Pelt - Practical English Language Teaching

[westybrook]

Hi Everyone

Iv just seen this PELT course on the net, the price is only 350 pounds and its a 1 week intensive course 8hrs a day. You are then sent to a school or college to begin some work experience teaching for 6-8 weeks, during this time you are paid a salary and evaluated on your teaching skills.

It can be done in BKK or Pattaya

(From the website)

PELT is a unique TESOL/TEFL Certificate course in that it combines direct classroom study with a paid student internship, home study, observed teaching, DVD’s from some of the worlds leading experts, and weekly support meetings during your placement

Whats your opinion on this course? I can post the link to the site!

Thanks

[Neeranam]

I've met 4 guys who have done this(and passed!) and they are crap teachers.

Maybe this is not the fault of the course, but they should not just take anyone off the street onto the course.

[westybrook]

So are these 4 guys working at present?

Cause if they are, then they would not have got there jobs surly if they were bad.

What made you decide that they were bad?

Thanks

[Neeranam]

So are these 4 guys working at present?

Cause if they are, then they would not have got there jobs surly if they were bad.

What made you decide that they were bad?

Thanks

I know that 3 of them are still working now.

They were white-skinned(still are), and had a "TEFL qualification" and the place they were hired by was desparate.

I observed 2 of them, and they hadn't a clue. One of them was trying to speak Thai to the students, but none of them could understand a word. One didn't know what the perfect tense was. The other two didn't give a toss about teaching the students anything, they just got the certificate to get into that 1st job for beer money.

There were lots of other things, for example, no idea of claqssroom management, that gave them all away.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that there are very good teachers who have done that course. Maybe I just came across the bad ones.

[kenkannif]

I'm not a big fan. You don't teach English by distance or DVDs so how can you learn to teach in that way. Basically it's more a case of buying a job, than training per se.

Also when it was first set up it was more for people that have been teaching here for a while but didn't hold a certificate. I'm surprised it's now being offered to newbies. A full-time course only gives you the bare basics, so I can't see how this will help much, if at all.

If you do a search you'll see other info about it on here.

My advice would be to attend their or another providers full-time TEFL course, a 'proper' course as it were.

[paully]

^ I agree. If you haven't taught before, you need a course which gives you some observed in-class practice teaching as well as theory. Watching teaching videos/DVDs, however well-presented and enthralling, will not prepare you properly for standing in front of a real classroom with real, paying students to teach.

[westybrook]

I hear what your saying guys I do.

But when your on a budget, ok you want the best quality course. But if you don't have too much money for this you look for alternatives.

Now I'm sure the 8hrs a day for 5 days classroom training must give you a real head start in how to manage a classroom and give proper teaching for students.

For the price it seems a good deal, you get help with the job placement for 4-8 weeks which is paid for. Then you are looked at and observed for improvment. Thats what I see.

But more feedback from you guys is still needed.

Thanks!

[kenkannif]

Yes, but the 8 hours for 5 days is far, far less than the industry standard of 100-120 hours of class time. As I mentioned yesterday even a full-time course only teaches you the basics.

You're only actually observed for 6-10 hours...if that.

And it's not hard to find work here for 25,000 plus...how much do you get paid on the placement?

Just wait an extra month or two, save a bit of money and do a 'proper' course. You generally get what you pay for!

[americana]

It's another miss-concieved money spinner. Vomited up by Bruce the Mormon and his man servant Dave"one of the foremost EFL teachers in THE WORLD" Hopkins.