When English for Africa launched its first CELTA course in the spring of 2020, the plan was to rapidly expand our teacher training courses to meet demand for all levels of trainees, ranging from novice to expert.
As with many businesses, our growth was slowed by the pandemic, but we are proud to announce that, starting next fall, we will be able to offer an end-to-end training experience for our clients, with teacher development courses available for all levels and for all the major specialties in ELT. These courses include certificates and degrees from major universities (including Cambridge and Trinity College) as well as our own short courses and workshops.
The Cambridge Framework
Cambridge University's teacher training framework currently offers three solid milestones for the developing teacher: the TKT, the CELTA, and the DELTA.
The TKT
The TKT, or Teaching Knowledge Test, is a paper exam that can be taken any time of the year, and its three foundational modules test candidates' knowledge of the fundamentals of the English language, lesson planning, and classroom management.
EfA's first TKT prep course will launch in June of this year. It includes 50 hours of online self-study (complete with quizzes, reflection tasks, forum discussions, and practice tests), plus 30 hours of synchronous meetings to review and further explore areas covered during that week's online units. More information about the course can be found here, and the schedule and format of this year's courses can be found here. The entire course, including the Cambridge exam fee (1,500 dh) costs 3,000 dh.
The CELTA
The CELTA is widely considered the world's premier initial qualification in teaching English as foreign language. Its robust mix of theory and practice (including 6 hours of assessed teaching practice with real students, feedback, and lesson planning support) make it particularly popular among employers on every continent.
EfA offers the course in various modes (fully online, mixed mode, and face-to-face), and formats (part-time and intensive). Find out more about Cambridge's flagship teacher training program and download our guidebooks here.
The course is run up to six times per year in its various formats. Prices, dates, schedules and formats for our 2022 courses are available here.
The DELTA
England and Wales' educational standards institution, Ofqual, puts the DELTA at Level 7, which is the equivalent of a Master's degree in TESOL. This is a challenging and intensive course for teachers who want to take their professional development to the next level. Most DELTA candidates plan to move into educational management, curriculum design, or teacher training.
There are three modules which can be taken in any order, although very often Module 1 is taken first. This is a paper test which is administered twice per year (in June and in December), and candidates must show an in-depth knowledge of pedagogical theory, language (including phonology and discourse), and classroom management techniques. EfA is currently a testing center (you can take the exam with us), and we have partnered with IH Mexico to help candidates prepare.
EfA is also a Module 3 center. This Module requires candidates to submit a well-structured research paper on a topic related to either language teaching and learning, or ELT management. As with Module 1, we have partnered with IH Mexico to help our candidates prepare to submit their papers (also to be submitted only in December and June). Look here for more information about these two modules of the DELTA course.
The Second Module of the DELTA is focused on developing classroom practice. Though we are not currently authorized to run this course, Mohamed Oummih is currently undergoing training in order to run it for external candidates, both in Morocco and abroad. We are planning to run our first Module 2 course in January of 2023.
Trinity Tylec
The biggest market for language teachers in Morocco is young learners, and this is the main reason we're applying to become a Trinity Tesol Center. The Trinity young learner extension is available to all teachers who have acquired a prior qualification (including government sector teachers and CELTA holders) or have previous teaching experience. It emphasizes materials development, self-reflection, and classroom management, and assessed teaching practice will take place in the teacher's own context, i.e., with his or her own class of students.
EfA plans to launch its first TYLEC course in November of this year. Learn more about this qualification here.
English for Africa's Short Courses
English for Africa recognizes that teacher development shouldn't be limited to the fundamentals of lesson planning, classroom management, and language awareness. Teachers need to grow and develop at their own rhythm, and develop in function not only of their local contexts, but also their personal passions and interests.
This is why we offer short courses (10 hours long) that allow teachers to go further in depth in a variety of different areas (lesson planning frameworks, teaching receptive skills, teaching pronunciation, etc.). In addition, we offer workshops (4 hours long) on specific approaches and techniques (problem-based learning, Dogme, professional learning communities, forum moderation, using QR codes in the classroom, etc.).
These courses are also designed to suit anyone's budget: the short courses cost 700 dh per participant, while the workshops are 250 dh. Find out more about them here.
Train the Trainer Suite: Become a Teacher Trainer
Cambridge's Train-the-trainer course is being discontinued as of 2022. This is why we have decided to offer our own teacher trainer course.
Designed to be adapted to the context of the trainees on the course, the format can be mixed or face-to-face. Our trainers will visit your institution and come up with a plan to help you develop teacher training competencies specifically geared to your own institute. Our international experience in teacher training (USA, Singapore, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France...) gives English for Africa the depth of knowledge and the versatility to create the bespoke teacher training course for your institution's needs. Read more about our train-the-trainer course here.