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Penn GSE TESOL Essentials Series

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Why choose Penn GSE TESOL Essentials Series?

The University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education is offering the TESOL Essentials Series, online courses introducing English language teaching for aspiring and current teachers in domestic and international contexts.

The TESOL Essentials Series (which includes a 135-hour TESOL Certificate) has grown from a 30+ year tradition of TESOL Workshops sponsored by Penn GSE’s Educational Linguistics division. Penn GSE has expanded and renewed these workshops for the TESOL Essentials Series, following along with its international reputation of scholarly excellence and a longstanding commitment to preparing students to thrive in workplaces, schools, and universities where people of diverse linguistic backgrounds gather to work, teach, and learn. Programs within the Educational Linguistics division have an interdisciplinary focus on language learning and teaching, as well as the role of language in learning and teaching.

Website
www.gse.upenn.edu
Founded
2018

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Reviews

Default avatar
Holly
Female
United States
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program
Program:
The 135-hour PennGSE TESOL Certificate

UPenn TESOL Summer Intensive

Oct 28, 2020

I was about to reinvigorate my teaching career when the pandemic hit like a brick wall. Finding myself at home and my children's primary caregiver, I found out about this course through an email to alums at Penn GSE. It seemed like the perfect time to keep current in my practice, and pick up another credential, particularly one as versatile as a TESOL certification. I was not disappointed. My instructor was so personable, supportive, and provided interesting and relevant materials. The experience I had during my practicum, which also due to the pandemic was remote, will reshape my teaching and has really helped me reorient how I think about planning and implementing lessons. Additionally, I felt like in besides the certificate, I was truly learning and honing my practice with relevant feedback and support.

Default avatar
Brittany
37
United States
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program
Program:
The 135-hour PennGSE TESOL Certificate

An Excellent Opportunity to Springboard your TESOL Career

Mar 15, 2020

Anyone out there can offer and "English-teaching course" but the University of Pennsylvania offers the highest quality TESOL Certificate program that prepare to students to hit the ground running and provides a plethora of experience, more than those who don't offer the full certificate, If you're looking to pursue a successful career in TESOL from at home (the US or where you call home) or abroad, this program is worth researching and considering to reach future professional goals.

My personal experience was a positive one. I began with the TESOL essentials course and am now moving onto the Diving Deeper courses and teaching practicum. The program is organized and well-rounded, and the instructor is personable, professional, and experienced. I would highly recommend this program,

Brittany S. Alum 2019

What would you improve about this program?
I would add more teaching/classroom practice time to the course. I think In the Part 11 Diving Deeper we will ave the chance to do that.
Brittany Steigert, Philadelphia, PA

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Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Andrea Leone-Pizzighella

Program
The 135-hour PennGSE TESOL Certificate
Job Title
Director
After working and doing research between Italy and the U.S. for about a decade, Andrea now lives full-time in Verona, Italy.

She earned a TESOL Certificate back in 2007, transformed it into a career in TESOL, and eventually into a Ph.D. in Educational Linguistics. As the Director of the TESOL Essentials Series, she draws on her own adventures in teaching as well as her research experiences to create an enriching experience for her student-teachers.
Andrea Leone-Pizzighella

What is your favorite travel memory?

Studying abroad in Germany and Italy had me in a constant state of butterflies-in-my-stomach. Everything was an adventure: buying bread, taking classes, exploring the city, chatting with people from around the world until the wee hours of the morning. Sharing these types of experiences with others creates lifelong friendships, the experience of living abroad is a defining and unforgettable one that I wish for everyone.

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

I started studying at Penn GSE in 2013, where I first came into contact with the academic/research side of TESOL. Before that, I had been working in the field without feeling like I had much support to back me up in my decisions about pedagogy, content, or interpersonal relationships with students. Since finding this research-based side to my practice, I have learned to listen more carefully to perspectives that differ from my own, but also to speak more confidently about my own decision-making.

Learning and teaching are inherently a collaboration, and one defines the other.

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

We had a student who had been told (wrongly) that her foreign accent would make her a bad ESL teacher. She took our course with some reservations, and we discussed this issue continuously throughout her coursework. When she finished the course, she felt much more confident in her ability to teach not in spite of her accent, but because of her high-level bilingual abilities!

She immediately found a position at an organization supporting Latin@s in the restaurant industry, and she now sees the huge, indispensable value of her first language in ESL teaching.

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

I would choose the 135-hour TESOL Certificate, which is the most comprehensive course we offer.

Even if you have never taught a day in your life, you will come out of this 24+ week course ready to plan and teach your own ESL/EFL class, whether in the U.S., abroad, with children, or with adults.

Even if you are working full-time, raising children, studying at university, or traveling a lot for work, this course is very doable and doesn't require you to uproot yourself or interrupt your daily life in order to test the waters of a new career path.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

At our core, the TESOL Essentials team is teacher-researchers, and Penn GSE is a non-profit institution. We want to give our students the best possible learning experience and the most applicable information we can offer so that they can turn around and use this information in communities that are important to them.

This course was designed entirely by Penn GSE faculty and is taught by instructors who really want to make an impact in the field of TESOL. I am proud that our team decided to apply any proceeds from this program to scholarships for student-teachers who do not have the financial means to enroll in Penn's Certificate or Master's programs. Creating a network of teachers helping teachers is one of our main priorities!

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

You have to continually innovate, and never rest on your laurels.

The consumers of your product are the most important factor: listening to them is the key to developing something that makes people excited!

We're glad that the online format of our course allows us to be nimble and flexible so that we can always keep with the times.