About ETC
The English Training Centre was set up in 1997 to provide high-quality distance education courses in TEFL and TESOL.
ETC courses are accredited by ACCREDITAT (www.accreditat.com), which is a highly professional international accreditation body with a specialisation in TEFL courses.
ETC courses are also accredited by ACTDEC (Accreditation Council for TESOL Distance Education Courses (www.actdec.org.uk), an organisation with long experience.
External independent accreditation confirms the professional quality of our courses. ETC is also an Institutional Member of the College of Teachers (www.collegeofteachers.ac.uk) and abides by its Code of Practice.
ETC Personnel
Paul Simmonds - Course Director
Paul Simmonds has a first degree in Philosophy and Sociology. He completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language and later an MEd in TESOL at the University of Manchester. He has taught in primary schools, secondary schools, teacher training colleges as well as the University of Birmingham, and has considerable experience of teacher training. He has worked in Zambia, Tanzania and the UK and has consultancy experience in Europe, Africa and China. Paul is a member of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) and the College of Teachers.
Dodie Brooks - Tutor
Dodie has a BA, MA and PhD and has worked at primary, secondary and tertiary level in the UK. She has a BA in History from the University of Leeds and also trained as a teacher. Later, she went on to complete an MA and later to acquire a PhD from University College, London. She has taught in the UK, in Kenya and in China and also has extensive experience of writing English language textbooks. She worked in Beijing as an English language consultant for The People’s Educational Press from 2002 to 2008.
John Durkin - Tutor
John has a BA, PGCE TEFL and MA plus substantial secondary school teaching experience and working in teacher training colleges and universities in East Africa and the UK. His PGCE TEFL is from the Institute of Education, University of London, and his MA is in Applied Linguistics from the University of Reading. He has led English language projects run by the British Council and the Aga Khan Foundation. He has extensive experience of writing instructional materials and is the author of ELT course books in East Africa for Macmillan and OUP.
The tutors on the ETC team have been teaching TESOL / TEFL for at least 20 years, both in the UK and overseas. Many have extensive experience in teacher training and in writing materials for the classroom. All have been involved in writing English language textbooks. Our tutors all have postgraduate qualifications in TESOL or TEFL; all hold at least an MA or MEd. They will always provide you with positive and helpful feedback on your assignments.