Since 2016, Berea College’s Center for Teaching and Learning has been approved by the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) to grant specialized, internationally recognized certificates to Berea teaching assistants and tutors. To receive the International Tutor Training Program (ITTP) Level 1 Certificate, students must work with the TLAP Director to meet four categories of requirements:
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- training (10+ hours)
- tracking/logging (25+ hours of TA work)
- being observed by the TLAP Director
- reflecting (culminating in a philosophy statement)
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The requirements and certification process are detailed in this overview packet. This packet is also always posted to the yearly TA Moodle site and available via e-mail.
We invite students who are interested in improving their peer leadership and student support skills and/or who are interested in future careers in teaching and tutoring to reach out, attend trainings, and seek certifications. Certificates help signal to graduate/professional schools and employers that students not only have the experience of being a TA but have thought deeply about the work and have been trained by invested professionals.
Some Labor Supervisors require that new tutors/TAs receive certification before they can be promoted to higher WLS levels and/or department student leadership roles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Once your application packet is put together, submitted by the TLAP director, and approved, you will receive a digital copy and a physical copy of your certificate. The certificate is also listed on each recipient’s labor transcript.
It’s recommended that you try to get all parts of your certification (training, log, observation, philosophy) completed within a year. However, you are welcome to work on your certification for as long as you are employed as a TA/tutor at Berea. A suggested timeline is included in the overview packet.
If you are interested in working in educational settings or settings where you may need to train others, this certificate attests to your experience helping others learn. If you are applying to graduate or professional school, you may be competing for an assistantship to help fund your education. In many situations, assistantships look very similar to TA/tutor work, and having a certificate from an international organization recognizing your work can make you a more desirable applicant.
If you have interests in teaching or tutoring abroad through cultural exchange programs like JET or CIEE—or even just tutoring online to make some extra money—the CRLA ITTP certificate signifies that you have been trained in the fundamentals of tutoring different kinds of learners in addition to having the content-specific knowledge and experience you gained through your TA/tutor position(s) on campus.
Sort of. After your observation, you will receive your observation notes via e-mail. The name of the student you tutor and any identifying information about them will not be recorded in the observation notes. However, because it’s your observation, your name will be listed at the top and all feedback will be written to you.
When you have completed all requirements, your observation notes may be shared with a CRLA representative to ensure that you have met all of the organization’s certification standards and that Berea’s program is certifying eligible tutors correctly. However, the observation will not be posted or published anywhere. You are welcome to share your observation with your Labor Supervisor (or anyone else), but the TLAP Director will not automatically send it to them.