It is increasing unlikely that flights will open up before the Rabat course start date, as a result of the Covid pandemic. Because there are no other CELTA trainers in Morocco (Cambridge requires that two trainers at least work on any CELTA course), this means we would be unable to fly in the second trainer on the course.
Consequently, we will be adopting a "half-and-half" format for the course. This is a new format that Cambridge English Assessment has just created, and English for Africa will in fact be the first, if not one of the first courses in the world to offer this format. It is designed to allow a mix of online and face-to-face teaching practice--to be exact, 3 hours of assessed teaching practice will be online, and 3 hours will be face-to-face. Our course will take an integrative, coherent approach to teaching in both formats, such that candidates will leave the course fulfilling Cambridge CELTA criteria for teaching in both formats.
As trainers, we see this as an opportunity. We are all aware that teaching is moving increasingly in the direction of online environments, but we also know that face-to-face teaching will not be going away any time soon. This course will be the first of its kind, allowing candidates to be trained equally to provide quality language teaching in both formats.
In order to provide candidates with the necessary support to deal with both formats, we will take the following steps:
We will extend the course by two full days, meaning that the course will begin on Thursday 17 June, rather than the 21st;
There will be a free 2 hour workshop on using Zoom for teaching purposes the weekend before the course begins, as well as a free grammar refresher (also on Zoom);
We will be giving you access to materials and video observations well in advance of the course start date;
Candidates will watch two demonstration lessons, one in each format;
Candidates will be teaching two full unassessed lessons, one in each format, before being assessed in that format;
Opportunities to reflect and share best practices on teaching in both formats with members of the other teaching practice group will be built into the schedule;
Candidates will be provided with a journal to help you with the reflection process;
For the sake of continuity, cohesion, and simplicity, online teaching will take place on the premises of Bridges, our venue site.
The certificate itself will be exactly the same as for the other formats--it is Cambridge's policy not to specify the format in which the course was taken on its CELTA certificates.