open university teaching routes

Babbler

hi, i know this isnt strictly to do with moneysaving but in the long run for me it is, im currently on a foundation degree in childhood studies, have been doing this part time for two years,(have done half the course) but am going to switch to open university.

when i spoke to them they suggested switching to a BA/BSC open degree as i want to teach so this would allow me to choose and study towards a specialist subject. just wandering if there is any one out there who has been in a similar situation/studied with the ou to get degree for teaching, and can advise me on some of the best units to take.

what also concerns me is that i would be starting core subjects i.e maths english science at level 2 as i have completed enough level one credits already, so im concerned that i wont understand as for most of these subjects i havent done anything since school 9 years ago

CIS

With the OU, theres nothing stopping you doing some level one courses, it doesn't matter that you've already studied level 1 courses elsewhere. (would affect what you could count towards a degree)

OU funding comes from two , seperate sources.
30points or more and the couse is paid in government grants
Under 30points and the OU pay the grant themselves

Each type of grant is completely seperate and you can take advantage of both and max out on government and OU funding.

The OU funding will cover you for short courses which should be able to re-build any knowledge you had, whereas government funding is mainly for level 2 and above.

bubble96

thanks for that. i guess what i mean is i dont want to do more level one courses as it would mean those ive done are wasted as you can only have a certain number of points from level one courses. i dont want the course to take any longer than it has to either.
(should have mentioned incase any one is confused by my two names, the other is my boyfriends, he posted this for me as i wasnt able to use a computer!)

saintstreaky

Hi Babbler/bubble/whoever!

Do you want to teach primary or secondary?

If you want to teach secondary you need to do at least half your courses (i.e. 180 credits) in (or very closely related to) the subject you want to teach.

Which kind of courses do you want to do - and at how high a level did you study those at school? For example, if you got good A-levels in maths/physics it's not impossible you could jump in at L2 physics with a bit of revision beforehand - I switched to science at L2 having done K100 Health & Social Care and a bit of maths at L1, but I'd done A-Levels in maths/physics.

The more you can tell us about your circumstances/interests/academic background the more we can help!

bubble96

hi, i want to teach primary,

i didnt do a'levels in any core subjects. i left school 9 years ago and really havent done anything to do with maths and english since, though we did do some this year on the foundation degree which refreshed my memory and helped me get to grips with terminology. i did one year of an access course and studied biology, which i loved. as a primary teacher you are expected to have a good all round knowledge so it is likely that i would be best off doing a bit of everything. i am likely to specialise in science though as it is still best to have a specialist subject and this is the one i enjoy/understand the most. what i was wandering was if anyone has any experience of these subjects and can tell me which might be the best option and whether i am likely to find maths and english difficult. i have been doing well at uni so far - i have got 60% and over on almost all essays, but the maths concerns me, i was always quite good at it and i enjoy doing it, so will my own revision and following their preperation guidelines/texts be enough....

saintstreaky

If you're reasonably confident in biology to the level of the introductory L1 course (S103) - and you might well be with your access course, as S103 covers so many subjects - you might be able to jump in at L2. Try and get hold of a copy of S103 and the courses you're interested in (ask your Regional Centre).

There are some L2 courses (Geology is one) that don't really require any prior subject knowledge, just study skills.

Most science courses have an 'Are you ready for...' booklet to assess yourself - go to the Science Faculty's website.

If you're not confident on the maths front, you could try S151 'Maths for Science', a 10 point course. This is probably sufficient for biology, but not for e.g. physics.

Do you have any particular reason to think your English wouldn't be good enough? If you've done well in other subjects you should be fine.