I was on the proverbial fence about getting recertified in TEFL, as I had previously received my TEFL cert 16 years ago from the University of Arizona in Tucson. There seemed to be a lot of job opportunity in the area so part of me was thinking, “Why spend money unnecessarily when I can just start working right away?” Having said that, I am SO GLAD I signed up for the TEFL course with Máximo Nivel (Cusco) which I just completed this past Friday. Years ago, I got by teaching ESL based on the fact that I was a native speaker and that I had a fairly fun personality which my students generally responded well to. However, though most days I was passionate and gave my all, some days I was not good and did a disservice to the students I was teaching. Afterall, they were paying hard-earned money to learn English, not to be entertained. Máximo Nivel´s philosophy of teaching prioritizes STT (Student Talk Time) and in this course you learn not TO TEACH English, per se, but rather how to elicit and pull English language from the students! You learn how to constantly check in with your students to ensure they are understanding the activity in the classroom (CCQing), and you learn how to correct errors in a very direct and effective manner. Sean is the apotheosis of this teaching philosophy. He is in fact from day one modeling these techniques the whole time he´s teaching TEFL. Spoiler alert: about a week into the course, you realize that he has been teaching you in the same manner as he would his ESL students, utilizing all the same techniques. He has in fact elicited and pulled all of the information directly from the students and you discover that we’ve been doing most of the talking and that we’re having a blast while doing so. It is such an engaging and empowering method of teaching; you remember the information easier because you are the one, in fact, producing the information. Brilliant! He basically is modelling and teaching you how to metaphorically do Aikido on your students! Using THEIR energy/activity/voice toward the ultimate goal of “doing” English. I don’t want to give the illusion that this was an easy course, not at all. Especially for an old dog such as myself (50s now…yikes!) who struggles learning “new tricks” and whose personality is very well established. Speaking for myself, I had to destroy my ego and slowly build it back up again throughout the four weeks of instruction and there were many bumps along the way in learning how to consciously utilize these techniques. My younger cohort, all very talented and intelligent young women, were able to adjust more quickly. In the end I was able to do well enough to pass the course and when I struggled Sean was RIGHT THERE to support me. He was very available to his students; you got the feeling, and he in fact told us, he wouldn’t allow us to fail. The last thing I’ll say is that you immediately get to practice the techniques you are learning on ambitious young Peruvian students who take advantage of the free opportunity to participate in mini lessons which you, the TEFL student, are leading them through. This opportunity occurs weekly up until the final week where (M-F) all you are doing is preparing for and teaching a full class of students who are paying the institute money to be taught by you via all the techniques Sean has instilled in you. I thought my previous experience at U of A was great, but really there is no comparison to the hands-on, participatory experience offered my Máximo Nivel.
