Trailblazers

Teaching TEFL to Primary School Teacher
Charlotte Gould

British now working in a London primary school

I decided to do TEFL when I realised that I wanted to go abroad for more than just a holiday. London is awash with colleges doing the month-long CTEFLA (Certificate in Teaching English as a Language to Adults) so it was relatively easy to find a course.

I got my first job by answering an advertisement in The Guardian. I worked for international companies in Paris, London and then Poland. I then ventured further afield to Malaysia and Vietnam, before settling in Thailand where I approached a school directly. Once I knew a few local expatriates I found out which schools needed teachers.

While TEFL has many attractions, it has a limited life span. While you can aspire to being a Director of Studies (DOS) or centre manager, there is really no career ladder. I decided that if I were to go abroad again I would want to work in an international school and continue with my career. I also wanted to earn the salary of a qualified teacher abroad, so applied to do a PGCE course and am now teaching a reception class.

Contact Charlotte on brockleysunrise@aol.com