SIT Tesol sages celebrate

Steve Tait, standing centre left, makes his supervisory rounds at a recent Sit Tesol certificate course.

On Saturday evening, July 15th, a group of frazzled foreigners will converge on the buffet at the Novotel, Siam Square in Bangkok. They will all exude a strange mix of exhaustion and elation.

It will be the graduation dinner for the latest SIT TESOL Certificate Course, hosted by the AUA Language Center. This is one of the most rigourous English teacher training courses on offer. Held in Bangkok - and soon to begin in Chiang Mai - it's an intensive, invigorating, and ultimately memorable experience for all those who sign up.

The SIT TESOL Course is just one of many ESL/EFL teacher preparation courses that have appeared in Thailand over the past few years. From the point of view of a potential trainee, it can be hard to know which course to invest in.

Steve Tait, the lead trainer for Thailand's Bangkok and Chiang Mai SIT courses, explains that the first step is to be sure that the quality of the course is being maintained. "Only the truly international courses such as the SIT course and the Cambridge CELTA are able to ensure this, through a process of independent assessment."

The quality of the trainers is also an element to consider. The fact is, many smaller courses simply don't have the resources to provide special training for their trainers. SIT insists that all would-be trainers go through a highly demanding process.

Initially, trainer applicants spend one to two months working through various written tasks. Then they spend two courses co-training under the guidance of a qualified 'trainer-of-trainers'. "It's a long process, but the end result is that SIT trainers here in Thailand are the equal of any trainers anywhere in the world."

Course size is another important issue. "Right from the start in 2003," says Steve, "SIT Thailand decided that we would have no more than 12 participants on a course, supported by at least three full-time trainers."

So as the tired, but cheerful bunch of SIT graduates tuck in to a well-earned buffet dinner, they can rest easy. Having taken a high quality TEFL course, they will know that they are likely to land one of the more attractive teaching positions. But for the time being, they'll just be happy to say, "I did it!"