Knowing Does Not Make You Skilled
Knowledge is information. It's acquired through sensory input: reading, watching and listening. Knowledge refers to factual information and theoretical concepts.
Skills, however, refer to applied knowledge to specific situations. Skills are developed only through practice, through a combination of sensory input and output.
To make it simple, knowledge is theoretical and skills are practical.
You can know all the rules of a sport, know its key procedures and when to use them, and know all the statistics, but this only makes you knowledgeable about the sport; it does not make you any good at it. To become good at a sport you must play it— rehearse its techniques—develop your skills by practice.
If you want to be a good English teacher, you will need to immerse yourself in an actual classroom with real non-English speaking students to see how they respond to your teaching.
You'll want to get professional feedback from trainers who have years of classroom experience as there are limits to how useful your own internal reflection is in understanding your personal skill development.
The observed teaching practices are a crucial ingredient in developing the skill set to become a successful and professional teacher—the best you can be.
That’s the secret of our TEFL practicum. We’re transforming the knowledge gained from the course book into the teaching skill set you’ll need to be successful in the classroom.
Observed Live Teaching Practice is Critical
It is not enough to read about teaching or to observe others teach in person or through videos online.
The practicum—observed teaching practices—is the heart and soul of a professional TEFL certification program and it's one of most valued parts of the course. Trainees teach actual non-English speaking students in a live classroom.
How Vantage's Practicum is Conducted
The teaching practice consists of a minimum of 6 one-hour lessons. Each lesson is on a different communication topic.
The first step is to learn how to prepare a professional lesson plan.
The lead trainer thoroughly checks the trainees’ lesson plan form for full class details, including learner objectives, teacher aims, anticipated problems with solutions, and complete lesson procedure in the ESA methodology. A good lesson plan should be detailed enough that an experienced teacher could be given your lesson plan and they’d know exactly how to teach your class.
Then lesson materials (visuals, worksheets, etc.) are sourced and scrutinized to make sure they fit with the topic and language point. Vantage provides full sample course books and a ton of resources materials categorized by language topic.
Then each trainee’s practice lessons are taught and they're observed by Vantage's trainers. Key factors observed include:
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teaching methodology and techniques
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the teacher’s classroom manner
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boardwork
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classroom management
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adherence to the lesson plan
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student reactions and feedback
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time management
After their practice teaching class, the trainees are first asked to
reflect on their lessons and critique themselves by completing
a self-evaluation form after each lesson..
Then they receive a detailed feedback session from the Vantage's observer teacher.
If all this seems a bit daunting, don’t worry, we are here to guide you every step of the way.
The many trainees who have implemented the recommended areas for improvement typically see progress in each class they teach and a dramatic improvement from the first few lessons to the last. At the end of your practicum, you’ll be ready to walk into any classroom and successfully deliver an effective lesson.
New Teachers are Born in the Classroom
Our Practicum Partners
All our courses are conducted in registered facilities and our Teaching Practices are held in schools and colleges that are registered with the Thai Ministry of Education.
We hold our practicum with the following institutions:
The Boromarajonani Nursing College – The first academic institute of the Ministry of Public Health, it’s grown into Thailand’s largest nursing training facility with 28 campuses throughout the Kingdom.
The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce - UTTC is a private, non-profit higher education institute organized into eight schools offering degree programs to the doctoral level in English and Thai.
The Human Settlement Foundation – A volunteer organization dedicated to finding solutions to homelessness and quality living in flourishing communities.
Petcharawun Witthaya School – A Thai government school with more than 2,000 students ranging from kindergarten to the 9th grade.
Chokchai Khru Kiao School – A private Thai institute specializing in kindergarten through the sixth grade--kids from 4 to 12 years old.
The Good Shepherd is an international congregation in 73 countries. The foundation was established in 1835 with the purpose of providing relief to women from harsh social conditions.
We are also teaching refugees who have made "Good Shepard Thailand" a temporary home.
© 2007-2016 by Vantage Siam Co., Ltd.
1873/15-16 Sena Center, Phaholyothin Rd,
Ladyao, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900
Tel: 02-511-3516
Fax: 02-511-3515