The qualifications for teachers in Poland?

Teachers in Callan supposedly require a degree to teach there but I'm led to believe that some teachers there don't have this. They are not under the patronage of the curatorium so investigations into the qualifications are not conducted. Admission therefore is easier. A TEFL qualification is also not necessary but desirable. Teaching at private schools is well paid here in Poland (I've worked for 3 schools) and conditions are much better than working as a mainstream teacher, slaving ur guts out for peanuts.

Here in Warsaw the going rate for decent teachers at private language schools is about 1 zloty per minute net.

If you want to work at the kind of place which only fires teachers for passing out drunk in class if they do it twice in a week, you can expect about 20zl per hour.

Forget about teaching in Polish state schools. Bugger all money in that.

according to a post by another harry on another forum, teachers passing out drunk, whilst common place back in the 90s, are few and far between...

would you say there is any truth in this or do many ELF teachers still deserve their reputation...?

That was indeed me posting on the other forum. Some EFL teachers do still deserve their rep but fewer now than ten years ago. Also, the schools have generally become more professional too. Most of the cowboy school owners have been driven out and that has greatly aided the professionalism of the business.

yup... i remember some of the crowd i worked with back in the mid 90s... hmmm... good to hear theres a bit more professionalism today...

Why aren't the qualifications of teachers checked in some private schools? What's the point in studying sth if schools cheapen that by admitting those without degrees? Does the Polish curatorium have jurisdiction in the domain of private schools? Is it just a toothless organisation?

All the schools that I have worked for since 1999 have asked to see if I had a University Degree, and pre 2004, not sure if this was all across Poland but the local work office in Lublin required that you have some University education.

Not too sure if I can remember the reason correctly but I think, it was because you had to provide a service that no other Polish teacher could do.

Besides, as the job was looking for a native British teacher and being a British person with a degree in education it was just a formality and a pointless bureaucratic waste of time.

So, there aren't periodic inspections of private schools here? There's a raging debate that Polish teachers can fulfil the function of current native speaker teachers but many deny that. There are many Polish teachers out of work apparently, due to native speakers 'stealing' jobs. There's little consistency overall. I have a CELTA but it means little here. At Profi, the Polish teachers do the grammar anyway.

I wouldn't totally agree with this as most Polish English teachers use private schools as a top up from their state school position, which provides then with zus, and holiday entitlement at least thats what I have seen.

So if you are saying that they are taking their extra work then I can agree with you.
And another the thing Seanus, have you ever experienced the fallout you get and surprise on their faces when you have corrected a Polish teachers pronunciation, makes you wonder how many Polish people are going to the UK and getting a punch on the nose for not pronouncing can't correctly if you get my drift lol

It didn't represent my opinion, just what I've heard. U r right, they do prop up their earnings in that way. They seem to have it good.

It is what would put me off too. Some years ago, I spent a week in Poland, in Warsaw and went to a few language schools for a chat and a coffee. I went to a school called Angloschool, as far as I know, it is still these. On Popieluszi 9? The owners of the school lived in Australia but decided to return to Poland, a worrying though in itself! It was a strange place all together. They had at the time what they termed an unique system, a dual system where they employ a Polish teacher to teach vocabulary and grammar and a native teacher who specializes in conversation. For me, teaching grammar is the cornerstone of language education and to be playing 'second fiddle' to a Pole would not be my idea of fun at all. Another point is that initiating conversation is hard work and is not a soft touch. Think about motivating Poles to speak in class for thirty hours a day and you will see that you well and truly earn your money.

lol.... hahahaahahahahahahahaha professionalism, hahhahahahahah

U don't think this is an effective system Michał? I'm reserving judgment, holding my cards close to my chest meantime. Do u think Poles are reticent in class? Have u been a teacher b4? Don't u think some native speakers are drafted in really cheaply? Some score very badly on grammar tests, I know bcoz I have marked many as a trainer. Like in NOVA (Japan), I feel that observations are too sporadic and many classes get taught but to what degree? It's just bums on seats for these schools. Many unqualified teachers slip through the net and secure places. It hardly inspires confidence

Teaching grammar is not playing second fiddle at all, but (unless we are dealing with small children, around 12 years old or younger) teaching it is much easier and effective if it is targetted at a specific linguistic group. For instance teaching the concept of an article in English (a, the) varies depending whether the students are French, Spanish, German or Polish.

