I want to work in ..... teaching

 

Also see our pages on:

Routes into Teaching:schoolboy

PGCE

School Direct

It is a new scheme where schools select and recruit trainees who are able to gain Qualified Teacher Status (some also award the PGCE).  The expectation is that once trained, you will work at that school – although there is no absolute guarantee of employment.  www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/teacher-training-options/schooldirect/?keywords=direct+schools

iTeach

iTeach www.iteach.ac.uk iTeach is an online 20-month PGCE Programme for physics, chemistry and maths developed by Canterbury Christ Church University and participants are fully funded by the Training and Development Agency for Schools. It enables students to live at home and to study online. Developed to providing a more accessible path to becoming a fully qualified teacher, many iTeach students are career changers with existing work and family commitments. It leads to a PGCE with Qualified Teacher Status. Next start date October 2010, 14-24 weeks of classroom teaching practice including one week in primary school. Course delivered online and through live virtual tutorials.

Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP).

Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP). This allows graduates to gain Qualified Teacher Status while working in a school. On the GTP scheme, you get paid a training salary of about £15,000 whilst you are training. It's a good scheme, but you need quite a lot of confidence as you spend all your time in the one school. It often suits mature students. It can be more difficult to teach abroad in some countries afterwards: the GTP is not recognised in Australia.
The Teaching Agency GTP page is at http://bit.ly/9oAtYn

CHRIST CHURCH UNIVERSITY GTP PROCEDURE FOR 2011 ENTRY. The central application portal of the Teahing Agency will not be operating this year. All trainees must therefore download the Trainee Application form. Please note all timelines remain unchanged.

Primary trainee applications Primary trainee applicants must complete the Primary Trainee Application Form and RETURN to the GRTP Office NO LATER than 7th January 2011. Late applications cannot be accepted. Primary trainee applicants will be short listed and interviewed by the University and THEN provided with a list of schools that have been selected to deliver employment based initial teacher training. Successfully shortlisted primary applicants will be invited to the university interviews, which are being held in early February 2011. Primary schools will then complete their own interviews but only those people who have successfully completed their university interview are eligible to be interviewed and selected by Primary Schools.

Secondary trainee applications. Secondary trainee applicants for the GTP will be open until 30th May 2011 or until all funded places have been filled. Once a secondary applicant has completed the Trainee Application Form|, they should send it to one of the schools who have been allocated a training place. Alternatively, secondary applicants may approach a secondary school to enquire whether they would be interested in the GRTP. Only schools who have been allocated places are eligible (see above for school application process). The full list of Secondary Schools will be published on this website by 1st February 2011. Having made a selection, Secondary Schools return their Forms to the GRTP Administration office, and a separate University interview is held before any place on the Programme is confirmed. These interviews will be held as soon as we receive the necessary paperwork from schools.

With the cutbacks in funding for PGCEs (except for science,maths IT and Languages), the GTP route to becoming a teacher  is becoming more attractive.
 
A number of schools in Kent are currently advertising Graduate Teacher Programmes. Subject areas include Modern Foreign Languages as well as English, Maths, Science and Design Technology.

For a list of some of these schools see the KM Jobs website http://bit.ly/egAfGb or search under "GTP" in the "Post Types" on www.kent-teach.com

Teach First

TeachFirst www.teachfirst.org.uk High fliers scheme. Two years paid teaching experience in London plus management training that allows you to develop the skills for a long-term career in business as well as education – the choice is up to you.  The Teach First Scheme will be expanding in future.

Early Years Professionals.

These work with children below 5 years and are paid £15,000 - 26,000 p.a. The Government is aiming to have at least one EYP in all 20,000 full time day centres by 2015. The role is open to graduates of any degree discipline although early years, psychology, social sciences, child-related or education degrees may be preferred. It is a managerial/advisory role rather than 'hands on' once basic experience has been obtained. Fully funded training places are available (tuition fees & bursary), very similar to a PGCE. See www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/eyps

Christ Church University will be delivering a New Leaders in Early Years Programme at Medway starting in September 2011. You will gain an MA Early Years, Early Years Professional status and leadership and management skills and experience. Tuition fees are covered and you receive a bursary in your first year, plus income from your paid employment as an early years professional in your second year. See www.newleaders.org.uk for details.

Teaching Assistant or Classroom Assistant

 

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. teach

Tuition Fees

Proposals for funding from 2012 onwards

PGCE Bursaries for 2012:

Subject First class degree 2:1 degree 2:2 degree
  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Maths
  • Modern Foreign Languages
 £20,000 £15,000 £12,000
  • Primary
  • Art
  • Design and Technology
  • Drama
  • Economics
  • Engineering
  • English
  • Geography
  • History
  • ICT
  • Music
  • Biology
  • PE
  • RE
 £,9000 5,000 -
  • General science
  • Business studies
  • Health and social care
  • Psychology
  • Citizenship
  • Leisure and Tourism
  • Media Studies
 - - -

 

 

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.

Once you have qualified teacher status, you are qualified as a teacher, not as a subject specialist, so you may also be able to teach lessons to younger pupils in a subject you studied at A Level or as a subsidiary subject in your degree. This flexibility could increase your employability when applying for jobs.

General Information about teaching

Playing calming music can help motivate students and improve concentration and study skills. Research at the London Institute of Education found that children doing memory tests whilst listening to classical music performed better than children performing the tests in silence or listening to jazz.

They also found that playing calming music such as Bach and Pachelbel's Cannon to disturbed children helped them achieve higher scores in maths tests

Professional bodies

National Curriculum

Vacancy sources

Recruitment agencies

Independent Schools and alternative education

Further and Higher Education

For 2011 Post-16 PGCE courses bursaries are available “up to a maximum of” £5,000 for Maths, Skills for Life – Numeracy & Literacy, Science, Engineering; Technology. Bursaries are not an entitlement and resource allocated to the scheme is limited. Therefore the number of bursaries available is limited. Each institution will only allocate Bursary funds to the amount it has been allocated by HEFCE for the year.”  For detailed subject breakdowns and a list of the institutions which have been allocated funds see www.lluk.org/advice/want-to-teach-in-the-lifelong-learning-sector/financial-information  

Subject to approval by parliament, from April 2012 schools will be able to employ, as qualified teachers, holders of qualified teacher learning and skills (QTLS) status. QTLS is the professional status for teachers in further education. Head teachers will have the freedom to employ the qualified teacher that best meets the requirements of the job, regardless of whether their background is in schools or further 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: You can work as a lecturer in Further/ Adult education without a teaching qualification but you normally have to get one within a year as a condition of your employment. The qualifications are PTLLS (Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector) CTLLS (Certificate in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector) and DTLLS ( Diploma in teaching in the LLS). These lead to either Associate Teacher Status Lifelong Learning Sector (ATLS) or Qualified Teacher Lifelong Learning Sector (QTLS). The full teaching role including planning and developing courses of study and assessing students' progress would require the Diploma qualification with QTLS. See The Lifelong Learning website www.lluk.org/documents/ai_guidance_aug07_version3(1).pdf
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:

 

Last fully updated 2011