TEFL Poland

TEFL teaching in Poland

Jools Horton is one of our favourite Cactus clients, having taken his CELTA course in the early days of Cactus TEFL. Since then Jools has taught in Poland, Spain and Greece along with his wife Sarah.

Jools reports: "Although it’s only been two years since the CELTA course, it seems a long time ago. Here are some pearls of wisdom from someone who for want of a better expression has 'been around a bit'.

TEFL Job - Finding that elusive first position

Despite having little experience, finding a first position isn’t as difficult as it sounds. It really depends on where you want to teach. In countries such as Spain where cities like Barcelona are saturated with teachers it’s obviously difficult (especially for newly qualified teachers) to find positions. Even for those of us who have some experience, in such countries it is difficult to find a position at a school we’d actually want to teach at. However if you look at countries further a field you won’t have too much difficulty in finding work. The fact that you are newly qualified is actually to your advantage in a way as you are a very attractive commodity fresh out of a CELTA course, full of creativity and lacking any set methodology that schools don’t like. Also you are keen and cheap, never a bad thing.
If you are set on working in a country with a competitive teaching industry then be prepared to move and start at short notice. Many positions are found out about by word of mouth and are filled quickly. Your CELTA tutors are good sources of information about schools in the local areas so if you want to stay near to the place where you did the course ask them to suggest some schools and maybe put in a good word for you if possible.

TEFL Jobs - What to ask

When applying to a school you want to make sure that the school is a place where you will be happy. Here is a list of good questions (other than contract, pay, hours, situation information etc) to ask that will help you to decide if you want to work somewhere. Not all schools in the world are as modern and accommodating as the Hallowed-Ground of International House.

1. Ask about the other teachers who work/are going to work at the school. Approximate age, background etc because a school is not just the place where you work but will really be a major aspect of your life for the duration of your contract. Other teachers are an invaluable source of information and resources for teaching and one of the best tools for newly qualified teachers when they start. Some schools will actually give you contact details for current and past teachers so you can ask them questions directly about working conditions.

2. Methodology. Some schools have a strict set methodology ‘in-house teaching’ by which they want their teachers to conduct their lessons. Although fairly rare it is an important point to find out as it can greatly influence your creativity and personal enjoyment of teaching.

3. Facilities, Facilities, Facilities. Although it may seem obvious that schools would have facilities for teaching it is not always the case. This does not just mean asking whether they actually have a photocopier, printer, OHP, Internet etc. but asking if there are restrictions placed upon the use of these things and if these restrictions are reasonable. Think about it, if you have 41 students who you see twice a week and you only have a quota of 100 photocopies a month, then teaching life can get bloody annoying. This is especially relevant for those who like to create materials to supplement their lessons. Also find out if there is a staff room where teachers can sit down and talk etc away from all other goings on in the school.

4. Textbooks. Ask about them immediately. Which ones does the school use? Are textbooks regularly updated i.e. new ones bought? When were they published? Do the teachers have any influence on which ones are used? Though on the CELTA course you really create all the materials you use in class, when you get to a school you will find that you will be teaching with a textbook a lot more so it’s best to know which one you’ll get. If restrictions are made on the number of photocopies etc that you can use and the textbooks are not of the highest quality you can find that you are restricted in what you can do in your lessons.

5. In-house training. You stop learning to be a teacher when you stop being a teacher. A good way of choosing a school is to find out if they have in house training for their teachers. Workshops, meetings etc are invaluable, even if they are informal ones.

6. Lastly try to look up any information you can find out about the school. There are various teacher sites on the Internet where teachers can post messages to review schools that they have worked at as well as sharing lesson plans etc. and you will most likely find feedback pages on the sites where jobs are posted. TEFL.com, Daveseslcafe.com etc.

TEFL Poland

After finishing the CELTA course we slummed around for a few months debating on where we wanted to go for our first job. During this time we applied for various positions in Europe and (on the recommendation of one of our CELTA tutors) also looked at jobs in Poland. Within a week and a half we had applied for jobs in a small town called Nowy Targ, been accepted and were on a flight bound for Krakow in the south of Poland via Zurich.

Snow… if you like it go to Poland in February. There was 5 feet of it when we got off the plane and it was still coming down rather heavily. When we finally found our ride (a mad taxi driver the school had sent, as no-one at the school was crazy enough to drive in that weather) we then spent the next two hours being driven through post-communist Poland in a blizzard. The countryside of the south of Poland is exceptionally beautiful even when it doesn’t snow, but when it does it is breathtaking.

When we finally arrived we were dropped off at our apartment (the school sorted this out before we came) and met our land lady who (although she spoke no English whatsoever and myself in a week had only managed to learn yes, no and thank you) showed us around the apartment and gave us instructions on how to use everything…Well I think she did anyway.

During this tour the director of the school arrived, paid the taxi driver, translated what the land lady was saying about the rent and then took us first to the school to show us around and secondly out for dinner. By any standards quite an interesting and enjoyable start to a contract.

Poland - the country

The south of Poland is a mix of historic and natural beauty and a country, which is slowly becoming more and more westernised. The scenery around Nowy Targ and the nearby ski resort of Zakopane is wonderful with the area encompassed by the Tatra Mountains. If you like skiing, snowboarding or any winter/outdoor sports you will love it. I conned the director into learning how to snowboard with me and we had some wonderful times generally falling over and then talking about how good we were at falling over, over a beer in the bar.

Poland - the people

Polish people are possibly the friendliest, most generous people I have ever met. As students they are both intelligent and hardworking. They enjoy and participate in all communication activities and have a great sense of humour, which they bring with them to the class. They are also the most open-minded students I have ever taught and love to discuss other cultures and traditions. As friends they are wonderfully generous and welcoming. My only regret about my time in Poland is that I didn’t get to know my students outside of lessons from the start.

Poland - the weather

Talk about extremes! Poland can hit –35 degrees in the winter, yet shoot up to the high twenties/low thirties in the summer. Consequently you will need a serious wardrobe change somewhere in the middle.

Poland and the EC

Poland will soon be joining the single European currency, as it becomes a full member of the European community. This may mean changes will also happen with regard to teaching over there."