Are you at the point in your teaching career where you would like to move into a different area but not necessarily a management role? Teachers don’t necessarily make great managers. Not everyone wants to be in an office poring over admin. Have you already got your diploma but don’t know what do next? Do you enjoy working with teachers? If the answer is yes, then maybe teaching training is for you. This is something that I have been toying with recently. However, I found it difficult to find any information about how to embark on this. Therefore, I decided to do my own research. Where did I start? Well, I started talking to the best sources of information, teachers themselves. This is what I learned.
1. To become a CELTA trainer you have to firstly find a centre/language school which is willing to train you up basically. The first step is to observe an entire CELTA course and produce a portfolio. It seems that you choose a centre/language school with a view to working with them in the future as you need to stay there for at least 3 courses according to Cambridge regulations.
2. In terms of the requirements to become a CELTA trainer or a teacher trainer in the future, it seems it can sometimes be a case of being in the right place at the right time. It may also be a case of whether or not your place of work is a Cambridge test centre for language students.
3. In order to prepare for this a teacher needs one of the higher level qualifications such as Cambridge DELTA or Trinity Dip TESOL and proven experience of teacher training. For example, you could mentor less experienced teachers, lead one-off seminars, present at a conference, conduct teacher observations, do peer observations or volunteer to train teachers in developing countries. Such evidence may be required to demonstrate your previous training experience in order to be accepted to observe a CELTA course.
4. You should also work on your own CPD by attending various training courses for teachers. There does not always have to be a financial cost involved. Inform yourself by reading teaching methodology books journals and blogs, attend online webinars, online or face to face conferences and actively reflect on your own teaching. Keep a reflective journal. These are all great developmental tools.
5. Given the massive changes in the ELT classroom driven by technology and the Covid 19 pandemic, it is essential that teacher trainers and teachers radically upskill themselves in terms of digital skills and literacy. Many more teacher training course may be online in the future so this needs to be considered.
6. Refer to the Cambridge English Trainer Framework
7. See article in the EL Gazettee (Digital Edition)
Manc English 