Impartial TEFL Certificate Advice (Or Not)

First of all, a note on being impartial – I’m not! I think it goes without saying that course providers are unlikely to be neutral, but I would be a bit skeptical even of teachers who have done one of the certificates in question presenting themselves as totally objective or impartial – almost always they will have one and not the other, and I think it’s just human nature that most people will be less than forthcoming when it comes to admitting another certificate is better than or even perhaps equal to theirs.

That said, I think it’s more honest to give my background and continue with my opinion after that, rather than present myself as totally neutral; those interested can use their own intuition to decide.

I have a CELTA – and I do feel it has helped me develop into a good teacher. Or maybe I’m just clever and any course would have been the same. I do think the CELTA is a good course, for what it is, but that certainly doesn’t mean other courses aren’t.

I think that even if a course “doesn’t matter” to an employer, it matters to the teacher. In many countries, employers don’t require a certificate, and if this fits the needs of the employer, students, and teachers, so be it. There are jobs which don’t require a course, and they are what they are. But I don’t think it follows from this that all courses are the same – I think a good course give you the basic foundation and points you in the right direction.

Read on for the pros of a CELTA and the pros of another certificate