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      TeachingEnglish
      Can someone with a BEd teach English to adults in the UK?
      Submitted by JustPassingBy on 31 July, 2009 - 10:36

      Hi

      Some friends of mine has a bachelor of education and teaches primary school children already in the UK. During the holidays they have a chance to teach English to Adults at a college.

      Does having a bachelor of education enable them to teach adults as well in the UK? Or would they need a different qualification? And if so how quickly can they get this (is it an hour or 2 for an exam then get results?)

      Many thanks for your help.

      Michael

       

      ‹ Methodology of teaching english to second language leareners beginner teacher ›

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      girishseshamani's picture
      girishseshamani
      TEACHING ENGLISH TO ADULTS
      Submitted on 9 August, 2009 - 14:20

      Your qualification does not make you eligible to address or train a particular profile of students. It is ultimately your subject expertise, innovation, profile analysis of students and the methodology to be adopted for training a particular group, which forms the essence of training. It is very critical to analyse the knowledge level of your students before you start your training. The methodology needs to decided by you.

      If your concepts are strong and you are confident, I personally feel there is absolutely no problem. Another point I would like to make is the fact that it is very essential for a trainer to take each assignment as a challenge and learn from that experience. It is only then that we grow and add value to ourselves. 

      I am not asking you to reinvent the wheel. You could probably discuss the profile of your students with experienced ELT TRAINERS. Take their inputs and start your training process. As the training progresses, you will automatically get an insight as to how a partcular group needs to be trained. Identify one or two ELT TRAINERS who can mentor you through the training process.

      The process of maturing as a trainer takes time and it is a wonderful experience.    

      cmftrier's picture
      cmftrier
      Depends on the school
      Submitted on 4 September, 2009 - 10:34

      I think that simply having a BEd does not necessarily guarantee a job teaching EFL to adults in the UK. Most schools / colleges that offer EFL courses are private and so it's probably up to them individually whether they think the candidate applying for the job is suitably qualified and has the appropriate amount of relevant experience. It probably also depends very much on what the BEd specialised in - subject area and age group. I think the only way to guarantee eligibility for a TEFL job in the UK is to have either the Trinity College TESOL Certificate or the CELTA. Various colleges world-wide offer these courses and the shortest ones I know last for 4 weeks full time (very intense!). There are lots of other courses available, (some on the internet with no need for any practical experience!!) but these are the two that are really recognised internationally, and (especially if the school is British Council accredited) the most likely to get you a job teaching English to adults in the UK. 

      I hope this practical advice was what you were hoping for!

      Best

      CMF

       

      hannah851's picture
      hannah851
      I agree with CMF - it just
      Submitted on 21 December, 2009 - 10:52

      I agree with CMF - it just depends on the school, so you might want to have a chat with the head of the department to see what they're after.

      A TEFL course might be worth looking into as well, to top up what you've done with your BEd - there's a good review site with an overview of the different ones here: http://www.teflcoursereview.com/

      Good luck!