Teaching. Anyone on here know anything about it?

[RobinJI]

Hi guys, this place has been a help to me before in this sort of thing, so I figured this might be worth asking here. I was just wondering if there's many people on here who are either teachers or know people who are? As I'm considering a career change into teaching and I'd like to make sure I've got it all clear in my head before going too far with it. Plus writing this all out will probably help me in its self!

I've always quite liked the idea of teaching. The way I see it, it's something that could well be a satisfying lifelong career with decent benefits, reasonable pay and quite a lot in terms of flexibility of location and job security, as well as looking good on a CV should I decide to go back into industry. It should also help a few character flaws of mine which I'd like to improve on.

I finished my degree last year (BSc in Motorsport Technology) so from what I've read it looks like my best bet would be to get enrolled for a PGCE course, which seems to be university based, but with a lot of time spent in a range of local(ish) schools. It sounds like to get onto this I'll have to take a QTS skills test. Then at the end of this I'll be able to start out for real, as a qualified teacher? It seems suspiciously short (although I've been warned it's pretty full-on) so I'm a bit cautious that I may have left out something?

Finances are also a potential issue, unfortunately I'm not really able to live at home too much longer (nor do I particularly want to), so if I go for it I'm going to have to be supporting my self through the training, which I could see being tricky without much in the way of savings. That said, I'm pretty frugal, and the financial support during the training appears to be mostly based on your degree grade, and as I'm lucky enough to have a first class BSc, hopefully it'd be manageable. I'd likely be living in a fairly cheap place shared with a mate, so my overheads would be quite low with any luck. Does doing the PGCE course without external financial support sound achievable to anyone in the know? Or will external support/a part time job be essential?

Then there's whether I'd actually get on with the job. I'll happily admit (and anyone who knows me will back-up) that my personality's quite odd, and a little awkward, but I don't think it'd be too much of a hindrance as when I get into things and especially if I'm confident of the position I'm coming from I'm pretty switched on and loose most of the awkwardness, as well as being pretty good at coming up with answers to questions on the spot. I've always done well in exams, as I respond well to that sort of test of knowledge. I'm good with lateral thinking, which I'd hope could help me come up with ways of getting my point across.

I'd be aiming to teach Physics at School level to start with, but moving onto A-levels as well later I expect. I'm a bit worried that not actually having a Physics A-level could hinder this though? (I did a National Diploma in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering instead of A-levels.) I'd have said that areas of my physics knowledge are above a-level standard, but there's also areas that engineering's never taken me to that I'd have to refresh my self on. Gaining knowledge is something I enjoy though, and half the reason I'd want to teach in its self, so I think I'd actually like that, as long as I could keep up with it.

I'm guessing the nature of Physics would result in a fairly average amount of marking to do? I've been warned by my current boss that his wife (who's an RE/Philosophy teacher) doesn't get much in terms of weekends during term time, which I don't like the sound of, I'd want at least one day when I could switch off really. Does anyone have any idea what the average number of hours a teacher would be expected to work including marking/paperwork is?

I'm thinking my best bet for now's going to be to go to a few local schools to have a flick through the textbooks to check/test my subject knowledge and see if they mind me sitting in on a few lessons and chatting to some teachers so I can remind my self of what the environment's like to work in and see what I think of it, then if I like it get on with taking my QTS skills test and applying for a position on a PGCE course. Does that sound like a sensible plan?

Thanks in advance for any advice guys. At the moment it's just an idea, but the more I look into it the more it seems to fit the bill, so I'm quite keen to amass all the info on it I can. The government sites aren't the best for someone coming from a position of relative ignorance (it's one of those sites that throws about 6 links at you per paragraph, so you get lost in no time), so other human beings opinions/experiences are more than welcome.

(PS, the plan's to be living in Bristol while doing all this if it's of any interest/help to anyone.)

[MadManMike]

You may well be in luck here, my partner is a teacher and we're re-locating to Bristol in July. I don't know much about it, but I'll get her to PM you later on with some answers to your questions

[george_seamons]

Paul Oliver (CurtisRider) is training to be a DT teacher. Might be worth grilling him?

[CurtisRider]

I'm on my PGCE currently, teaching Design and Technology. The workload is beyond anything I have ever done before, and it is is both mentally and emotionally tiring. I work pretty much non stop, and have very little time to go out/have my own time, this is probably the worst part of it all. On the positive side, it is pretty cool seeing the kids 'grow' and realising that they are becoming pretty kickass because of you.

I teach from 11-18yrs, covering Resistant Materials, Product Design, Graphics, System and Control, Textiles and a little bit of Photography. Teaching Physics will often mean you will need to be able to teach maths too (going by what other Physics trainees have told me), usually only for KS3 (11-14) though. During your first placement it is unlikely you will teach anything other than KS3, then second placement they will let you go to KS4 and maybe KS5 if they feel they can trust you, many people that I know are not allowed to go near yr11, 12 or 13 due to it being so close to exam time.

