New Career Path as teacher...advice please

Who?_me?

The push at the moment is towards the Schools Direct program which is a salaried post in a school, which I think should lead onto a job. The GTP was the same, but there was no likely hood of being offered a job at the end of the year. You can, or could, do a flexible PGCE through the OU, but you still had to be available to do 10 week blocks at a time.Before you apply to anything, you also need to get some experiance in schools. As others have said, teaching and teacher training are going under changes at the moment and the TES forums are probably the best place to get honnest, coal face information aboug life as a teacher as well as how to get onto training.

Fluff15

You can top up your degree in the subject you want to teach with a Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE), if 50% of your course doens't directly relate to the subject. There are currently plenty of these courses available for Mathematics as it's a subject that everybody has to do, but few want to teach.

On completion of this, you should have enough to apply for a training course. Your options include:

PGCE - a full time course (much like a year at university, including the fees) and classroom based, with some on site teaching. You take exams throughout to gain your QTS (qualified teacher status). This is the most common type of teacher training.

SCITT - which is a school centred training. Again you pay for this like a year at university, with occasional time at the college/uni, and take final year exams to gain your QTS.

Schools Direct - very hard to get on to, but you earn your QTS while training in a school and earning a wage.

To be accepted on to most courses, you need to have spent at least two weeks in a school observing/assisting in the subject and age range within two years of applying for the course. This can be spread out as much as you like for where you can fit it in (like one day a week, every other week). You've just got make sure you can demonstrate what you've learnt. It's also a good idea to try and get experience in lots of types of schools - you may do your experience with a bunch of angels, but when it comes to working in a school properly you might end up with the devils themselves!

Good luck

Funky_Bold_Ribena

Gers wrote: »

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

The UK Department for Education has confirmed that, from 1st April 2012, further education teachers who have been awarded Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status by the Institute for Learning (IfL) and are members of the IfL will be recognised as qualified teachers in schools, without any further induction requirements and without the need to apply to the Teaching Agency for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). This will allow them to be appointed to permanent posts in state maintained schools in England and they will be paid on the qualified teachers’ pay scale. They will continue to be recognised as qualified school teachers providing they remain a member of the IfL.

What does this mean for ISTD teachers?
This is excellent news for ISTD teachers who have completed their Level 5 Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS), or who are in the process of completing either their DTLLS or the ISTD Level 6 Diploma in Dance Pedagogy. This opens up opportunities for teaching in a variety of sectors, both private and public.

http://www.istd.org/news/equivalence-of-qtls-and-qts--breaking-news/

Gers

Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »

The UK Department for Education has confirmed that, from 1st April 2012, further education teachers who have been awarded Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status by the Institute for Learning (IfL) and are members of the IfL will be recognised as qualified teachers in schools, without any further induction requirements and without the need to apply to the Teaching Agency for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). This will allow them to be appointed to permanent posts in state maintained schools in England and they will be paid on the qualified teachers’ pay scale. They will continue to be recognised as qualified school teachers providing they remain a member of the IfL.

What does this mean for ISTD teachers?
This is excellent news for ISTD teachers who have completed their Level 5 Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS), or who are in the process of completing either their DTLLS or the ISTD Level 6 Diploma in Dance Pedagogy. This opens up opportunities for teaching in a variety of sectors, both private and public.

http://www.istd.org/news/equivalence-of-qtls-and-qts--breaking-news/

Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status

QTLS is conferred by the IfL through professional formation. Professional formation is the post-qualification process by which a teacher demonstrates, through the evidence of professional practice, the ability to effectively use the skills and knowledge acquired whilst training to be a teacher and the capacity to meet the occupational standards required of a teacher:

The time taken to complete professional formation and achieve QTLS status will be determined by the individual circumstances of the teacher, for example, length of experience, full-time, part-time, fractional or sessional role and in-service training.

Achieving the DTLLS (as was) is not enough to be granted QTLS.

