Teaching

[Gwadien]

So, as a career, I want to get into teaching, not sure yet, which one - Primary or Secondary, or even college teaching, I'm currently at College, so I have a while to decide but now would be the best time to start to decide, as there's a few teachers out there, I was wondering if I could get some human advice, not some Government orientated website that tells you what they want..

What's the best way to get into teaching - what's the best degrees to take at Uni etc?
What's the benefit/faults of teaching at different levels?
And your own stories of teaching - general hints and tips

 

[Ch3tan]

Not a teacher; but I have lots of friends that are. One teaches GSCE level, all the rest (6 more) teach primary or infant level.

It comes down to how specialised you want to be, at a higher level you'll be focusing on one subject. Also, can you deal with teenagers?

 

[Gwadien]

Not a teacher; but I have lots of friends that are. One teaches GSCE level, all the rest (6 more) teach primary or infant level.

It comes down to how specialised you want to be, at a higher level you'll be focusing on one subject. Also, can you deal with teenagers?

I hear you, I would like to be GCSE level, but that would specialise in one thing, whereas primary doesn't, but I wanna make a difference, and primary doesn't really in my opinion, if you wanna make a huge difference you wanna teach at GCSE, but that could get boring, with the single subject, year in, year out.. but that's why I'm asking for advice.. - is it really boring?

And yeah, I can deal with teenagers as a teenager atm, I can deal with all groups of society pretty much, I have such a mixed bag of friends, and can get on with anyone, I know this could be a disadvantage, but I think if you get their trust, treat them like adults, and they'll respect you.

 

[Ch3tan]

I disagree, you can have far more of an impact on kids at primary school level. Forget about academic skills for a moment; you can stop them being little shits and send them off into secondary school with the right mind-set.

 

[Gwadien]

I disagree, you can have far more of an impact on kids at primary school level. Forget about academic skills for a moment; you can stop them being little shits and send them off into secondary school with the right mind-set.

Well yeah, but anyone could teach kids to stop being little shits... but whereas if you're teaching a academic subject, sure, it's all good you having the knowledge, but how can you transfer that knowledge to a bunch of kids that will lose attention if the lesson is boring? - I've had teachers that just stand infront of a class room telling them to write stuff down - that doesn't help, what so ever, that's why I want to get into teaching mainly, to change things, because I know from my own experiences that I/We couldn't learn through that kinda way...

 

[georgie]

Well yeah, but anyone could teach kids to stop being little shits...

Then why are there so many of the fuckers around?

 

[Gwadien]

Then why are there so many of the fuckers around?

Because if the parents are fuckers, the kids will be fuckers - education can only go so far.

 

[Cerb]

PM Killarien. He's a teacher and it seems a good one at that. I bet he would be happy to give you advice too.

 

[Killswitch]

My parents were both teachers and most of their circle of friends were teachers. I don't know one person who teaches (or has ever taught) who hasn't told me they regretted it and that they'd recommend I went on the dole if teaching was my only other option.

That cheery pep-talk out of the way, I'd be tempted to look at doing a degree in something moderately useful (Computer Science, Maths, English) and then doing a PGCE (presuming this is England we're talking about).

Unless you want to teach at degree-level, your education isn't going to be the most important thing. I guess the single best advice I could give would be to teach a subject you are passionate about. If you're just going through the motions, the kids will pick up on it and basically it will be hell. If you love computers, do a computer science degree and then teach computing (or maths and computing). Your experiences and enthusiasm will be what make the kids sit up and pay attention.

At younger ages, it's harder. Nothing you will be teaching will be of interest to you, so you have to like children. My mother has an English degree and taught Reception (4/5/6 year olds) for 30 years or so. Beyond the basic literacy/numeracy things, it's about teaching children to exist/work/learn in an environment with authority figures and other children. In ways, it's probably more like social work and childcare than education per se.

 

[Edmond]

Russell is also a teacher, a proper one and everything........no really, she is,

True story

 

[Job]

Wifes a mentor at a girls school, she says she wouldn't be a teacher for a gold clock, says they spend all day shouting at the kids....you know, because you can't whack the little shits into submission any more.

 

[Ezteq]

Russell is also a teacher, a proper one and everything........no really, she is,

True story

haha I was going to say that!!


...true story!

 

[kiliarien]

PM Killarien. He's a teacher and it seems a good one at that. I bet he would be happy to give you advice too.

Very kind Cerb, probably too kind, but yes I am one.

I disagree, you can have far more of an impact on kids at primary school level. Forget about academic skills for a moment; you can stop them being little shits and send them off into secondary school with the right mind-set.

Studies show generally not (and that's from european and US studies) - you can contribute but the overriding factor is parenting. I have plenty of horrible parenting stories that don't per se count as abuse but are so bad for their kids.

