Teaching- the career for me?

Teaching – the career for me?

 It’s not surprising that teaching is one of the most popular career choices for graduates across the country, from all sorts of degree background. It can be fantastically rewarding, with no two days the same. On a daily basis you will actually be changing people’s lives for the better and really making a difference to the lives of children and young people. Whilst the working day most definitely won’t stop when the bell sounds at 3.15pm, there are the long holidays to enjoy too… but be warned! Some of this time will be spent preparing for your lessons or meeting students for extra revision classes and of course coming in to celebrate their GCSE and ‘A’ level results – and that is one of the reasons why it’s a rewarding profession. There have always been challenges to teaching. Those experienced today may include Ofsted and an emphasis on formal testing, the importance placed on targets and an increasingly data-driven approach, all of which are potentially at odds with the reasons teachers go into their classrooms every day;  to inspire, to encourage, to share enthusiasms, to interact – essentially to help children of all abilities to achieve their best. So how do teachers reconcile these? What attributes are needed to cope in this environment?

 On the face of it, we all know what it takes to become a teacher. We’ve all had ‘good’ teachers, and we’ve all had not so good ones. Unlike almost all other professions, we’ve actually spent years in close proximity to teaching and more specifically we’ve all been learners. It is… familiar. However, I wonder if that familiarity really is the same as knowing the profession and understanding how children learn – and of course knowing if it’s right for you?

  -          What does it take to become a teacher? … How you start? What qualifications do I need? What do Universities and schools look for? What are the different training routes?  Which one would be best for me?

 -          What’s it actually like to be a teacher? … What are the interesting and enjoyable aspects? What are the challenges ? What are the day-to-day highs and lows? What are the career prospects?

 -          What specialist roles are there within teaching? … Is it just primary or secondary? What about Special Educational Needs? What about FE? What about teaching abroad? What about become a head of department or head teacher?

 Plenty of questions – but not always plenty of answers readily available. Schools are changing so quickly and there is so much different information in the media. This is why we have put together a new teaching event in October – a first for UEA!

 We will be bringing together experts who work locally from across the profession – teachers and headteachers; Further Education  and Special Educational Needs; primary and secondary; PGCE and Schools Direct. We will be combining them with our Careers Advisers, to provide a comprehensive information evening to try and tackle these myriad questions. From understanding the reality of the profession, through to understanding the different routes into it.

 The event is open to anyone who is considering teaching as an option (any school, any year group) - and designed to equip you with the tools to know if is for you, and if so what the next steps should be. If this sounds like you – why not book now?

 Teaching - the career for me?  Wed 29 Oct 2014, 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM, JSC Main lecture theatre Places are on a first-come-first served basis, book now to avoid disappointment!