If you think you want to do teaching, then I suggest you get yourself into some schools and shadow some teachers. This not only helps reinforce whether or not you wish to pursue teaching as a career, but will also look good on your application and they can see you have a keen interest. I already had experience working with children in foster care, I did charity work with berieved children and I mentored students at a school during uni as well as gaining experience by shadowing at a school. Schools love that soet of stuff, it shows you actually like kids, and that it also seperates you from the others. The skills tests are a piece of cake, I did mine recently and couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about!

Finance wise, my friend doing Physics is getting 20K this year...she is coping pretty well I get nothing as my PGCE is part of my BA.

Free time as a qualified teacher seems to depend on a few things, firstly the time of year (getting towards exam time gets pretty hectic) and also depends on the kind of teacher you are and how much work you actually give out. From what I have gathered the first 3 years are pretty full on, it gets slightly more relaxed after that. I actually don't spend a great deal of time marking...but I think I am just getting pretty quick at it!

The worst part about teaching right now is finding a job. It is REALLY competitive and you need to be so on the ball in interviews. I'm awaiting my first real interview (had a mock one at my placement school) and I know it is highly unlikely I will get it as the school is outstanding according to Ofsted (Although my progress report suggest i'm getting close to being an outstanding teacher so fingers crossed!).

Edited April 20, 2013 by CurtisRider

[Luke Rainbird]

I'll send across a more 'full' response at some point, Robin, but for now:

Yep, with an applicable first degree you should be pretty much good to go with just a PGCE afterwards. The PGCE is almost solely focused on training you to teach, rather than furthering your subject knowledge per se, and is what gives you the QTS at the end of it. It's worth double checking whether your particular undergrad degree ticks all the boxes before proceeding too far just to be on the safe side, though they may just require you to attend a short SKE course (Subject Knowledge Enhancement, generally a 2 weeker or so dependent on background)

If it came to it, picking up an A level in Physics shouldn't be too much of a killer for you in terms of content/level, so it'd be more a case of understanding which concepts you'd need to know to pass the test as much as anything. I'd look into that pretty sharpish though as although sitting it off your own back is pretty flexible, it'd be nice to get it done by the summer if it does turn out to be necessary so that you could start the PGCE course at the start of the 13/14 academic year.

Definitely get out there and have a chat to some current teachers - I'd advise a mixture of folks who've been teaching Physics for a while and some NQT type folk too as they'll each be able to bring different points to the table. If you need a good contact for the former I can point you towards a chap who was my own A-level physics teacher but who's an absolute hero and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help. Chatting to people will not only give a good idea of the level you'll be working at/how much marking etc, but will also turn over a few rocks that you might not have thought about and be able to give the bigger picture all round. A lot of institutions/PGCE courses will also like for applicants to have work experience in teaching (amounts will vary) to show you know what you're letting yourself in for.

Whilst you're doing your homework (and before you start marking everyone else's) I'd check out School Direct too - it's school-led training rather than university-led but is another option that's at least worth familiarising yourself with.

With regards to the finance, check out the TDA website as there are some massive bursaries/golden handshakes available. In fact, if you're looking at physics there's up to £20,000 available for those who have a first in their undergrad degree which I seem to remember you having? Certainly lightens the load...

Like I said, I'm happy to send a bit more info your way further down the line and feel free to ask questions

Edit; Snaked whilst replying but yeah

[RobinJI]

Awesome, thanks guys, I do love this place!

The relevance of my current qualifications is a bit of a worry for me. Although my degree's a First Class BSc, it's in Motorsport Technology, and although it involved a fair bit of Physics, it is a pretty specifically applied form on physics, so I'll need to see if I'd be enough for entry, and find out about the need for a Physics A-level. I guess the college/uni where I'd be aiming to do the PGCE would be the place to ask about that?

I'm working full time at the moment, but I've spoken to my boss about it and he's fine with me only doing 4 days a week whenever I want, his wife is a teacher and he's been helpful to talk to about it. He's an understanding guy, who's happy helping me out with it in any way he can, which is a big help. I'm planning to use that 5th day to get into a School or two and do some shadowing and chatting to teachers, which I'm sure will clear some things up, and hopefully give me an answer as to whether it's worth pursuing the idea further. I'll try and get up to my old school this week and see if they'd be ok with me doing some shadowing. I did actually do about 6 months as a bank learning facilitator in the automotive workshop at my old college, helping first year students with their practical work, which I'd hope would count as at least slightly relevant experience? I really enjoyed that but needed to work full time and they couldn't give me the hours.

Paul, thanks for that. Good to know of someone going through the motions them selves. I'd be fine with teaching a little Maths, in fact I'd probably find it interesting.

I had seen the mention of the 20k bursary, but I wasn't sure if there was some sort of catch, like the tuition fees coming out of it or anything? If it is catch free that'd be amazing, and not having any bad money worries would massively help with the work load, from what people are saying it sounds like it's not the sort of thing you can keep a job on the side during.

Thanks for all the info guys, it's definitely a help.