Russell is also a teacher, a proper one and everything........no really, she is,

True story

Primary aren't you Russell? Sod all the small 'uns! You're a trooper for nose wiping etc, I can't stick year 7's!!

My background: I'm a secondary teacher, have been for 10 years, last 3 years as head of department before resigning to live in Wales with the wife and have been working teaching a range of subjects in an independent school. My experiences are secondary based, PM me if you want them so I don't bore people more than normal.

If you want ways in you have 3 routes:

B.Ed. which teaches the course over 3 or 4 years (most Uni's do 3, some do 4.) They give you quite of bit of school practice over the course, but it is more designed towards primary end because you get a limited amount of subject knowledge in any one particular area.

PGCE which means you do a BA/BSc first, then do an intensive year course in teacher training. The benefit is that you get specific subject knowledge over the degree and then cut your teeth in school practice. I see plenty of beenfits about this route because a) you already have your degree so are employable in other sectors b) you'll know in the first few months if it's what you want and can then leave c) it gives you contrasting practices in different schools which makes you able to get different school jobs d) it gives you that subject knowledge that you seem to want Gwad. You can still get a student loan doing this just like a B.Ed.

GTP which means you do a degree, then start in a school and learn over a year or two. You get most of the teaching experience at one school who are paying you, but then they have a job for you at the end. And of course you do get paid a proper wage through the school year, which is a massive bonus sustainability wise.

Benefits of teaching? I'd be lying if 13 weeks off a year fully paid isn't a nice thing, but you do make up for it with quite a heavy workload term time and don't think you might not do extra work in those 13 weeks! Also, pay is still good for this profession:

Pay Scales 2008 - 2011 | NUT : National Union of Teachers - The largest fully qualified primary and secondary education union

Guaranteed over £1000 rise a year for 6 years? Can't be bad. Unless there's renegotiation (which there might be, who knows.)

The real cheesy bit - yes I love teaching kids; they are interesting, very often funny, and for me more importantly; every day is different. And that makes the job for me. Having a sense of humour is always helpful.

Disadvantages of teaching? There are days kids are naughty, thankless and down right exasperating, but keep the faith and the goods massivley outweigh the bads. Older teachers in particualr tend to get VERY jaded because the system is very different - sometimes it's like being a striker and the govt and parents constanaly move the goalposts then say "OMFG, WHY DIDN'T YOU SCORE????" when you miss the latest half-arsed targets they come up with.

I've always enjoyed it - a job it is, a career yes; I wouldn't go as crazy as those positive vibe things where 'it's such a privelege' etc but it is also a vocation. I've enjoyed and I live well off it whilst also having lots of funny and crazy stories to tell people, and as I said, never boring! PM if you have any more questions and I hope this helps.

 

[Gwadien]

What Kiliarien said, I'm not gonna quote it, because it's far too much

Yeah, it did help alot thanks - All the different qualitifications, why the fuck can't they make one and call it 'teaching' done!

Anyway, i'll have to look into those further, because my ideal plan was to go travelling during University, and then teach in the UK for 7-8 years, then move abroad, and come back in a few years, as I've heard these inclusive jobs are pretty nifty, and of course, who doesn't want to see the world? - hmm, maybe I'm asking on the wrong forum here, haha

But yeah, I don't expect you to advise me into which path to go to, which would suit me the most, as it would probably be time consuming, and I'm probably better off looking myself, but the train, teach and get paid seems the best solution, to be honest... just wonder how effective it is, I'm not a brilliant A*+ academic student, so I wouldn't want to know the academic side of teaching, Oh yeah, I know how to teach a kid, but never have done, if you catch my drift..

Thanks for all your help Kiliarien

 

[kiliarien]

But yeah, I don't expect you to advise me into which path to go to, which would suit me the most, as it would probably be time consuming, and I'm probably better off looking myself, but the train, teach and get paid seems the best solution, to be honest... just wonder how effective it is, I'm not a brilliant A*+ academic student, so I wouldn't want to know the academic side of teaching, Oh yeah, I know how to teach a kid, but never have done, if you catch my drift..

Thanks for all your help Kiliarien

Happy to help, though whichever path you take you need a degree (not saying you're stupid or anything, and I wasn't an A+ student by any means ) and you ARE stuck with learning the academic side of teaching; all of them require you to understand and apply the theories of teaching and learning. They just do it in different ways. The govt requires it I'm afraid, even though I see natural teachers who don't have the qualifications

The GTP route is the best for pay, but you have to find a school who are willing to take you on and train you - and they are generally looking for you to stay on so they see some time from you teaching for their investment. With your travelling plans (which sound cool) a PGCE is better course of action. Get your QTS here in Britain and the world's your lobster.