I may be behind in this news but last I heard the existence of the IfL was in doubt as an FE Guild was being formed - must go and check!!


EDIT: found this on IfL's website:

IfL is going forward and is not being replaced by the new guild. Key functions and funds, currently with the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), will transfer to it between April and August 2013.

National_Careers_Service

It looks as though you have already received some great advice from other posters; the advice about getting some experience in the school environment, speaking to teachers about the joys and frustrations that they experience as teachers; it’s all good stuff!

You ask if you could fit a PGCE around a part time job as a Police Officer. Courses take one year, full-time or two years, part-time to complete and there are small number of flexible courses mainly aimed at those already working as unqualified teachers. A part time course would still involve making a commitment to attending the course on certain days and times so you’d need to be sure that you could leave work on time to be there and work your current hours around this. However, you could search on the Graduate Teacher Training Registry (GTTR) website (www.gttr.ac.uk) for part time/flexible PGCE’s and see what’s available.

The OU offer a PGCE but as I’m sure you are aware you still need to complete sustained periods of teaching in a partner school. I guess you need to think about how you would also fit in academic work/planning for placements and your part time job as a Police Officer. To find out exactly how placements are organised and if other people have managed this in the past it might be an idea to speak to the course tutors for the PGCE at the OU and get their input.

With regards to your questions about modules I think opinions could vary from school to school. One school might prefer someone who has studied more maths and another might welcome the knowledge that you have developed in another subject so that you have an extra subject to teach! As already mentioned speaking to the Teaching Agency on 0370 000 2288 and speaking to some school heads to get their opinions should help you to build a better picture and compare different viewpoints. I guess you might also want to ask yourself if there is another subject that you feel strong enough in to study at degree level and if there is another subject that will motivate you to study? After all you will comitting a number of years to this and want to make sure you enjoy it!

I hope all these posts are helping you. There’s a lot to think about but it’s good to see you’re not on your own! No doubt this will be useful when it comes to making those important career decisions.

Good Luck!

Francesca

Funky_Bold_Ribena

Gers wrote: »

Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status

Achieving the DTLLS (as was) is not enough to be granted QTLS.

'Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) – is the licensed practitioner status to be acquired by those in the full teaching role. Once you complete your DTLLS you can apply for this status, from the Institute for Learning (IfL) who administers the scheme. This status needs to be renewed annually and requires teachers to complete and record up to 30 hours per year of continuing professional development activities. For full details visit http://www.ifl.ac.uk

http://dtlls.co.uk/faq/

I'm not quite sure of your point - mine is that it is an alternative route for someone wanting to get into teaching without going through PGCE.

Who?_me?

No teacher training can have you "part time" in school - you have to go for 10 week or so, full time, blocks. The flexible or part time one means that your training is spread over a longer time than the intensive 1 yr. If you are in school, you are going to be in there by 8am, leave anytime between end of school day (very rare) or more likely about 5 ish. Even if you do a flier after the students have gone, you will still have a few hours work to do at the end of the day, every day, and some at weekends.

katie1812

All teacher training is basically a full-time job. I was always told not to have even a part time job at the weekends because you just don't have the time to do it.

Do you want to do primary or secondary? Psychology is very interesting but if you are wanting to work in a secondary school, your degree must be in the subject you want to teach... I don't know how many psychology secondary school teachers there are?! If it's primary you want to do then you should be fine... My degree was in Education Studies so not 'subject' specific and I was fine for primary teaching.

aeb_2

You could go on a 'Taster Day' (or 2 days) at a teaching school or ring to speak to someone about the best options for you

http://www.education.gov.uk/nationalcollege/docinfo?id=154985&filename=teaching-schools-designations.pdf

asdf1982

do you realise how many years its going to take you to qualify? (in scotland OU is six years not sure how many in england) plus one year PGCE and possibly A levels if you dont have them

A police officer is a good job and stable, I mean you're unlikely to get made redundant. I guess you've probably put a lot of thought into it though. good luck whatever you decide