Teaching Assistant after PGCE?

kingsc0tt91

I'm in the middle of my primary PGCE year right now and to be honest with you, I can't wait for it to end. I really want to see it through to the end though so at the very least I can say that I have the qualification.

I've gone straight from school > A Levels > degree > PGCE. I had only done 3 weeks observations in primary schools before starting the PGCE so I didn't have much experience (although I had gained a TESOL certificate as part of my English with Education degree, where I had to plan and teach English to adults). My lack of experience (compared to others on my course) means I've been chucked into the deep end and I'm not doing as well as I hoped, and my confidence is rock bottom. I'm also struggling with the workload.

At the minute, I'm thinking about applying for teaching assistant jobs after the PGCE has finished. I would enjoy working in a school environment with children, without the extra pressure that a teacher has after school hours. If i do this for a few years, I'm hoping I would gain more experience of working in a school and that my confidence would grow, so maybe in the future I will feel ready to become a teacher.

So I'm wondering if anyone has ever done this, or has any thoughts about how employers might react? Would a school be likely to employ me as a TA even though I have a PGCE? and (in a few years) would a school be happy to employ me as a teacher, even though I had been a TA for a while?

Finally, as I'm considering all my options, if I have a Primary PGCE, is there any way of maybe one day teaching secondary schools? So if I became a TA in secondary schools and gained experience there, would that put me in a good position to get a job there as a teacher?

liney

Technically after a PGCE, providing you pass with QTS (Qualified Teacher Status), you can teach any age and subject. It would be up to you to convince a Head that you can teach that age range despite being trained in another.

ViolaLass

I would worry about passing your QTS in time (5 years?) if you went for TA jobs. Plus it might make it trickier to get teaching jobs as you would have been out of the planning/marking etc loop for a while.

How about teaching part time?

pinkshoes

I did my PGCE last year, and hated it until Easter, when I had a placement at another school with a lovely mentor, and really enjoyed it.

To think I nearly gave up!

I'm absolutely loving my NQT year! So much better than then PGCE.

I'd recommend sticking with it, completing your NQT year, and then deciding what you want to do.

You could always look for a part time job and complete the NQT year over two years. A friend of mine did hers over four years! She did 25% teaching then the rest as a TA.

kingsc0tt91

Thanks for your responses.

I thought that the 5-year limit was no longer in place, or have I got that wrong?

I am fearful that if I start my NQT year straight away, I will still not be ready for it and will end up being part of the two-fifths of teachers that quit the profession within the first few years. Whereas, I would hope that gaining more experience in schools as a TA would make me better prepared for it so that I would actually feel ready and be more likely to stick at it. I am aware that I would need to convince schools to employ me. Any advice on what to say to explain this at an interview?

I know that TA's don't get paid very much so I would not want to do it long term, but I feel that it could be worthwhile if it helps with my teaching career in the long run.

I don't know much about teaching part-time. Are there many part-time opportunities in schools? I will need to look into this as it sounds like a possible solution.

I'm hoping that my second placement is better and maybe everything will fall into place, but I just want to be prepared in case it doesn't improve.

ViolaLass

What do your tutors say? Do they think you're progressing OK?

Mojisola

kingsc0tt91 wrote: »

At the minute, I'm thinking about applying for teaching assistant jobs after the PGCE has finished. I would enjoy working in a school environment with children, without the extra pressure that a teacher has after school hours. If i do this for a few years, I'm hoping I would gain more experience of working in a school and that my confidence would grow, so maybe in the future I will feel ready to become a teacher.

So I'm wondering if anyone has ever done this, or has any thoughts about how employers might react?

I've only got one direct experience of this - a trained teacher applied for a TA job in the school where I was a governor involved with appointing staff. I would have considered her for interview - she gave what I thought were valid reasons for stepping down from a teaching post - but the Head wouldn't touch her. She felt that someone with teacher training wouldn't be able to stick to a TA role and that could result in problems in the classroom.

poet123

Mojisola wrote: »

I've only got one direct experience of this - a trained teacher applied for a TA job in the school where I was a governor involved with appointing staff. I would have considered her for interview - she gave what I thought were valid reasons for stepping down from a teaching post - but the Head wouldn't touch her. She felt that someone with teacher training wouldn't be able to stick to a TA role and that could result in problems in the classroom.

I would agree with that. I am also a governor and I have heard that said too. I also work in a college, sometimes I work with a support assistant who also has QTS and she does find it hard to pull back and this does annoy some of the staff she works with who feel she sometimes over steps her authority.

I would say grit your teeth and stick it out and if possible get your NQT year done asap. You may not find a permanent job straight away but what you could do is sign on with an agency and do TA/Cover Supervisor work whilst you are applying for jobs. This will give you experience which will aid your applications and give you classroom confidence which only comes with on the job experience.

The PGCE is a hard course and coming straight on top of your degree you feel like it will never end, but it will.:D Good luck.

Mojisola

kingsc0tt91 wrote: »

I'm in the middle of my primary PGCE year right now and to be honest with you, I can't wait for it to end. I really want to see it through to the end though so at the very least I can say that I have the qualification.

I've gone straight from school > A Levels > degree > PGCE.

I got to that stage at one point before qualifying. I was ready to throw it all in, not just the work but I was starting to question the way "education" was being delivered - but my wise Grandfather said "Stick it out and get your degree and then you can say 'Bu**er' to the lot of them and go your own way". The qualification won't be wasted even if you don't end up teaching."

paulineb_2

liney wrote: »

Technically after a PGCE, providing you pass with QTS (Qualified Teacher Status), you can teach any age and subject. It would be up to you to convince a Head that you can teach that age range despite being trained in another.

My mum had to do a conversion course to allow her to teach in primary schools after having 15 years experience of working in secondary.

Surely if you are specifically trained as teaching one subject at secondary school level, its not easy to cross over, I know people who do supply work in secondary can be put in any department, but someone who has a PGCE in primary might struggle to teach as a physics teacher in a secondary school. What Im trying to say is that most secondary school teachers I know are trained in one or a few subjects. If I had done teacher training at secondary school level with the degree I did it would have allowed me to teach economics, modern studies and accounting, as that was what my degree was in, I certainly couldn't have taught anything else.

poet123

At Secondary level if you have another specialism as part of your degree (but not the one you "majored" in, to use an Americanism) you could teach that or if you have underlying knowledge in another area you could teach in that area. I think the latter would only be acceptable for short periods. For example, my son teaches English, but for a short time taught PE because he plays sport at a high level, and he could cover the written aspects of the coursework. he has also taught Sex Ed, and PSD.

Primary teaching is very different though, and it would be hard to teach cross curricular when you have been subject specific.

A Secondary PGCE didn't qualify you to teach Primary, but that could possibly have changed because I know that the PGCE that qualifies you to teach in colleges can now be adapted to Secondary level teaching according to one of my colleagues.