Teaching in tough times

SIT TESOL COURSE

The demand for qualified English teachers in Thailand has never been greater. Sensing this demand, more and more Thais and foreigners have turned to English teaching, seeing it as a satisfying career option or even as a second career. Others see it as a way of financing their travels around the world.

To cater to this growth market, teacher-preparation courses have appeared across Bangkok and provincial cities, resulting in growing professionalism in the English teaching industry.

One of the leading courses is the SIT Tesol Certificate Course hosted by the AUA language centres in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. These centres offer intensive, high-quality teacher training programmes designed to prepare people to enter the classroom with confidence.

Steve Tait, lead trainer of SIT courses, explains how things have changed over the last few years. "We began running courses in 2003. At that time most of our trainees were US nationals looking for a change of career. Since that time, the trainees have become a much more international group. We regularly run courses with people from the US, the UK, Australia, Europe, Thailand, Japan, and other parts of Asia," says Tait, explaining how it all began.

He also points out that there are now many Thais with high levels of English joining the programme. "Thais, as well as other non-native speakers, bring an enormous amount to the course. They know what it takes to learn English, and they can be wonderful role models for students."

Tait also insists that high quality, internationally recognised courses such as the SIT programme do not necessarily attract the "backpacker crowd".

"The course is open to novices and experienced teachers of any age. With no more than 12 trainees and at least three trainers per course, we focus on personalising the experience for each person. But we also make it clear that they are in for a rigorous, intensive experience."

People join the programme ready to work hard and expecting to end the course well equipped to be effective in the classroom. "The trainees expect a lot more than a piece of paper by the end of the course."

Nevertheless, with the recession now biting, there may well be some changes to the teacher-training industry. People have become more careful with their money. As a result, the most important factors in selecting a course tend to be reputation and quality.

Tait sees this as working to SIT's advantage. "The programme and its standards are overseen by the SIT Graduate Institute, a well-respected graduate school based in the northeastern US state of Vermont. Meanwhile, AUA remains a highly regarded language centre in Thailand, having been around for over 50 years. Taken together, people realise they can trust our programme," he says.

"Also, word is getting out that our programme really is top-notch. It's great to see people talking about how the course changed their life." It seems it is much more than just a learn-to-teach experience. Participants leave with enhanced social skills as well as much greater self-awareness. It's also not uncommon to see firm friendships develop during the course.

The best news of all is that there are still plenty of jobs for graduates. In difficult economic times, people want a competitive advantage when looking for a job.

This means that English skills become vitally important. This increase in demand for English lessons means more qualified teachers are needed.

AUA and SIT hope to be meeting this need for many years to come.

Future SIT Tesol Certificate Courses will be held in Chiang Mai from Aug 13 to Sept 9 and in Bangkok from Nov 12 to Dec 9.

For additional information, call Steve on 081-646-8410. From abroad, dial +6681-646-8410. Email him at training@auathailand.org , or visit http://www.auathailand.org/sit .