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Becoming a Language Support Teacher?

  • 28-10-2009 12:35pm
    #1
    leonardjos
    Closed Accounts Posts: 102 ✭✭


    My fiance is a Chinese national with fluent English and an honours Business Degree from an Irish IT. She has worked for a number of years in a professional business role, and now is in the middle of completing a FAS TEFL course.

    Are there opportunities out there as a language support teacher, ie helping children from Chinese speaking homes to learn English and keep up to speed with their education? What are the minimum qualifications for these roles?

    I'd be grateful for any helpful info or links.


Comments

  • #2
    hazeler
    Registered Users Posts: 197 ✭✭hazeler


    leonardjos wrote: »
    Are there opportunities out there as a language support teacher, ie helping children from Chinese speaking homes to learn English and keep up to speed with their education? What are the minimum qualifications for these roles?

    My experience is that no there are no oppurtunities out there as a language support teacher within the primary or secondary school sector. Unless you are a fully qualified teacher. Its the same with language schools, they mostly deal with adults and you said children in your post, but those jobs are gold dust. I have my degree and the ACELS course done in English langauge teaching, the only one recognised by the DOES, and it means nothing right now. I was a LST in a Primary school and secondary school (split hours) last year on 15 hours a week and got some subbing in there too but these LS jobs tend to go to fully qualified probated primary school teachers with no qualification in English Language.

    sorry if i seem sour but these are the facts of the current situation in teaching. also ELT got hit by massive cutbacks in the budget so I dont see the future looking too bright for your fianceé or I.

    Offering private tuition could be an option??


  • #3
    kaji
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 646 ✭✭✭kaji


    hazeler wrote: »
    these LS jobs tend to go to fully qualified probated primary school teachers with no qualification in English Language.

    Of course the job should go to a qualified primary teacher. They are qualified to teach this, they don't need a TEFL cert also.


  • #4
    lauralee28
    Closed Accounts Posts: 79 ✭✭lauralee28


    kaji wrote: »
    Of course the job should go to a qualified primary teacher. They are qualified to teach this, they don't need a TEFL cert also.

    Well said! Of course these jobs should go to qualified teachers as opposed to anybody else. Same in secondary school. End of!


  • #5
    hazeler
    Registered Users Posts: 197 ✭✭hazeler


    kaji wrote: »
    Of course the job should go to a qualified primary teacher. They are qualified to teach this, they don't need a TEFL cert also.

    Wrong. You have to have a TEFL cert to teach EFL in both Primary and secondary schools in Ireland. Whether schools enforce it or not is not up to me but DOE guidelines say you have to...

    http://www.acels.ie/schoolsregulations.htm

    I'll just quote in case you dont follow the link.

    k)that all teachers have:
    (i) a third – level qualification at minimum Level 7 (e.g. Ordinary degree) on the National Qualifications Framework; (ii) an ACELS recognised TEFL qualification (see Annex 2)

    Teaching English LANGUAGE and the english curriculum are two very different things.
    lauralee28 wrote: »
    Well said! Of course these jobs should go to qualified teachers as opposed to anybody else. Same in secondary school. End of!

    Im not saying the jobs shouldn't go to qualified teachers. So long as those teachers have the EFL certification I have no problems. Why should a teacher with a dip in say, maths and PE, teach English language? Would they be allowed teach french or german? No. So why is ok to teach english without a qualification?


  • #6
    lauralee28
    Closed Accounts Posts: 79 ✭✭lauralee28


    hazeler wrote: »
    Wrong.

    Im not saying the jobs shouldn't go to qualified teachers. So long as those teachers have the EFL certification I have no problems. Why should a teacher with a dip in say, maths and PE, teach English language? Would they be allowed teach french or german? No. So why is ok to teach english without a qualification?

    That may be so, however, schools are not going to start giving the TEFL hours to people who have "certs" outside of their staff. There are enough cuts in teachers jobs without this happening. Yes, in an ideal world they would have the cert, but thats not going to happen anytime in the near future when the hours can be allocated to a teacher not on full hours.


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  • #7
    beemurf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 60 ✭✭beemurf


    hazeler wrote: »
    Wrong. You have to have a TEFL cert to teach EFL in both Primary and secondary schools in Ireland. Whether schools enforce it or not is not up to me but DOE guidelines say you have to...

    http://www.acels.ie/schoolsregulations.htm

    I'll just quote in case you dont follow the link.

    k)that all teachers have:
    (i) a third – level qualification at minimum Level 7 (e.g. Ordinary degree) on the National Qualifications Framework; (ii) an ACELS recognised TEFL qualification (see Annex 2)

    Teaching English LANGUAGE and the english curriculum are two very different things.



    Im not saying the jobs shouldn't go to qualified teachers. So long as those teachers have the EFL certification I have no problems. Why should a teacher with a dip in say, maths and PE, teach English language? Would they be allowed teach french or german? No. So why is ok to teach english without a qualification?

    Those guidelines posted are in regard to the employment of teachers to teach EFL in English language schools, not teaching or language support in primary and secondary schools.


  • #8
    hazeler
    Registered Users Posts: 197 ✭✭hazeler


    lauralee28 wrote: »
    That may be so, however, schools are not going to start giving the TEFL hours to people who have "certs" outside of their staff. There are enough cuts in teachers jobs without this happening. Yes, in an ideal world they would have the cert, but thats not going to happen anytime in the near future when the hours can be allocated to a teacher not on full hours.

    Im not saying nor did I imply schools should give it to people outside their staff who have just "certs". I am simply saying that the staff who teach english langauge should be certified, if they are to do it.
    beemurf wrote: »
    Those guidelines posted are in regard to the employment of teachers to teach EFL in English language schools, not teaching or language support in primary and secondary schools.

    Those guidelines were handed to us in our by our principal and we were told that if we wanted to be considered for any position with LST in our school we had to do the course. I had mine done but, 3 other teachers in my school went and completed the course over summer holidays. The guidelines transfer across to language schools also but are no exclusive to them.


  • #9
    simonsez
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 137 ✭✭simonsez


    leonardjos wrote: »
    My fiance is a Chinese national with fluent English and an honours Business Degree from an Irish IT. She has worked for a number of years in a professional business role, and now is in the middle of completing a FAS TEFL course.

    Are there opportunities out there as a language support teacher, ie helping children from Chinese speaking homes to learn English and keep up to speed with their education? What are the minimum qualifications for these roles?

    I'd be grateful for any helpful info or links.

    hi would it possible to know where is this fas tefl course? i have been trwaling the fas website to no avail ?? thanks in advance


    :)ss


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