Also, if the foreign language is taught in the country that is native to the students (for instance English taught in Poland) then no grammar can be explained easilly by a non-Polish speaker. Eventually it could be, but the economics of the process are simply not there.

I taught ESL in New Yourk City. Some of the teachers were Americans. I was often asked by them about some aspects of the Polish language that the Americans deemed useful in explaining some of the concepts of the English grammar.

What I also found to be interesting that native proficiency in a given language doesn't automatically make the speaker aware of many aspects of grammar, semantics and pronounciation that are needed to teach a language. Unless a native English speaker is a trained ESL teacher I would not employ him for anything but more intermediate to advanced, or conversational courses.

Good point by Darius above. There has to be sth to forking out close to 1000 pounds for a 1 month course, namely CELTA. It depends on the method u r teaching as to how to maximise such training. I got 3 days OJT in Japan, basic training for Callan and none at Profi because I was deemed to know the trade by then. My CELTA gave me confidence but 2 years in front of people in Japan helped me more. I think it is a rule that unqualified teachers can only teach speaking here but, sadly, this is not enforced. As I said b4, I saw the lack of grammatical awareness as a trainer amongst my colleagues but they got off with it as the method didn't require advanced knowledge. U have to win the trust of ur students and showing them that u know a few tricks helps. I've simplified ideas that they find difficult, e.g transitive/intransitive verbs. What do u mean by a "trained ESL teacher" Darius? CELTA level, DELTA level?

there is only 24 hours in a day MORON, im surprised you express your thoughts in this thread anyway, since you dont give a toss about the Polish language. go back to your smelly swamp.

In Canada they you can major in that at a university level but I don't mean any specific certifications. ESL stands for English as a Second Language.

And I agree with what you wrote about being prepared for classes. Without that an average class is asking for a disaster. I found myself spending as much time outside class preparing myself for each of them as it took me to present what I was to present. With time it becomes easier, but there is also a danger of a routine. Routine kills in this profession.

I know the terminology Darius, I've read the key texts. Routine kills but sometimes there isn't too much leeway involved. I'm always in nice and early anyway just to make sure that all the bases have been covered.

I don't think that Polish teachers can fulfil the function of native speaker teachers. To teach CPE (and to a lesser degree CAE) a teacher needs to be completely fluent. My girlfriend has CPE grade A (which she took 8 years ago), Magister in English philology (mark of 5), has lived in England for more than half a year and has lived with me for 7 years (always speaking only English at home and watching pretty much only English TV). But she still has a couple of questions to ask me everytime she's preparing a CPE lesson.

There are no Polish teachers out of work because native speakers have 'stolen' 'their' jobs. The demand for decent native speaker teachers is far far bigger than the supply. The problem has come for the Polish teachers who speak terrible English. Go to the IATEFL conference in Poland and you'll meet Polish teachers who've been sent there by their schools but you can't understand a word they say and they can hardly understand a word they say. But they've been teaching English in Poland for 30 years!

I entirely disagree with the dual-teacher system. If teachers can't teach, they have no place in the classroom. What is a teacher supposed to do if a student makes a grammar mistake in a speaking class? Just ignore it and move on? Or explain what the mistake is, why it’s a mistake and how to avoid making it in the future? There are two reasons why the dual-teacher system exists and neither of them benefits anybody but the schools. The first is the problems with native speakers: native speakers who understand grammar and can teach it are even harder to find than native speakers who can turn up for every lesson on time and sober, this enables them to expect higher wages than the average native speaker teacher, but students want native speaker teachers and expect schools to provide them. The second reason is the benefits of Polish teachers: they are less hassle to employ than native speaker teachers, easier to replace than native speakers, will accept lower wages than native speakers, are more easily cowed than native speakers (so the school can treat them worse), are less likely to phone in sick (i.e. hung-over) than native speakers, are more likely to come back next academic year than native speakers, and are less likely to walk out during the year than native speakers. The dual-teacher system lets schools reduce the problems of native speakers while maximising the benefits available from Polish teachers. But the dual-teacher system does bugger all to help learners.

ive met some extremely good polish teachers of english - both in their language ability and teaching skills

