From free-spirited Teacher to Academic Management - Stepping up your career in TEFL

By Sarah Taylor.

With Summer Schools ending, and August trees showing the tiniest hint of brown, many a TEFL teacher is thinking ahead to their next career move, as the highs and exhaustion of the intense summer drifts away. As contracts start to finish, some of my colleagues are heading back to Europe, some venturing even as far afield as Vietnam. This time, no such exotism for me, as I’m getting a simple train back to Yorkshire from Brighton and letting myself rest a month or so.

As I reflect, a comment comes to my mind from years ago, of someone rolling their eyes at my TEFL aspiration and telling me it: “wasn’t a real career and I’d be penniless in a year”. I smiled a wry smile, as I have just finished my first management position after my third year at a prestigious Summer School and am starting my DELTA in September. It got me thinking along all the wonderful pathways that Teaching English as a Foreign Language can offer.

12 years ago, as I completed my CELTA in an icy York (UK), having just turned 30, I decided I wanted to go, anywhere, everywhere, travel and teach across this wonderful world. The CELTA seemed the perfect vocational passport to accompany me. I didn’t realise that 12 years later, this 4-week qualification would have sent me on the most amazing, interesting, and sometimes challenging journeys that are still ongoing, still proving to be fruitful and enlightening. In this article, I want to show you all the ways to maximise and enhance your TEFL career from CELTA to beyond, and how it can truly work for YOU, as a life-long option if you so wish.

Approximately 10,000 people every year complete one of the most well-known Teaching English qualifications, the CELTA, alongside other similar qualifications such as the Trinity CertTESOL. Some do it with the intention of going away for a few years to sample a new culture, others for the idea of pure escapism - that life near a beach in a far-off land offers an anecdote to the rut of a monotonous job. Others, like me may have been motivated by charity teaching work to help others, as I was so inspired by a volunteer placement in a school in rural Nepal. There are so many different reasons to do a CELTA course, and so many pathways to take after you have completed it. Then, you secure your first job!

The first year of teaching is probably your biggest baptism of fire. For me, starting in the Veneto region of Italy, I worked a year at a private language school, where I taught all ages from very young learners to adults needing Business for English, and it is where I realised my preferred age group to teach. The first year is also probably the time when you realise whether the job is for you, and this can be highly dependent on the experience you have with your employer, the location, and the hours, to name a few. Different countries can have quite different working conditions, which you may adapt to, or not. Living alone in a foreign country, learning the language, and dealing with Italian teenagers was the biggest learning curve I’ve ever been on and gave me 10 personal years growth in one! I found a deep satisfaction in helping others learn English, and I knew I’d found a job that made me FEEL good, therefore was my perfect match for a long time to come. 

Once you have gained experience and confidence, you may want to start offering private tuition to students. Many teachers offer these private lessons, be they face to face or online and you can choose a specific niche or area that you particularly resonate with and love. It’s a great time to start learning about different specialisms such as IELTS, or niche areas in Business, such as marketing, for example. You can create specialised learning plans for learning difficulties such as dyslexia, or in-demand skills related to essay writing. This in turn will make you more marketable and broaden your skillset so you can hone in on areas of teaching you love.

I absolutely love writing essays, and teaching it enthuses me, which is passed on by default to students! They’re an integral part of IELTS and CAE exams and are an invaluable tool in your teaching cabinet. Post-Covid teaching online has proved to be very fruitful too and allows you to do lessons from your own home at yours and your students' convenience. After your first year or two teaching, you may be enjoying it so much that you start to think ahead for greater commitment. Now is a good time to look for roles which offer a longer-term 2-year contract, so you have some stability, a chance to save and to learn. 

I had fallen madly in love with Italy by this point, and I was happy to have a stable job in the area that I loved, so I could concentrate on settling in deeper in Italy and learning the language, and I wasn’t hungry or ready yet for any form of promotion, whereas a friend was keen to see more of the world and opted for a 2 year contract teaching young learners in Malaysia, and going further afield. It may also be that you love the job, but not the location - my Veneto colleague felt she loved the job but was desperately homesick. She returned home and started to study the ‘DELTA ‘and is now a successful Director of Studies in her hometown by the sea and an expert in all things ‘Summer School’.

The main thing is that completion of your first job leaves you more employable, more experienced, and more confident when applying for your next role. The world is really your Oyster once you have the first job on your CV. Summer Schools are often the next step after a year abroad, especially if your current contract runs from September to June. It is an excellent place to work intensively, save money yet also develop your CPD and gain feedback from colleagues all over the world. In my first Summer School in Sussex, I realised what an extensive community us TEFL teachers are, and how valued our skills are.

Gaining CPD from international colleagues was an invaluable experience and that was where I met my mentor Paolo, who was a Senior Teacher.  Paolo inspired me to take the leap into senior teaching, explaining that the management role developed his skillset from just teaching and planning, to mentoring, organising and providing leadership to others. These are the skills you should start to develop once you are a seasoned teacher looking for promotion. Senior Teacher roles are also ideal for those who have been teaching for at least 3 years and want to make the move into management but are not sure. Without the full responsibility of an Academic Manager’s role, yet with supporting tasks and with teachers to mentor, you can gain an insight into the different facets of the role, then explore options which develop management skills, organisation, and syllabus planning skills. You can then decide if you’d like to do a further qualification which is needed if you want to do Academic Manager roles and beyond.

Currently, with a BA degree and a CELTA, you are considered ‘TEFL-I’ status, whereas Senior Teacher roles and beyond tend to look for what is called ‘TEFL-Q’ qualified status, that is, comprising an undergraduate degree, a CELTA and a level-7 qualification such as DELTA, Trinity TESOL or a Masters in a relevant field, such as linguistics. The DELTA is the qualification offered by Cambridge, and is composed of three modules encompassing methodology, professional practice, and a specialised study of your choice. The overall qualification is equivalent to a master's degree and considered a Level 7 qualification. The DELTA is the ideal option for me, as I can do the modules individually and fit them neatly into my working life. Others may opt for a Masters in Linguistics, or the Trinity TESOL Diploma depending on study and time constraints. With a level 7 TEFL qualification under your belt, it is not just doors that are open for you, but whole buildings!

Many Universities across the UK and beyond offer ‘EAP-English for Academic Purposes’ courses which are taught to international students' pre-degree. With a Level 7 qualification, you can apply for these roles and be involved in both linguistics and syllabus design at a very high level. This is my dream job in the TEFL world, and one that I have tangible plans towards. I have come an exceedingly long way from the wide-eyed teacher of 12 years ago using George Clooney as my second part of the 1st conditional sentence, and I feel highly respected and sought after in my role.

From a cappuccino in a piazza in Italy to an extra grande latte across a University Campus, the dream is fully alive, and I send a mental picture of myself smiling and successful to my critic! I have travelled, absorbed languages and cultures, and hopefully helped students fulfill their goals and ambitions too, starting with my CELTA in chilly York! If you want to teach English as a Foreign Language, go for it!

Sarah Taylor

Sarah is a freelance writer and teacher, currently living in Syracuse, Sicily. She also has a huge passion for the ocean and runs her own plastic free charity which she started in her home city of York, England. She is currently working on her first book.

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