Teaching Standards Established By The World TEFL Accrediting Commission
There are many people who assume that because they speak English and have all their life, that they are able to teach it competently to others. Unfortunately, that just is not the case. English is a very complicated language and teaching it to others requires some special skills. Because of this, it is really important that those who want to teach English as a foreign language do get some basic training on how to teach it.
The World TEFL Accrediting Commission is concerned that many times courses purport to be teaching others how to teach English but do such a poor job that their students are practically unemployable. Because of this, the commission has established a set of teaching standards that must be followed if the institution offering such courses wishes to be accredited. This allows students looking for training to know they are going to be taught appropriately and can actually be hired to teach English and actually do it well.
One of the teaching standards the World TEFL Accrediting Commission has established is that there has to be teaching practice incorporated into the course, and it has to be a significant portion of the instruction. This is helpful because it assures the students that they will actually have practice teaching and it will not just be a book-reading learning experience.
Another teaching standard established by the World TEFL Accrediting Commission is that the class has to be taught by a professional who has had at least three years of practical experience teaching English as a foreign language. This really will help the students feel confident because they can know that their potential teachers know what they are talking about and know the difficulties and the joys of teaching English to others and can share their experiences with them.
The third teaching standard that the World TEFL Accrediting Commission requires of its accredited schools is that the teaching and training provided in the school much follow clear methodological principles, which is a fancy way of saying that there has to be a lesson plan and that plan has to move the students through the program in a reasonable manner.
All in all, even though following these teaching standards and getting accredited does not guarantee that the teaching will be of high quality, it certainly does make it more likely. If a student looks for a school that follows these standards, they will most likely come out with a solid foundation of teaching and understanding that will allow them to get hired and make a difference in the world.