New Career Path as teacher...advice please

cameron1982

Hi

I am currently a service police officer with 9 years in the job. Prior to this I was a trainee management accountant and did my first years AAT. I also have 9 GCSE's A-C grade inc maths, english and science.

Basically, I like building a rapport with people and offering support. This is not something we get to do in the force any longer and therefore this is no longer the job for me.

I am massively interested in the mind....psychology. From the victims perspective as well the offender. But I will ask questions about this career path on another thread.

The other career part of me is considering is teaching maths at secondary level. I get to teach a subject I enjoy and am good at. I get to work in an environment where i have to build a rapport with students. And in this day and age, with all of the children that come from dis-advantaged and abusive homes, I will need to offer additional support and understanding. Sounds good so far....the catch is that I need to carry on working whilst studying. I can do an OU undergraduate degree around my job as i'm only part time. So I am confident I can allocate 25 hours per week to study.

My questions are these:

Once I have completed the degree from home, I need to do a PGCE which involves a placement/classroom based work. Can this be done around my job?

Also the OU offer a degree in pure mathematics....... OR an open degree whereby you do 50% of the modules in your chosen specialist subject (so in my case maths) and the other 50% of the modules made up of other subjects of your choice.....What would be most useful and more sought after by a school?

Many Thanks

claret_mike

http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching

Have you looked on here?

cameron1982

Hi

Yes....it kind of skims over a PGCE but not very in depth.

And i phoned them to ask which degree would be best. They said they could not advise on that as they are impartial!

claret_mike

I cant really offer any other help but another thought maybe arranging to speak to a local secondary headmaster?

Surely they will be able to give you some more specific information.

I know there are varying routes into the profession. I hope someone can answer your questions on here though..

peatles_2

PGCE is a full time course usually so won't fit around another job.

peatles_2

ask on tes.co.uk
times educational supplement forum

dizzyrascal

To teach maths you need at least 50% of your degree to be in maths. In theory the other 50% can be in anything but to get on a PGCE they would normally want you to have another teaching subject say physics or a science.
As you are doing a flexible degree with the OU it might be worth looking at something like IT, but try to make it a core subject that you could teach as a second subject.
There are some flexible PGCE's available but as you are doing a shortage subject you will be entitled to more grants and bursaries than most so it would be worth going full time to complete it. It is about 40 weeks of education, half of that is spent in the classroom on teaching practice.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

You can do a PTLLS and then DTLLS these days and then go for QTS after by mapping your English, Maths and IT. You will need 150 teaching hours to qualify.

This can fit around another job, if you can get the teaching practice hours in.

supersuzie50

I would talk to local heads of comprehensive schools and ask if you can volunteer for a few weeks. Schools have changed. Teaching has changed. The maths teaching is fairly basic in most schools. However, most children know they need a maths qualification.
The maths teaching has changed so much. Teachers do not have the support of society. I loved teaching maths and relating to pupils. There are vast amounts of paperwork.

pavlovs_dog

there are huge changes afoot in the teaching of maths. SAT style tests are being reintroduced for numeracy and literacy, and there is talk of a numeracy GCSE in addition to the existing maths and application of number qualifications.

You have been given sage advice on the degree front. At least 50% should be in maths. Science and I.T. are popular combinations.

You will also need to have spent time in a school (doing observations) before being considered for a PGCE. I personally wouldn't recommend trying to fit a PGCE in around anything else if you are to have the time to get the most out of your placement.

Finally, speak to teachers and do your research. The profession is currently in turmult. Job satisfaction is at an all time low, work life balance is a distant memory, pupils and parents are becoming more challenging. I am increasingly finding that I have less and less time at my disposal to do the thing I am best at, which just so happens to be the reason you give for wanting to enter the profession.

Gers

Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »

You can do a PTLLS and then DTLLS these days and then go for QTS after by mapping your English, Maths and IT. You will need 150 teaching hours to qualify.

This can fit around another job, if you can get the teaching practice hours in.

These are qualifications for the lifelong learning sector which is post-compulsory (FE, 6th Form etc). Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector and they are about to be replaced with new qualifications - again for the post-compulsory age groups. Same for CTLLS and DTLLS (certificate and diploma). Achieving the DTLLS can lead to being a QTLS.

http://cdn.cityandguilds.com/ProductDocuments/Learning/Teaching/6302/Additional_documents/6302_6304_6305_Need_to_know_Feb_v2.pdf