefully a new batch of guest author pieces, this one sent to me by “TEFLista” “No doubt, there are a lot of dodgy TEFL certificate courses out there, but have you ever stopped for a minute to ponder the question … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge ESOL, CELTA, Dodgy TEFL courses, finding good TEFL jobs, links, SIT TESOL, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL certificate, TEFL qualifications, TEFL scams, Trinity | Tagged , | 42 Comments

Being a professional without a profession Quote of the Day

Posted on 11/11/2008 by alexcase

“I sweated blood over my master’s degree, and now here I am lumped together with all those youngsters who don’t even know what a preposition is”

Posted in MA Applied Linguistics, MA TESOL, TEFL, TEFL heroes- Rose M Senior | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Slogans for crappy English schools Part Three

Posted on 29/09/2008 by alexcase

96. “Sick of our dirty classrooms? Home lessons available for just 50% more!” 97. “And your thought only pizza delivery boys would travel all the way to your house！” 98. “Our 100th international branch right here in your town is … Continue reading →

Posted in British Council accreditation, Teaching English Abroad, TEFL, TEFL in the UK | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Do you want the temporary buzz of moving on and/ or up too?

Posted on 21/09/2008 by alexcase

Doesn’t last of course, especially the initial thrill of being in the chaos of a third world city or in the chaos left for you by the last person who had that DoS job, but if having some kind of … Continue reading →

Posted in Becoming a Director of Studies, becoming a teacher trainer, Business English and ESP, CPD, EFL exams, ELT management, ELT publishing, finding good TEFL jobs, getting into ELT publishing, Lesson observations, links, Materials, Peer observations, Teacher training, Teaching English in Asia, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL CV/ TESOL resume, TEFL qualifications, TEFL reviews, TEFL working conditions, TEFL workshops, TESOL, Usingenglish | Tagged | 2 Comments

Another 25 quotes from advertising for schools with a quality disability

Posted on 21/09/2008 by alexcase

70. “If you want to chatter away in your own language, what the hell- you’re paying!” 71. “We’ve found the dead rat under classroom 7B” 72. “We will keep your teacher’s passport until you pass the FCE” 73. “You just never know what will … Continue reading →

Posted in Dodgy TEFL school owners, Teaching English Abroad, TEFL, TEFL chains, TEFL in the UK, TEFL working conditions | Tagged , , | 1 Comment