I want to work in ..... teaching

 

Also see our pages on:

Routes into Teaching:

 

PROFILE: Teacher - Primary Schools

INVOLVES: Teaching children between the ages of 4 & 11 years. Designing materials for the National Curriculum. Planning & preparing classes. Keeping records. Setting & administering tests. Liaising with parents & other staff. Extra-curricular activities (e.g. sports, music, drama, visits).
EMPLOYERS: local education authorities, independent schools, alternative education schools (e.g. Steiner, Montessori).
RELATED JOBS: secondary school teacher, youth & community worker, social worker, fe teacher, special education teacher, educational psychologist.
SATISFACTIONS: Being with lively young people. Seeing & contributing to their growth & maturation. Working with parents for the benefit of their children.
NEGATIVES: Can be stressful with pressure to meet deadlines. Lots of paperwork. Constant change (of the curriculum/exam syllabi/senior staff) produces on-going work. Lack of support from some parents over discipline issues. Lack of funding. Interference from outside agencies. Working & being located in one room which functions as classroom, storeroom, office & thoroughfare.
SKILLS: written & spoken communication, leading, organising, listening,
ADVANCEMENT: In-charge of either a curriculum area (e.g. Science) or a pastoral area (e.g. special needs) - Senior Teacher - Deputy Head - Head teacher.
DEGREE: Either a Primary Education degree or a first degree of any discipline, but preferably one which can be easily shown as relevant to the National Curriculum.
POSTGRADUATE STUDY: Unless 1st degree is in Education you will need Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). This can be obtained by studying the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in Primary teaching or other routes. (See Routes into Teaching above)
VACANCY SOURCES: Times Educational Supplement, The Guardian (Tuesday), local press, vacancies advertised by Education Authorities.
TIPS: There is no point going into teaching unless you genuinely like children of your chosen age group, & it helps if you have a real enthusiasm for your subject. Go & look at a school to get a flavour of what teaching a broad ability of students is like. Schools like you to be able to help with extra-curricular activities e.g. helping with school plays, sports fixtures, clubs etc.

Funding for PGCE students.

New postgraduate teacher training bursary rates for academic year 2010/11

Tuition Fees

Getting Teaching Experience

It's very important to get some experience in a school in the age range you wish to teach before you apply, both to make sure teaching is right for you and also to help you prepare for interview questions about your experience of teaching. A day or two may be sufficient for shortage subjects such as secondary mathematics or science, whereas you may need a few weeks for primary, history and other competitive areas (not necessarily in one block: it could be one afternoon per week over several terms).

PROFILE: Teacher - Secondary Schools

INVOLVES: planning & delivering schemes of work (in conjunction with others); classroom teaching; development of assessment & support material; assessment of work, extra curricular activities.
EMPLOYERS: Local Education Authorities, grant maintained schools, independent schools, alternative education schools (e.g. Steiner, Montessori).
RELATED JOBS: primary school teacher, youth & community worker, school careers adviser, social worker, FE teacher, special education teacher, educational psychologist.
SATISFACTIONS: Trust & respect of pupils, leading to a good working environment. Enabling students to enjoy studying, as well as achieving good results. Team work within department producing good working relationships. Seeing pupil development, both social & academic. Long holidays.
NEGATIVES Can be stressful with pressure to meet deadlines. Lots of paperwork. Constant change (of the curriculum/exam syllabi/senior staff) produces on-going work. Lack of support from some parents over discipline issues. Lack of funding. Interference from outside agencies.
SKILLS: written & spoken communication, leading, organising, listening,
ADVANCEMENT: Typically: Class teacher - Head of Department - Head of Faculty/Head of Year - Head of Section of school - Deputy Head - Head teacher
DEGREE: Either a teaching first degree or a first degree followed by a PGCE. You need to show that your subject shows relevance to the National Curriculum. You will need Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). This can be obtained by studying the Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in Secondary Education, the GTP scheme etc. (See Routes into Teaching above)
VACANCY SOURCES: Times Educational Supplement, The Guardian (Tuesday), local press, vacancies advertised by Education Authorities.
TIPS: Don't enter teaching unless you genuinely like children & it helps if you have a real enthusiasm for your subject. Go & look at a school to get an idea of what teaching is like. Schools like you to be able to help with extra-curricular activities e.g. helping with school plays, sports, clubs etc. You also need a good degree & inter-personal skills, enthusiasm, maturity & idealism.

