During a talk with local school owners on Tuesday, Ben Beaumont explained the benefits of taking a recognised, accredited pre-service qualification: the Trinity Certificate in TESOL or the Cambridge CELTA. He identified the similarities between the two courses, both of which involve an assessed teaching practice component as well as a focus on experiential learning and dual professionalism; as well as a number of key differences: for example, the Trinity CertTESOL has a more implicit focus on phonology and also exposes trainees to a language-learning environment through the Unknown Language Journal which offers them an opportunity to empathise as learners in a Communicative Approach classroom.
He also highlighted an important point for business owners: that teachers with one of these professional qualifications are more likely to stay within a school for longer and, perhaps more importantly, learners whose teachers have such qualifications are likely to stay in education for longer.
Following on from Ben’s talk, Simon talked about the benefits of membership of professional bodies such as ACEIA and FECEI and shared details of TEFL del Sur, the regional teachers’ association.
He went on to talk about the possibility of funding further development through the Fundación Tripartita and ended by talking about using our own local networks, such as the Active Language Teacher Training page to recruit qualified, professional teachers.
For more información about how to receive funding through the Fundación Tripartita, you can download our guide (in Spanish).
