Dear trainee,
You are about to start your TEFL course and join a great profession where people hungry for knowledge meet to learn from each other. You are probably full of enthusiasm but also doubts. What will it be like? Will I meet the expectations? Will I manage to do all the assignments, exams and course tasks?
Will I make a good teacher?
This last question is the essence of every TEFL course. This is your aim and our task, the objective that you, as a trainee and us, as responsible for your training, both share.
Whether you are capable of becoming a good teacher is out of question. You are! Every one of us is. Napoleon used to see a great potential in each of his soldiers and his quote of “every soldier carries a marshal's baton in his pack” can be successfully applied to teaching. Every trainee can become a great teacher!
Your success as a teacher is prepared even before the first day of the course. Follow some easy tips and you’ll be able to make the most of your course.
You will experiment new dimensions of communicating, teaching and learning that may go beyond your idea of a traditional teacher. The 21
st century makes necessary a big change in the teachers' mentality in order to adapt to the new specific needs of the learners.
There are no right and wrong methods of teaching, but approaches that adapt to your particular circumstances as a teacher. Learn to analyse every statement about teaching and to apply it according to your own personality and style.
You know much more about teaching and learning than you think now. Maybe you don’t have any experience as a teacher, but you do have it as a learner and this experience is very valuable when answering essential questions about teaching and learning. All we need to do is ask the right questions but the answers will be all yours.
and dedicated, and self-disciplined. You will need it to carry out successfully all the tasks of the course. Even though we try to make learning enjoyable, there will be moments of hard work and preparation. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t achieve a good class in your first attempt. A great teacher is a product of a constant preparation and trials. Each attempt will be better than the previous; each class will be a bit greater.
And don’t wait knowledge to come to you. Go for it! We’ll give you the tools but you will be the one to use them. You will be interacting with your trainers, peers and experienced teachers. They will be your best allies and the people you will learn from. The more you interact in the training sessions, the more you will learn, so take the reigns of your learning and be pro-active.
To have a steady opinion about teaching and learning gives you confidence and self-esteem but remember that teaching is never about you, it is about the learners. Learn to listen to your trainers, peers, students and other teachers. Learning to listen is learning to learn.
Teaching is though to be a lonely profession as teachers rely on themselves to bear the burden of preparation and self-development. Ever since we started Oxbridge we decided that we were going to share all the knowledge, expertise, material and preparation and that way make the day-to-day teaching process easier, more enjoyable and less time-consuming. The result is a company in which generosity and sharing is rewarded and allows every one in the community to become the best teacher in the world.
You can belong to a school and adopt a teaching style similar to other teachers but you will always remain a unique person and therefore a unique teacher. By the end of this course you will know well your strengths and weaknesses as a teacher and how to adapt your personality to the greatest benefit of your students. This uniqueness will be your trademark and your best letter of presentation.
And now, let me welcome you to the teaching profession, an enjoyable space for people willing to learn and communicate; a great society where every trainee carries the potential to become the best teacher in the world!
Welcome to Oxbridge TEFL!