Applications and Interviews

Choosing Referees for your PGCE Application

See the GTTR page on this www.gttr.ac.uk/students/howtoapply/yourreferences This is what they say:

Who should be your principal referee?

If you are at university or finished your studies in the last five years, your principal referee should ideally be a tutor (or lecturer) who can comment on your academic achievements and your personal qualities. If you cannot obtain a reference from a university or college tutor, your principal referee should be a responsible person who knows you well enough to write with authority about you, for example, an employer or a training officer. Your referee should be able to comment in detail about your suitability for your chosen PGCE courses and any training or study you have done recently.

Who should be your second referee?

Your second referee must be a responsible person who knows you, and who can provide a character reference for you and comment on your suitability for teaching (ideally a headmaster or teacher who has supervised your work experience in a school). You do not need to ask your second referee to provide a reference on your application. Training providers will contact your second referee directly if they want a second reference.

General Information about teaching

Professional bodies

National Curriculum

Vacancy sources

Recruitment agencies

Independent Schools and alternative education

Further and Higher Education

 

PROFILE: Lecturer in Further Education

INVOLVES: Teaching/managing activities to students whose age range may be 16 -80 full-time or part-time. Disciplines are across the whole education/training spectrum. Designing courses for specific employers. Some consultancy work is undertaken.
EMPLOYERS: FE Colleges are independent corporations. There are approximately 450 of them in England & Wales. Jobs are almost invariably advertised in the Times Educational Supplement, as well as local newspapers.
RELATED JOBS: Further Education lies somewhere between school teaching & commercial training, if anything, slightly closer to the latter. Adult Education Lecturer. Teacher of English as a Foreign Language.
SATISFACTIONS: Personal contact with large numbers of different people (more or less adult), most of whom are well-motivated, intelligent, interested & interesting. As a huge range of courses are offered - life is never dull!
NEGATIVES: Salaries are not particularly high, but there are opportunities for outside consultancy. Many graduate opportunities are offered on fixed/short-term contracts. Many jobs are part-time meaning you only work a limited number of hours.
SKILLS: written & spoken communication, organising.
ADVANCEMENT: A graduate would be employed as a lecturer. The first promotional step might be in leading a course team, then managing a section, managing a department etc. The number of teaching hours per year is inversely proportional to the management responsibilities. A lecturer might do 800 teaching hours, whereas a Head of Department might do 80.
DEGREE: Applicants should have a degree in their teaching area.
POSTGRADUATE STUDY: An FE Teaching Certificate is recommended, but many colleges have internal teacher training for unqualified entrants.
VACANCY SOURCES: Times Educational Supplement, The Guardian, local press.
TIPS: It's useful to get some part-time lecturing experience. Industrial experience is also valuable. Candidates with a Master's degree will be at an advantage.
See www.prospects.ac.uk/links/felecture for a detailed job description

 

PROFILE: Lecturer in Higher Education

INVOLVES: Administration, teaching, marking, research, writing for publication, attending conferences.
EMPLOYERS: Universities & Higher Education Colleges
RELATED JOBS: lecturer in Further Education & technical colleges, teaching in secondary schools.
SATISFACTIONS: Imparting information & interest to others; following personal subject interest through research.
NEGATIVES: Work overload, the pressure to publish.
SKILLS: written & spoken communication, leading, analysing, investigating,
ADVANCEMENT: PhD - lecturer - senior lecturer etc.
DEGREE: Good Honours degree & PhD in your subject.
POSTGRADUATE STUDY: PhD required.
VACANCY SOURCES: Times Higher Education Supplement. The Guardian - Tuesdays
TIPS: Get a PhD. & develop a track record in research. Get advice from academic staff in your department. Most postdocs are likely to spend several years on temporary contracts before obtaining a permanent post. While some postgraduates will obtain a position as a lecturer in a higher education institution immediately after completing their PhD, this is increasingly rare. More typically they will start out as a Teaching Assistant/Research Assistant/Research Fellow. These will generally be temporary contracts lasting one, two or three years and may lead on to a permanent academic post, although there is no guarantee of this. Some of these posts will be abroad and the PhD market is very much an international one with postdocs. moving between countries.
See www.prospects.ac.uk/links/helecture for a detailed job description

Teaching specific subjects:

 

Updated June 2009