Interesting views from Harry. I agree with regards to CPE, even I've had a couple of double takes when teaching it. I've begged to differ with the key on several occasions. What's more, phrasal verbs separate Polish teachers from native speakers. I've had to lead at the Upper-Intermediate level even, as some Polish teachers are just plainly unsure. Even qualified teachers (native speakers) are told to steer clear of the grammar. Back to CPE, it's a different ballgame entirely than CAE. I teach from Virginia Evans's Use of English book. It puts the cat amongst the pigeons. Separates the wheat from the chaff!! I love the challenge tho!! The Polish teachers I've encountered have been top drawer in general English though I've never seen them in action. I'd love to observe a CPE class being taught by a Polish teacher. It's taught in Katowice in Profi and I'd encourage Poles to go there and give it a whirl, it's a great course that tests highly advanced learners. I'll teach it again tomorrow, always intriguing. Harry, do u really feel that Polish teacher aren't intelligible?

ILS Opole are offering from 1750,- to 1.850 zls net per calendar month for 24 contact hrs per week - thats a bit cheeky isnt it?

26 contact hours gets me 5,500zls so that is a slap in the face to be under 2000zls. Maybe they are offering free accommodation and perks tho!!

accommodation plus bills is included but even so... its a slap in the face

The flat could be shabby and lacking insulation for Polish winters. I landed on my feet with my landlord, 750 for everything is a snip. 1800zl is OK for a first time job, fresh out of uni, but competition for such places isn't going to be so fierce

I'm interested to read the views on the dual-teacher-system. I worked in this way for twelve months and found that it was beneficial for both the teachers and the students.

The feedback I got from my students was that they liked the ability to be able to ask questions about grammar in their mother tongue and also to put the grammar into the context of their own language. A English native speaker who is not a fluent speaker of this language would not be able to do this.

In addition, the students benefited from continual contact with a native speaker, which gave them confidence that the material being taught was some archaic left over from niversity uteaching of the English language that was 30 years out of date. In my situation I was working together with another teacher 85-90% of the time (as a classic language assistant in a secondary school might do) but I certainly did not feel I was playing second fiddle and was respected in the same way as I was when I taught classes solo.

It also requires some different skills to work in a dual-teacher-system, in particular, the ability not to contradict each other.

As the old saying goes "two heads are better than one" - well some of the time at least.

I agree with alanko. The system is effective if the coordination between the 2 teachers is to a high level. I have more of a role here which I like. The Profi teachers know that I was a grammar trainer so it gives THEM the extra leeway if they don't feel like teaching it on any given day. Not teaching grammar hardly sticks in my craw. I did it for so long and a wee break from it is fine by me. JET teachers in Japan were confined to doing pronunciation and fun activities with their learners. Nice, easy money but not much professional development. Any drawbacks that u care to mention alanko?

I know that my predecessor in my old job didn't take too well to the system, demonstrating that team work is the key in this system.

Downtime can also be an issue but as long as you are getting paid by the hour...

What's wrong with teamwork? It's on a much smaller scale than the majority of office jobs are, let's face it. It's not only about getting paid by the hour, some classes of mine are of varying length. I don't like all the short tests that have to be done. I'm thorough enough in class and find them to be redundant. Where did u work btw?

This is one of the precise problems which I have with dual-teacher systems. Once a student gets to intermediate level, they know more than enough English to have the finer points of grammar explained to them in English. Once students start trying to translate grammar, they're onto a loser. Putting the present perfect continuous tense into the context of Polish is just not possible (Polish has neither continuous nor perfect tenses), so why bother trying?

Translating from Polish into English is a far more difficult than just speaking English, which is why good translators earn far more than good teachers. To speak good English students need to be thinking in English: if they remember grammatical rules in Polish, they won’t be thinking in only English!


You misread me. I said that I’ve met some Polish teachers of EFL who speak such bad English that I can’t understand them. But then I’ve met some native-speaker teachers who speak English with such thick accents that I can’t understand them either.


Add the accommodation and it’s 2500zl per month, not that bad for rip-off schools. IH in Bielsko-Biala are offering 2150zl gross per month with no accommodation for 23 real hours. ELS-Bell in Gdansk are offering the same pay with no accommodation for 25 real hours. ELS-Bell in Warsaw offer 2,500zl per month with no accommodation and the director of the school claims that that much money is enough to “get a cleaner [for your apartment] and really enjoy yourself.”!