Delta Module Two Local Mentors
The part time online Delta Module two and the local mentor
If you want to do a part time Delta Module Two with ITI where you are (as opposed to where we are) and you cannot teach in an online platform or stream your classes, then you will need a local mentor. When you apply, you should have an idea of who this person is and the person concerned will also need to apply to ITI to be a local mentor. Link to do that here.
The local mentor watches your lessons, probably also filming them and then writes the lesson part of the report. You have an ITI Delta tutor (and a second tutor at some point in the course) who works with the mentor, marks all your other work and in collaboration with the mentor agrees on the final lesson report. You will usually have tutorials with the local mentor, but sometimes also with the ITI tutor.
You need to find the local mentor. If you work in an institution that is supporting you in getting your Delta, quite often it is your line manager or the in house training manager, but if you are somewhere that has not previously had many (or any) Delta candidates doing M2 you may need to look further afield.
The person you will work with should apply to be an ITI Delta mentor and commit to working with us and you over the following 6-9 months. If they stop being your mentor or leave etc this can cause your own progress through Delta to come to a halt, so you need to trust they will be in place long enough to do this.
They must …
Have a Delta themselves (at least Modules One and Two, preferably all three and be at least two years post Module Two). If they did the old integrated Cambridge Delta (before it went modular in 2008) that’s fine too. So is the equivalent Trinity qualification. If they have some other qualification that involved a practicum that you (or they) feel could be seen as Delta equivalent, get in touch and we can look at the C.V. / qualification / balance of that and experience.
be prepared to do a series of pre course preparation tasks (largely about observation and evaluation in order to work with the criteria and think about mentoring and what it involves and to help them standardise). The number of tasks depends a little on their previous tutoring experience. If someone was already working as a CELTA tutor for example they would be able to start work with you in partnership with the ITI Delta tutor on completion of a number of familiarisation and standardisation tasks. If they have very little experience of training / observation or using criteria they would need to do further support tasks in the standardisation pathway and we would definitely ask them to film your classes so we can ensure further standardisation and support. What exactly they would need to do would be established during their application procedure.
Factors that would make someone a good possible ITI Delta mentor in order of preference are that they
already work as a CELTA or ICELT tutor
and / or or do Cambridge or IELTS exams work (because of the familiarity of working from criteria)
and / or do some in house training and observation or have a good amount of past experience of this
They do not need to work in the same school or institution as you, but they do need to be able to watch lessons that you teach at least once every couple of weeks.
They should be aware that they are not training to become a full Cambridge registered Delta tutor, but that the experience they gain would make them a good candidate for this at a later date.
Information for the prospective ITI Delta mentor who will work with the teacher
You will need to go through an application process with ITI (filling out an application form, doing a task and talking to an ITI Delta tutor in an online interview) and we may need to be able to verify your experience.
If you are accepted, you will need to do pre course tasks. How many and what they are will vary a little according to your previous experience working with criteria, working in a tutoring / mentoring context and doing observations. If you are already CELTA tutoring for example, then you would need to do some familiarisation and standardisation tasks before you could start to work with your teacher and the ITI Delta tutor, but if you do not have much experience of any of these things (experience working with criteria, working in a tutoring context and doing observations) a pre course task pathway would take rather more time and effort to complete. You should be aware that this process would not result in you being registered as a Module Two Delta tutor by Cambridge, but it would make you a good candidate for training posts (and other Cambridge awards work) in the longer term.
Once the teacher begins work on their Module Two portfolio you will be responsible for observing lessons. If you don't have a lot of previous training experience, some of the time you would be videoing lessons and some of the time writing lesson reports. If you are already CELTA or ICELT experienced, there would be less video and more direct writing of reports. You would also provide some face to face support for the teacher. The teacher would be encouraged to complete their portfolio over a 6-9 month period and in that time you would be working to support the teacher in about one assignment a month. While this would be a lot of work on their part it should only involve 4-5 hours of your time each time at most (this includes tutorials, watching lessons and writing time). This means you need to be able to find mutually agreeable times when you can actually observe the CP teaching, set aside some tutorial time and do at least one test run with video. The financial arrangements for this if you need to be recompensed for your time, would be between you and the teacher, not run through ITI. This could be a fixed fee, an amount per lesson or an amount per hour.
You would have access to the same course materials as the teacher, mail contact with the teacher’s Delta tutor and would have access to and support in an ITI Delta mentor forum.
The application form for for a teacher who wants to do the Delta is here
The application form for a local mentor is here.
There is a blog post from a teacher who did M2 online with us (he is based in Spain) here. Though one thing you will notice is that he really isn't discussing the online nature of the course - the course is the same course whichever format you do it in with the same structure and the same assignments and requirements.