Have you ever asked a teacher trainer exactly how they became a trainer? What answer did you get? I’m sure it was rather long, full of ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’. At least mine was, when the charming pair at the TEFL Training Institute interviewed me as part of their podcast on the same topic. That chat inspired me to plan what I’d do if I started over again…

The truth is, most of us who are in this role are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time when opportunity knocks.

But as “get lucky” is a terrible piece of career advice, here is my fool-proof guide to becoming a teacher trainer. I say foolproof with confidence, as it worked for me.

[If it helps, feel free to put ‘Eye of the Tiger’ on full blast and picture the following as a Rocky training montage].

1. Make Sure You Enjoy Teacher Training

It seems like a silly step — of course you know you enjoy training! Humour me, though, and if you haven’t already run workshops, mentored new teachers, and engaged in peer observations, have a try. Twist your manager’s arm (they’ll be pretty happy, it’s less work for them) and get started.

Better to find out now if it’s not for you. Check out these alternative TEFL career paths if you don't enjoy training.

2. Level Up Your Knowledge

Teacher trainers need to have their knowledge at their fingertips. Think back to a class when you’ve been asked an awkward grammar question that you can’t answer. If you’re a teacher trainer, it’s one hundred times more embarrassing.

I advise taking a higher level qualification such as the Trinity DipTESOL or Cambridge DELTA. They’re tough, but having one shows you mean business. It’ll also take care of that pesky knowledge problem. A Train the Trainer course (such as this one from Cambridge) can also clearly show your intent. A Master’s degree can show that you have the knowledge, but most don’t have a practical component and are less valued by would-be trainers.

Once you’ve got your DipTESOL/DELTA under your belt, you need to be able to simplify what you’ve learned. Having a shiny new qualification, it’s easy to start using jargon when talking to newer teachers. As a teacher trainer (as with all teaching), you must put your trainees first and grade your language. Start talking about derivational morphology right out of the gate and you’ll see many confused faces.

3. Level Up Your Network

Everything you want in life comes through other people, including job opportunities. The more connections you have in the ELT industry, the higher the chance of knowing someone, who knows someone else, who knows an opportunity.

So update your Linked In page, jump on Twitter, start a blog, start a teacher meetup, write for an ELT journal, attend conferences and get back in touch with the teachers on your initial training course and your DipTESOL/DELTA. Let it be known what you’re looking for, and good things will come.

Good things haven’t come? Right, in that case…

4. Go Nuclear

Time for the big guns. Take a deep breath and;

1. Compile a list of all the training centres you can find online (TEFL Course Review would be an excellent place to start).

2. Hunt down the schools’ emails and managers’ names (Linked In is your friend). Even better, get the managers’ emails or connect on Linked In.

3. Send a wonderfully lovely email e̵x̵p̵l̵a̵i̵n̵i̵n̵g̵ ̵h̵o̵w̵ ̵y̵o̵u̵’̵l̵l̵ ̵b̵o̵i̵l̵ ̵t̵h̵e̵i̵r̵ ̵b̵u̵n̵n̵y̵ ̵i̵f̵ ̵t̵h̵e̵y̵ ̵d̵o̵n̵’̵t̵ ̵h̵i̵r̵e̵ ̵y̵o̵u̵ ̵t̵o̵ ̵b̵e̵ ̵a̵n̵ ̵a̵m̵a̵z̵i̵n̵g̵ ̵a̵s̵s̵e̵t̵ ̵t̵o̵ ̵t̵h̵e̵i̵r̵ ̵t̵e̵a̵m̵,̵ ̵a̵n̵d̵ asking if they have any upcoming openings for trainers.

It will happen.

Once it does, bask in the glory of being a teacher trainer and your ability to mould fresh teaching minds in your own image! Assuming you can squeeze a minute between preparing sessions, training, reflecting, improving, reading, developing, supporting, marking, nurturing, sleeping (possibly) and so on.

See you again in two weeks.

Whenever you're ready, there are three ways I can help you:

1. Learn how to plan better, faster and stress-free with my book Lesson Planning for Language Teachers (90 ratings, 4.5⭐ on Amazon).

2. Develop calm students, a relaxed mind and a classroom full of learning with my book Essential Classroom Management (16 ratings, 4.5⭐ on Amazon).

3. Improve your teaching in five minutes a day with my Reflective Teaching Practice Journal (4 ratings, 4.5⭐ on Amazon).