Are you thinking of now re-training as a teacher?

starsinmycrown

i was thinking of being a teacher, but i didn't want to because of the working hours and stress levels. i LOVE working with teenagers- i've worked for four years with those with behavioural problems/young offenders and i LOVE em- its the "teaching" bit i'm not too enthused about, hence, thats why i didn't. but... having said that, if it were a six month thing, i'd be more likely to give it a go.

i think the problem in a lot of cases is that students are too young to teach IMO. 22 is too young to be in charge of a load of sometimes 18 year olds. I think students should have to work for at least six months as a TA or whatever, before deciding if teaching is for them. The rose tinted glasses soon come off the first time you get to "f** yourself"... or you spend 20 minutes trying to get somebody to take their hood down...

twinklelittlestar

I am currently facing redundancy at work (I have worked in Marketing for 14 years), and have often thought about going into teaching. Does anyone know what the process is for getting into teaching in primary schools? I would particularly like to work with this age group. I did some voluntary work at my little boy's school doing reading with the children whilst on maternity leave last year and I loved it. I have equivalant of degree plus post grad in management so I am hoping that would be sufficient to get me into the training

princesslaura

Twinklelittlestar, you should be able to go straight in to do a PGCE, however at some universities getting a place is quite competative. I qualified in 2006 and was lucky to get a full time teaching post in the September, some people that completed my course have yet to get a teaching position. Depending on the area you live in teaching jobs are in very high demand, one of the jobs I applied for had 400 applicants, the average was over 100. It often helps if you have something extra, e.g. playing the piano, languages, etc. as many schools are short on people with these skills.

Miss_Behaving

I am nearing the end of my degree and was seriously considering training to teach in primary schools. I have taken a job as a teaching assistant at a local primary school to see what it's like actually working in a school. It has been a real eye-opener and I seriously recommend that anyone seriously considering teaching works in a school first.

Teacher2301

You are correct TheGiggslady, where is the motivation? But the PGCE is only 9 months - September to June and most courses spend about 70% of that time in school, the rest is study and research. I suspect that this 6 month course will begin in january and end in June/July and be more intensive than a PGCE.

Good luck with the degree and PGCE and rest assured that this is a propping up exercise by a labour government, I've seen nothing from the training organisations abouot how exactly it will be organised and it may well take a few years to filter down from policy makers to schools...

shelene

Hi,

I currently am a qualified children's nurse and have a post graduate degree in public health which i have trained very hard to complete. I also have worked for the NHS and local authority for last 5 yrs.

I have delivered sex and relationship education in various school settings and catered for varied learning abilities and styles previously and really enjoyed it, i have also worked as a school nurse (modern type, public health etc).
I always have had in the back of my mind teaching within schools or colleges and already deliver training sessions to other professionals around my remit - however paying for a year course really puts me off, when i have a family and a good job already with a good salary.

However i do feel i would contribute well and engage the pupils well, hence the 6 month course may at some point interest me. But it would in fact be a drop in salary for me to become a newly qualified teacher.

Just my view point, it depends individually what qualifications, commitement and experience each person has

Oldernotwiser

twinklelittlestar wrote: »

I am currently facing redundancy at work (I have worked in Marketing for 14 years), and have often thought about going into teaching. Does anyone know what the process is for getting into teaching in primary schools? I would particularly like to work with this age group. I did some voluntary work at my little boy's school doing reading with the children whilst on maternity leave last year and I loved it. I have equivalant of degree plus post grad in management so I am hoping that would be sufficient to get me into the training

For primary school teaching you normally need a degree which has at least 50% content of a National Curriculum subject before you can be accepted on a PGCE. Primary school teaching is very competitive and there are no shortages in this area.

Teacher2301

Oldernotwiser is correct - primary is very competitive but many universities are trying to get trainees for early learning and younger years - more pre-school than primary but none-the-less a professional qualification but as I teach secondary I'm no expert on the courses but I know Bath Spa University is actively advertising for spaces.

poet123

Well,I teach in FE and I love it,the teaching aspect that is,not the paperwork side of it though,and the hoops we have to jump through. There are days when it all gets too much,but most days I enjoy being involved in the process and am pleased I took this path.

Teacher2301

Paper is a big part of the training as a teacher - more so because you need lots of evidence for your qualification - it's a tough route to chose and anyone thinking of training as a secondary school teacher in the present climate ought to think carefully about their reasons for changing profession - it's not as easy as many people think it is - maybe 20 years ago but not now.