Courses available on New Deal?

it certainly requires a huge amount of faith (or false beliefs) at a level similar to that expressed by followers of other religions

If you are still unemployed after a few weeks thay will send you to a4e or some where like it, they call this an "option". you don't really get any choice over what course you do, and there's not much difference between them, for the vast majority of the time you have nothing to do anyway, and the qualifications you get from them are worthless. After you've been at a4e for a while they may give you a placement, this usually means working in a charity shop, although it could be something like a supermarket too, either way you don't get paid anything for it, though the business you work for may employ you when you new deal course finishes.

If you start the teaching english thing before you start the new deal course then you should be able to use that as your placement. If you are on placement you only have to attend a4e or what ever you have in your area one day a week instad of 5.

there's a few videos on you tube about a4e http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=a4e&aq=f (not the anime stuff )

web site about it here http://www.freewebs.com/watchinga4e/

and artical about some ones experinces here http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/a4e-more-from-the-poverty-pimps/

A friend of mine went to these usually completely useless and demeaning courses, and so she criticised how useless they were in getting a decent job, disrupting the class somewhat. Other people on the class were agreeing with her, and so they became a bit difficult to control. Then they offered her a job at the Jobcentre, presumably to get rid of a troublemaker by making her switch sides. Possible strategy for getting a job while carrying out your politics if you're desperate!

If you want to get into teaching english as a second or other language, you need to do a CELTA course - this is the standard qualification in the field.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_English_Language_Teaching_Accreditation

You will probably have to pay, but might be able to work out some kind of assistance. Use google to find places near you, and take it from there.

My partner teaches English to recently arrived migrant women. According to her, though there is not alot of room for talking about the finer points of ideology, the way you go about teaching can carry alot of politics with it, in terms of bringing out students' experiences, talking about skills for life in the UK (how you talk about the police, how you talk about work, how you talk about family, other cultures, etc.). But then she sets her own curriculum and lesson plans, you might not have so much freedom working for one of the big commercial colleges...

Good luck.

EDIT: that's a great article on the johnnyvoid blog, who ever wrote it. Really shows you how the different bits of the system fit together to fuck people over, and how permeated they are with unaccountable abuse.

well, no, they might already grasp the ideology (or another ideology, perhaps even a bette one) in their own language. I reckon your average Latin American immigrant (or perhaps immigrants in general) is more politicised than your average British ESOL techer.

The people you teach have probably had implicitly political experiences back home - strikes, riots, etc. Why assume you've got to impart something to them, rather than finding out where they're coming from, what they already know, helping them to share those things with each other, etc?

I think teaching ESOL is good work, but my impression is that it's important to be respectful of students and recognise what they already know, rather than assuming they're thick...

I think it would make sense to do topical lessons with them based around real-life issues. You need to prepare them to function in the real world. First and foremost they need to improve vocabulary, build speaking skills, etc. Usually the latter means that you can have discussions with them. Then you can illicit their opinions, experiences, etc. on different matters. Every know and again you can throw in anarchist points of view, but don't look at is as a strict presentation of an ideology. Anarchist points of view are generally controversial and can stimulate good discussion. With immigrants you can start off slowly through other topics - for example, about the immigration system. You can help them with vocabularly they need to know for example for dealing with the system - they know about the system first hand but might not be able to deal with it in English to the degree they need. Then you can have some articles about control of immigrants and present for example something about anarchists who want to eliminate all borders and don't believe in the nation-state. You could also do a lesson on work conditions and eventually get to an anarchist slant. You just have to remember that teaching doesn't mean that you present ideas and people automatically understand or agree with them; they will debate, some will say it's stupid, etc. etc. But you can succeed in exposing people to these ideas in this way without giving them the feeling that they are being indoctrinated. Sometimes you also have to present other ideas for a balance.

I think it would make sense to do topical lessons with them based around real-life issues. You need to prepare them to function in the real world.

Thats not going to be hard, last time i taught english we started working out of these textbooks, and they just interupted us about halfway through the lesson. Basically the first thing they're going to ask you is ''how do i get a job'', it doesn;t make for an easy answer because realistically its hard to get anything decent.
I'd recommend taking some translated trade union stuff like worksmart guides (its not available in all languages mind) and maybe something like the libcom workplace guide or stuff your boss down when you go.

I dunno about courses, even though your not a student you can volunteer with STAR
http://www.star-network.org.uk/index.php/ depending on what part of the UK your in??
I'd warn you though, if your thinking about this as a career then in the long term getting an actual paid job at a refugee charity/organisation is pretty hard, your literally up against hundreds of applicants for every job.

Hey, got an interview for an EFL placement tomorrow...any tips? I'm gonna rip some ideas off this thread cos the job'd be in Latin America so I'd be preparing many kids for immigration.

Thanks, appreciated.

If you haven't got a TEFL then tell them you're planning on getting one. If you're not going as part of your degree then it's harder to get (as far as I know) so you'll need to look good.
sickdog's advice sounds really good. You might want to add in or invent some previous experience working with young people, preferably voluntary as it will show your commitment. Involvement in afterschool activities is another thing they'll like.

Well I sometimes voluntarily babysit 18 year old drunk anarchists.

RE: TEFL, explicitly says that no qualifications are necessary...can I really get away with lying? (Probably won't have time to get it, let alone money.)

Depends on how you put it

Up to you really, you don't need one but it might be handy as you're applying outside of the uni system. It will show willing on your part and might set you apart from gap year kids although most of them will actually have a tefl

it's not that much, depending on where you go. I've not got one myself though. Most places just give them to you if you pay the fee from what I've heard.

Did you get the job Alan?

...will know by the end of the month. You're right though, other than this one it appears to the be exception in not requiring a TEFL, although apparently I have a chance of getting work in some parts if I just show up at a school on the first day of term.

Gonna edit out the specifics of my job btw, maybe not wise considering there's a small chance of me getting it.