Maybe you’ve taken the TEFL leap and have been accepted on your CELTA course already. Or perhaps you’re still contemplating whether CELTA is the right path for you. Whatever stage you’re at in your teaching English as a foreign language journey, read on to find out our top seven characteristics of successful CELTA students.
So just what is the CELTA and who exactly is it for? A practical English language teaching (ELT) qualification that’s sought after by reputable language schools around the world, the Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) is your gateway to a career in TEFL. If you’re 18 or over, have a level of education equivalent to that which is required for entry to higher education and possess the required level of English (usually minimum CEFR level C2 or high C1) then CELTA could be the qualification for you!
Whether you’re looking to take your CELTA part-time or full-time, over the years we’ve come to notice some key characteristics of successful CELTA students.
1. They’re focused
If you’re thinking about taking the CELTA course, you really have to want to take the CELTA course. Most training centres, particularly when interviewing candidates for the full-time course, will stress to you the importance of 100% commitment and having no other distractions while CELTA is running.
We live in an age of multi-tasking, often juggling several different things at any given time, but CELTA is an opportunity to really focus on the task at hand. Between input sessions, teaching practice (TP), feedback, lesson planning, further reading, observations and writing assignments, there’s little time for anything else and the candidates who really thrive on CELTA are the ones who stay focused on what they need to do for the course.
But also those who stay focused on the reasons they’re taking the course in the first place… when you’re juggling a lesson plan with resubmitting an assignment while writing another assignment and thinking about the latest feedback and input you’ve received, remembering the bigger picture and where all this hard work is leading you to really helps to keep things in perspective. If you want to go and teach English in Thailand so you can travel around Southeast Asia, keep this in mind to motivate you through the difficult parts of the course.
2. They come with an open mind
CELTA is tough! It pushes you to spend a lot of time reflecting on yourself, your teaching, your planning, your work, your previous learning, your ideas… it’s a lot to take on board and sometimes that can get overwhelming, and that’s ok. But trainees who embark upon the course with an open mind and a willingness to embrace the importance of reflective practice are often not only the ones who make the most progress on the course, but are also those who go on to continue developing after the course ends because they maintain the positive habits of reflecting on their lessons, their reading, and the new ideas they encounter.
You may not necessarily agree with everything (or everyone!) you initially come across on the CELTA course, but being willing to consider ideas and suggestions objectively and look at how they could be effective sets you up to become a much more principled teacher in the future.
3. They’re organised and manage their time
This includes before the course too! Are you getting our message that the CELTA course is tough? One of the best ways to deal with this is to be organised and on top of your own time. Balancing your schedule before the course so that you have a good amount of time to devote to the pre-course task and any recommended reading from your training centre will really help you to get off on the right foot and feel more prepared going into the course.
Once the course itself has started, knowing what you need to achieve day-by-day, then week-by-week, and devoting a few minutes every day to making a to-do list to keep you on track, really helps to take the stress out of managing your time and frees up space in your brain to concentrate on teaching and learning.
4. They’re curious and keen to learn
Ok, moving away from the ‘CELTA is tough’ message for a moment, it’s also an amazing learning opportunity! You’ll encounter more ideas and principles on your CELTA course than you can shake a stick at (though quite why you’d want to do that, we’re not sure…) and successful CELTA trainees take the time to consider new ideas and explore them further.
Which means they use methodology books too! While you’re unlikely to have time to read all the suggested books cover to cover during your CELTA course, explore some chapters in more depth and make notes of reading you want to come back to post-course, as this will set you up to be a more independent teacher, and learner, in the future.
5. They’re not afraid to make mistakes and try new things
CELTA isn’t about being perfect and ‘getting everything right’ first time. It’s very rare, particularly as an adult, that you’re provided with a consequence-free space to try things out, with the benefit of feedback, before heading out and doing those things for real.
CELTA trainees who experiment with the different ideas they’ve come across in input, or who practise a new technique they’ve learned from their tutors or colleagues, are really embracing the opportunity for reflection and feedback that genuinely helps their teaching to grow and develop.
6. They’re supportive
Not only of their students, but of their colleagues too. Trainees who can step back from their own experience, notice what’s going on around them and build positive working relationships with their colleagues are getting some good practice for the career ahead of them.
CELTA is a stressful time for everyone and it says a lot about someone if they can take 10 minutes to show their colleague how to use the projector properly before their first TP, or help their colleagues to see the good when they’re having a bad day. The best teachers can see learning in the bigger picture, including the ups and downs that are part of that, and being able to do the same on the CELTA course helps to foster a more positive learning environment for all.
7. They’re good listeners
Teaching has a little to do with talking, and a lot to do with listening! Often trainees on the course will ask their more experienced colleagues or their tutors “but how do you know that?” or comment that “I just feel I need more experience of doing that”. To a point, yes. There are some aspects of teaching that you just need to practise with and get more experience of. But that time spent in the classroom practising is only valuable if you’re listening to your students, and that should start on CELTA.
Listening to your students is what will tell you if they have understood the task, grasped the grammar point, or if they need more support from you. So listen to your students, and use this to inform your teaching. Listen to your colleagues and your tutors too. Everyone, especially your tutors, is there to help people get the most from the CELTA course, and it’s very rare in any job you get the chance to listen to multiple perspectives on something so relevant to your own development. Make the most of that by keeping your ears open throughout the course.
So, if this sounds like you, and you’re excited by the prospect of taking on a new challenge, get searching for your CELTA course today and take your first steps into the exciting world of TEFL!
