Why Complete a TEFL Course? - A TEFL Graduate Explains
Why complete a TEFL course? For me there was never a question, never a doubt on why I should complete this TEFL course. I want to be the best teacher possible and with the help of the TEFL course, I know I can achieve my goals.
Though no substitute can be given for actual classroom experience, what I have found throughout this course is that TEFL shows and explains the core basics of nearly everything. Any topic and any subject and aspect that comes with or accompanies teaching within a classroom is covered through this course and to a degree I found to be most astonishing. Not often have I read things this accurate and with this much detail. Its reputation proceeded it well, though at times I did have my doubts. Yet, any possible doubt on if I made the right choice in choosing TEFL was also set right by the countless jobs and applications for teaching positions that all asked if I had taken the course yet.
So, the question then became not why should one take this course, but rather why does the world want you to take this course?
This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zachary S.
Not everyone learns from being placed in front of a classroom and judged.
From the very start, I found this course to be an exceptional source of knowledge and explanation on every step of the classroom and its functions. I’ve learned through this course how to engage students in various ways and which methods work best with which students. Which methods will bolster a student’s drive to learn and which will hinder their chances of success. I have learned not to rely too heavily on the course books, for it will dull the class experience and will cause the class to lose interest. But I have also learned that some students won’t develop well or learn from an environment void of structure and based upon games with group work.
Also read: Games in the Classroom: What are EFL games?
I have also learned that a student should be welcomed to participate at their own rate, and not punished for being timid. Not everyone learns from being placed in front of a classroom and judged. But it is these details found throughout the work and the course that help show why this is so respected. This experience and knowledge on such a wide array of topics and facts could not have been accumulated by a mere group of teachers. And surely not from one single school or location.
The TEFL course knows it is meant to be a strong guideline for success and not a rule of absolute law.
And yet that is the beauty of it. The TEFL course does not teach you everything you will ever need, nor does it claim to do so. Instead it, step by step, presents, shows and explains to you the fundamentals of every core aspect and function of a classroom. Its course objectives and the best methods to bring about the desired change in students. What it does not do is replace hands-on experience or take into consideration the multitude of teaching styles there are. This is not a weakness nor a complaint on the course, rather a compliment.
For only a course that has the users’ best interest in mind would avoid declaring itself the one and only truth. something that many courses work from my university years could have learned. The TEFL course knows it is meant to be a strong guideline for success and not a rule of absolute law. It approaches you as a student of its subjects much as an actual teacher would. And everything that is taught here can be implemented into any teaching culture or style. That is what I have found the most appealing throughout completing this course.
How prepared are you without a TEFL?
Though this course will not make or break, nor define me as a teacher, it will undoubtedly make me more capable and far more knowledgeable as I continue onward. And it will certainly make me far more capable during my time learning through hands-on training. The lessons and information gathered and presented over these past ten chapters have been given me an edge in what to expect and how to prepare for what lies ahead. In essence, it was homework on training to be a better teacher, and if one cannot respect and complete such tasks and work, then how could they ever expect their students to do the same?
Also read: 4 Tips on How to Teach English Using Music
I am very grateful I was able to complete such a course, and even more thankful that I was fortunate enough to have ever had an opportunity to so freely choose additional training. Overall this has been a very unique experience and I feel all the more prepared for what lies ahead because of it. So, in the end, one should not be asking themselves why should they take the TEFL course, but rather how prepared do they think they are without it?
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