Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Career change : how to get into teaching? (without going back to school)
Having spent the past ten+ years facing a computer screen I have decided to dedicate the rest of my working life to people. Nice thought, but how do I get about it?
I'm in my late forties, have changed directions a few times, needless to say that I have more skills than qualifications and that I do not have a proven experience of working in my new chosen field. As a qualification I have what I think is an equivalent to a foreign BSc, but I couldn't even tell if this counts as a degree. I have taught skills to people along the way through my different jobs, but this doesn't exactly make it to my CV. Finally, I only want a part-time occupation once I'm in, which I guess rules out a lot of options. And, no, I am not a parent, forget about mum jobs. The only positive is that I have been doing some voluntary work with kids since earlier this year.
I thought of becoming a teaching assistant, someone else said I could become a mentor, either way I know I'd be good at it (I would!) but... this is such a maze! I don't know the education system over here, but can't face going back to school for a year or more to study. Can I start somewhere and get training along the way?
Does anyone here know about the teaching world and could give me some advice?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Isabelle on
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Not a lot. I just refer to sites or ads that seem to be aimed at parents looking for work or at returning to work. Jobs that require parenting experience. There seems to be a whole world out there that 'you cannot understand' if you are not a parent. I am possibly stereotyping, but this was half a joke and not what my post is about.
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Permalink Reply by Angela on
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It is perfectly possible to get a job as a TA without being a parent but you do need training whether it's in a school on an initially voluntary basis and/ or via short course. Ask your nearest school or other childcare setting for voluntary experience to start with.
I've yet to see jobs that require parenting experience tbh!
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Permalink Reply by L F T Snowflake on
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If you wanted to do TA work, then get yourself a CRB and sign up with a supply agency. Again, though you do need qualifications, but you can work towards them while training.
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I do have a CRB and I signed up with agencies online... no success so far. I have not followed up by calling them and having a chat though. I ought to, but my CV is complex and I struggle selling my skills on the phone. Plus I can't describe precisely what I want, because I'm only finding out what's out there. Which is why this forum is helping me turning ideas around :).
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Best to go visit them. NEVER register with an agency online - they basically ignore online applications.
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The only training I can validate is some voluntary work I started earlier this year. I really enjoy it, but also need to earn a bit of money therefore cannot add more days of unpaid work. A short course seems a good option. I was looking at Teaching Assistant level 2, which I could do from home – but again I'm not sure this is the best course for me? Am trying to find out...
As for the parenting experience requirement for jobs, like I said it was half a joke. Looking for flexible employment + kids, I have come across lots of 'jobs for mums'. Whether or not being a mum guarantees them the job is another story! Might be just a way to recruit in a different market. Next to that, it is also a common assumption that, if you are not a parent and if you don't have a clear record of working with children, you are not going to be as good with kids. I've heard that many times along my childless life – and, granted, it's not really a joke, I only threw this in for info.
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As someone who like you, wanted to go into teaching rather late in life, I would suggest that without a degree, that teaching will be impossible get into. I too had lots of life experience AND a 25-year career as a youth worker behind me, but all that gets ignored by teaching.
After graduating with a degree in philosophy, I went to my first school as the Special Needs Coordinator and Teaching Assistant. But when the Head saw my 15-year career in IT, I quickly found myself teaching that subject in the classroom.
The problem came in trying to gain Qualified Teacher Status in a subject I did not have my degree in. Trying to act on the conflicting 'advice' I was given every time I telephoned the Teacher Training Agency was like trying to negotiate Hampton Court Maze wearing a blindfold. It didn’t help being in Special Needs either as the mainstream world looks ignores that, despite the tremendous skill needed.
Eventually, I got onto the 'qualified teacher status by assessment only route’ with a mainstream school. On that programme, you don't get any training. You just teach a normal week, but build up a portfolio showing how you meet the standards required for Qualified Teacher Status. But trying to gain QTS while working as an unqualified teacher is darned hard work, because you have to combine all the duties of teaching with creating the portfolio.
Prior to teaching, I worked as a freelancer in The City, on multinational IT projects and with large corporations. All of those jobs were a cinch compared to teaching. Think, getting in at 7.30, starting 'work' (i.e. teaching) by 8.30, playground duty, lunchtime clubs, ENDLESS staff meetings, then lesson preps before leaving at around 7 in the evening for dinner and a pile of marking up to 11pm. And then, up again at 6.30 the next day to do it all again.
And as for all those long holidays, remember that a, they are all in peak time, so you pay top dollar for everything and b; unless all your mates are other teachers, you have no one to socialise with. And c, of course, a lot of those 'holidays' are spent either at school or at home prepping for the coming team.
Then there are the ungrateful kids, like the ones I taught in a state school in a filthy rich area; pushy parents who will ALWAYS blame the teacher, not matter how lazy or disruptive their kids are. At the other end of the scale, are parents who claim free school meals because they are ‘poor’, but send their kids to school with I Pods and top of the range phones.
Combine all that with weak Guardian reading Heads who are more interested in the 'rights' of students than protecting teachers and you get a highly enjoyable mix. Throw into that what I call 'Professional Perverts of the child abuse industry' who will gladly encourage kids to accuse you of all sorts – but crucify you when you accurately describe a highly disruptive child as having ‘ginger hair’. And now there is cyber bullying and cyber stalking of teachers by the kids and their parents. In seminars I now run, I explain to trainee teachers that its no long a question of IF they get cyber bullied or stalked but WHEN.
These days, after 33 years of working with kids in teaching and youth work, I work in post 18 education and enhance my income writing schemes of work for SEN teachers.
IN plain terms, if you want to go into teaching, you will need a UK degree. It will need to be in primary education if that's what you want or in a subject you want to teach at secondary level. Then, you spend another year doing a Postgraduate Certificate in Education. After that, you serve another year as a Newly Qualified Teacher, during which time you will be given all the classes every other teacher wouldn't touch with a bargepole. After that, you are on the greasy pole. Go for it if you want it.
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There are many routes into the profession now, but as mentioned above, a degree or equivalent is necessary.
It's possible now to go straight from a degree to 'on the job' training. Have a look at http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching to see some different routes.
Would strongly suggest shadowing a teacher for a week to get some idea of what is expected. Be prepared for extreme highs and lows like few other jobs. Be prepared to work bloody hard. Have seen many people come into the profession later in life, thinking it's an easy option and not survive the first year. Others have done very well, and love it.
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The on the job route was the one I went through and I would have to say it was a complete waste of time, because one just got given conflicting information time after time.
I'd say Degree and PGCE (not forgetting your Maths and English GCSE) is still the most trouble free way into the profession.
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Thanks. I had come across that link, but stalled on the 'Do you have a GCSE grade?' and 'Do you have a degree?'. I studied abroad and am not sure what the formal equivalent is. Plus that was some 25 years ago and, frankly, how could it count more than the professional experience I gained since, which anyway has been in different fields than the ones I studied? Perhaps I should email DfE for clarification.
I don't think teaching is an easy option. I've had experience with young kids and teenagers this year and I can tell it's become a LOT harder than when I used to go to school. But they've also made me want more! I'd be happy to start as a teaching assistant and see if it takes me anywhere further.
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Wow. And here's me who wanted a quiet little job with lovely children... Thanks for the warning, that's almost put me off! Saying that, you wouldn't have worked for that long with the devil if you didn't also find it rewarding.
I'm not looking at a full-time career complete with institutional battles. I'll be happy if I can find a part-time job where I feel useful to a few kids.
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