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UCD postgraduate certificate in TESOL

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    #2
    peanuthead
    Registered Users Posts: 3,111 ✭✭✭peanuthead


    Hi there

    I have completed this course, and I have alot of opinions on it.

    Firstly, I didn't open your link, so Im not sure how the course is advertised, but the year I did it it was advertised as a 1 year part time course.

    Part time my ass!!

    They said it was one night a week, tuesdays, from 6-9 if I can remember correctly. However, once you start the teaching practice you can forget that.

    You will see yourself doing two of the following groupings of hours (teaching) Wed 6-8, Thurs 6-8 and I think Fri is 2-4, but again, I may have the times wrong.

    There are also a couple of Saturdays to be done too.

    There were a few nice teachers on the course, but also alot of crabby ones, who had no sympathy for the fact that the course had a much bigger workload than was originally described.

    There are assignments involved in the course, 2 as far as I can remember, one due at Xmas and the other due in Feb. Our course actually ended at the end of Feb but we were only told that the 2nd week in Feb so I think it was a last minute decision. You will also do an exam at the end of the course.

    However, all that said, the course is 100% ACELS accredited, a must if you plan to use your qualification here in Ireland. It is hard going, and involved alot of teaching. The supervisors were quite critical too, but I think upon reflection that was a good thing. I have alot of moaning to do about the way the course was organised, and as I said, some of the teachers were moany old bags, but they were good teachers themselves and taught us well.

    Since doing the course I have taught all levels all nationalities and have had no difficulty whatsoever. They really prepare you well.

    My only criticism of the content of the course was that they don't touch on how to teach complete beginners.

    Good luck, dont hesitate to PM me if you need anymore advice


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    #3
    AARRRGH
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,382 ✭✭✭✭AARRRGH


    Thanks for the reply!

    I went for the interview, but got a bad feeling about the course so turned down my place.

    1. They casually said I will have to take a half-day every week; when I replied saying that's not an option for me, they gave me a half-hearted assurance in a "we'll worry about that later" sort of way.
    2. I felt the people doing the interview (which was like a job interview btw) were a bit patronising and mammy-ish.

    So I left the interview with a bad feeling about the place. Also, I decided I didn't want to part with €2800 in case the recession bites my ass in a few months!


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    #4
    peanuthead
    Registered Users Posts: 3,111 ✭✭✭peanuthead


    AARRRGH wrote: »
    Thanks for the reply!

    I went for the interview, but got a bad feeling about the course so turned down my place.

    1. They casually said I will have to take a half-day every week; when I replied saying that's not an option for me, they gave me a half-hearted assurance in a "we'll worry about that later" sort of way.
    2. I felt the people doing the interview (which was like a job interview btw) were a bit patronising and mammy-ish.

    So I left the interview with a bad feeling about the place. Also, I decided I didn't want to part with €2800 in case the recession bites my ass in a few months!

    Yeah well at least they told you about the half day every week, they told us nothin!!, although it seems like they're still holding back on you, unless the course has changed since I was there. It would work out at 2 half days during the week when you are doing your teaching practice, and the odd saturday too. Its advertised as a part-time course, but is anything but imo.

    That said, if you plan to do TESOL here I think its te course to do. I'm sure I could be wrong on that, I would say that as I did it, but admittedly I never looked elsewhere, but the two main things you have to look at when choosing a course is that 1. its ACELS accredited and 2. How many hours the course is. Not necessarily how many teaching hours, just how many hours.

    But about that course - I know, the interview is wierd. You go in in two's, right? And I don't know if it was just the year that was in it or what, but at the interview they made us all feel that about 1 in 10 of us had a chance of getting the course, we all got it!!!!

    There is/was, I feel a very arrogant atmosphere from the whole place, maybe I feel its the best place to do the course as that was the way they made us feel. And as for the "we'll worry about that later" attitude, I remember a girl who was doing that course with me, she was doing it in conjunction with the DIP and was a few mins late (20 or so) one evening because her examiner had come in. Well she was told in no uncertain terms that if she didn't have the decency to show up on time, not to bother at all. And this was AFTER she had explained the reason for her lateness!!

    They are not accomodating at all once you have acepted a place. I don't know what they are more interested in, the numbers or the money (You see if they don't fill the course, they have to teach some of the Erasmus students themselves!!)

    I'm delighted I completed the course, but I sometimes look back and ask myself how I managed it!!


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