Is CELTA a teacher development or a teacher training course?

What is it about?

The current study aimed to investigate whether the intensive Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA), which certifies teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), is better viewed as a teacher development or a teacher training course. Qualitative content analysis was carried out on the written reflective assignments of CELTA course participants on several courses where the researcher worked as a tutor. The data was subsequently triangulated using semi-structured qualitative interviews. From these data, four main themes emerged as significant: Teacher Learning, General Pedagogic Knowledge, Teaching Skills and Teaching Language, and the Learner Element. A closer analysis of the categories within these themes reveals a tension between a view of teacher development as “training” and a view of teacher development as “education”. To ensure that the course places a greater emphasis on teacher development, CELTA tutors can encourage less focus on the teaching techniques acquired during the course and more focus on the appropriacy of such techniques with particular classes and in certain contexts by redesigning the reflective prompts which form the basis of the written reflection assignment on the course, and by modelling reflective practice throughout the course.

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Why is it important?

The Cambridge Assessment Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) has been criticized as a teacher training courses rather than a teacher development course. This article highlights how this either/or categorisation is an oversimplification since evidence suggests that the CELTA fosters reflection and meaningful teacher development.