Explore our policy recommendations for breaking down language barriers
in schools, adult education, and the criminal justice system.
Our guidance for volunteers who teach English to young people and adults aims to provide support on how to identify and access suitable training.
In this blog we provide guidance for volunteers who teach English to young people and adults on how to identify and access suitable training. The guidance explains how training can strengthen practice, for volunteers who are new to this work and those who have experience in the field. We also set out key considerations to bear in mind, so that you can choose the most impactful training for your context. We provide a list of training opportunities, with information on the type of training, duration, and cost, for volunteers working in a range of contexts.
Jump to:
Training can have a number of benefits, including for those who have experience, because it is often tailored to a specific context, for example for newly arrived refugees, which may be new to you. Training can provide fresh ideas, build confidence, and create opportunities to network with others and share solutions to new challenges.
For those new to working in this field, training can provide support networks and model useful teaching strategies. It creates opportunities for new and experienced volunteers to reflect on your practice and try new approaches, and provides background information about the project and the people you will be working with.
When looking for training opportunities, consider:
Training in Participatory ESOL for teachers, volunteers and institutions. Bespoke training is also available. They offer a range of workshops on different topics, for groups and individuals.
Online or in person. Half or whole-day workshops – can be linked to form longer programme of CPD.
Costs vary depending on how many workshops, group or individual, etc.
Training for teachers and tutors of adult immigrants with limited formal schooling/home language literacy.
Online through Moodle and made available on a rolling basis. Six modules of 30 hours.
£30 for access to a module.
Supported by funding from the European Commission.
Teaching basic literacy to ESOL learners in London, open to volunteers. Training can be commissioned by organisations.
Current/recent volunteer training includes:
Online courses. Groups can commission training that can take place online, at your organisation’s premises, or a combination of both.
Training is mostly free. Commissioned courses can be two, three or four days long. A 2-day course is £200 per participant.
Winner of an ELTon Award, 2022. They offer free downloadable resources on their website from a previous Europe Integration Fund (EIF) project - Welcome to the UK, which included free training for volunteer befrienders.
This training has been developed to meet an acute need among teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and related fields to build awareness of how trauma can affect students with refugee backgrounds, and what practical strategies teachers can employ to both mitigate the effects of this and begin to promote recovery and growth.
Online self-access materials. Live online workshop.
Self-access materials are free. Small fee for the workshop.
While being practical in focus, it is underpinned by a number of years of research by the University of Leicester’s Sanctuary Seekers’ Unit into trauma-informed pedagogy in the refugee ESOL classroom.
The TESOL Training Toolkit Training series, open to teachers of all levels, both experienced and those new to ESOL. Focussed on use of resources and strategies.
Online. Three 2-hour sessions offered annually.
Sessions: £10 (Members), £20 (Non-Members), £5 (unwaged/volunteers).
This project is in Sheffield. No qualifications are required.
Conversation Group Volunteer Training prepares volunteers for facilitating speaking and listening activities in community based English conversation groups. Includes developing resources, making sessions locally specific and more participatory and embedding digital skills development in conversation groups.
Language Volunteer Training prepares volunteers for supporting an individual learner on a 1:1 basis. It covers Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing techniques, making resources and using locally specific resources.
Both courses include generic content around the role of a volunteer, the boundaries to that role, what to do in common situations, understanding the needs, motivations and barriers learners face, safeguarding learners and staying safe as a volunteer.
Online, hybrid or in person at SAVTE, Sheffield. Standard training course is 30 guided learning hours and the accredited is 70 hours which includes the supervised training.
Free
Level 1 Award in Volunteering to Support English Language Teaching and Learning accredited by Ascentis Jan 2022 (used NATECLA Framework for Good Practice in Voluntary ESOL)
CELTA or teaching qualification required. In-house training (induction) for new volunteer ESOL teachers, in Bristol. The training covers safeguarding and immigration.
In person. 3 hours.
Free.
In-house training session for Conversation Club volunteers, in Bristol. You are also required to do safeguarding training via FutureLearn.
In person. A full day.
Free.
The training is part of the induction process of volunteers. Volunteers are equipped with resources, like games, for running conversation clubs with adult ESOL learners.
In-person induction for new volunteers (who are required to have Cambridge CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL minimum or extensive experience in teaching ESOL).
PDA Introduction to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (ITESOL). This is an SQA accredited qualification (SCQF level 6). It is an entry-level course for teaching ESOL in the community.
In person. Two sessions. The ITESOL course runs over nine months.
Free for those who volunteer with the Forum. £300 for those who volunteer at other organisations.
Digital CLD Award 2022. Training of volunteer tutors funded by the National Lottery Community Fund 2004, 2006. This page provides information about ESOL volunteer projects across Scotland.
In-house training in Canterbury (induction) for new volunteers on cohorts, the curriculum, resources, and delivery.
In person. One hour.
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| CELTA | Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults. CELTA is a qualification for teaching English as a foreign language. Courses are run by authorised centres based on specifications produced by Cambridge English and are open to those with or without other teaching qualifications. |
| CLD | Community Learning and Development is a field of professional practice that enables people to identify their own individual and collective goals, to engage in learning and take action to bring about change for themselves and their communities. (definition: Glasgow ESOL Forum webpage) |
| ELTon Award | A British Council Award, for English Language Teaching Innovation. |
| ESOL | English for Speakers of Other Languages. |
| Linguistic resources | All the knowledge and skills learners have in all the languages they know. |
| Participatory ESOL | A teaching methodology that places language learning in the social context of the learner. |
| Safeguarding training | Training that focuses on the needs of work with vulnerable people, including for confidentiality, and for reporting abuse. |
| Signposting | Showing learners where they can access information and services. |
| Trinity CertTESOL | An initial teaching qualification for teaching English to speakers of other languages. It is available as a part-time, face-to-face, online, or blended course through a validated course provider. |
