Any teachers on TP?

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v16ben

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Folks.

I currently teach ESL at a middle school in Korea. Really enjoy working with kids, but considering becoming a proper teacher rather than a trained monkey. :lol:

Just wondered if anyone on here is a teacher or has a partner/best friend/family member etc who is currently teaching or getting qualified in the UK?

I've taught a variety of kids here in Korea, but would be looking at teaching Primary.

Just wondering if there are actually any jobs out there, if it is possible to get onto a PGCE or if I'm completely mad to consider it

Thanks. :)
 
Hi Ben, I have been teaching for 10 years now, and love it (Although I'm in secondary). A friend of mine is starting his PGCE in Primary in Sept. The education system is crying out for Male primary teachers, as the ratio of male to females is so low. The kids need male as well as female role models. If you have a degree + your experience in Asia, you should be fine getting on a course. I would suggest London as your destination, due to the amount of University PGCE places available. However it is obviously an expensive place to live as a student.
 
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Hi Rob,

I believed that the lack of male primary teachers was becoming less common in recent years, but it seems not to be the case.

I do have degree + Korean experience, although mostly middle school with some summer camp/evening primary age experience. I'll be trying to get UK experience in multiple schools, ideally a secondary/middle as well as primary.

London has always been a dream, but as you say, expensive as a student. I guess all the work in a PGCE year means you don't see too much of anything else in whatever place you live :)
 
I think if you're determined you can live there. I took out a student loan to help with living and lodged with someone. I also had a very good social life whilst on PGCE. It wasn't too hectic on the PGCE, but it gets busier on your NQT year when you get your first job.
 
Interesting to hear, Rob. I'm fortunate to have decent savings from my time in Korea which would help towards living costs/fees. Also interesting re: social life. I've read different blogs/profiles about PGCE and NQT years.

Out of interest, where did you do your PGCE and how did you find the experience?

Just been reading this article about male primary teachers. Can't believe some of those stats: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14748273
 
The job Market very much depends which subject you teach and where you want to teach. If you're a physicist who wants to work in London there will be plenty of opportunities. If you want to work in South Wales or the South west of England then you have to be very good to get a job because it is so competitive. Teaching subjects like art, history or PE also makes life more competitive.

I am a bit surprised about the comment above about the great social life during a PGCE; the students I train normally tell me it's the hardest thing they have done.

Mike
 
Would you say the Primary jobs market is tough for new teachers anywhere, or does it vary by location, Mike?
 
I don't know as much about the primary job Market as secondary. I do know that here in South Wales it is ferociously competitive to get a primary job (a few LSAs in the school I work in are primary trained teachers that cannot land a teaching job).

Mike
 
Rockman said:
The job Market very much depends which subject you teach and where you want to teach. If you're a physicist who wants to work in London there will be plenty of opportunities. If you want to work in South Wales or the South west of England then you have to be very good to get a job because it is so competitive. Teaching subjects like art, history or PE also makes life more competitive.

I am a bit surprised about the comment above about the great social life during a PGCE; the students I train normally tell me it's the hardest thing they have done.

Mike
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Hi Mike I did my PGCE in 2002-3, so a fair time ago, I also did Art & Design, which is a lot easier to plan for in some respects to other subjects. We formed strong bonds and had fun in our free time. I found the first placement wanted their SOW followed, so little planning there. Then my second placement was pretty relaxed and allowed me greater freedom to plan, but there were no behaviour issues being an all girls' Muslim school. From what I have seen with new teachers coming into the profession, their NQT year is a lot harder than my first year, although the amount of "box-ticking" is over the top. The system seems to be proving you can do paperwork, whereas the crux of the matter is, can you control a class and get the majority to make progress?.
 
Rockman said:
If you want to work in South Wales or the South west of England then you have to be very good to get a job because it is so competitive.
Click to expand...

I'm just about in the south west - a friend of mine locally who's job as a research scientist was under threat of redundancy earlier this year was told by the head at his eldest's (secondary) school that if he wanted to, he could walk straight into a job teaching physics or chemistry without a PGCE, and get the qualification as on the job training. I guess job availability is subject dependent.

As it happened the axe didn't fall on his department, so he's still being a scientist.
 
onomatopoeia said:
he could walk straight into a job teaching physics or chemistry without a PGCE, and get the qualification as on the job training.
Click to expand...

I suspect that was using the GTP route. Believe me, it's not quite that simple. You usually need lots of in-class experience, lesson planning, whole-class teaching etc. You also must have a degree. Once you've fulfilled that criteria (depending on which training provider you apply to), you need a school who are prepared to take you on as a trainee teacher (i.e. they need to have the funds available) and you need to be accepted by a training provider.

If your friend has a Physics degree, he should look into doing a PGCE. Depending on his degree classification, he could get a training bursary of up to £20k, which is better paid than a GTP, although he'll have to pay for the course.


Ben, if you don't mind me asking, what degree did you do?
 
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I trained a GTP teacher a couple of years ago (for D&T - a subject that is no longer available on this programme) and it really isn't an easy way into teaching. You are thrown in at the deep end and if you're not already good at communicating effectively with 30 adolescents it would be very difficult to do well.

Mike
 
davemk said:
I suspect that was using the GTP route. Believe me, it's not quite that simple. You usually need lots of in-class experience, lesson planning, whole-class teaching etc. You also must have a degree. Once you've fulfilled that criteria (depending on which training provider you apply to), you need a school who are prepared to take you on as a trainee teacher (i.e. they need to have the funds available) and you need to be accepted by a training provider.

If your friend has a Physics degree, he should look into doing a PGCE. Depending on his degree classification, he could get a training bursary of up to £20k, which is better paid than a GTP, although he'll have to pay for the course.


Ben, if you don't mind me asking, what degree did you do?
Click to expand...

I did research into GTP, but I think PGCE is the route for me after reading the experiences of others.

My degree was Geography. I applied to a Secondary PGCE last year and got unofficially accepted (applied before the official application date and did an inetrview in my summer holidays!) but decided not to pursue it as I love working with younger kids.

I sometimes think it would be easier to go for a Geography secondary PGCE again, as it seems easier to get into than Primary and I want to teach kids either way! Not sure that option of going secondary then changing in a few years if I wanted to is a realistic one though!
 
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I did GTP route as well, ended up doing it in Citizenship as Psychology was really difficult to get into, but worth it :)
 
If you prefer to work with younger children then it's pointless going for Secondary IMHO.

Depending on your degree classification, you can get bursaries of £9k for primary if you have a First, or £5k for a 2:1. If you achieved lower than a 2:1, you don't get a bursary.

With your experience, you should easily get onto a PGCE.
 
I Did my PGCE a couple of years ago specialising in DT. really enjoyed the training (my first school placement was brilliant, really supportive, my second however was deeply unsupportive (my 'mentor' was effectively using a trainee to teach his lessons so he could get away with doing b****r all) and that pretty much put me off teaching in a secondary school, and didn't help with my job prospects because I didn't "develop" much during the placement. However I used the training sensibly, combined it with my other experiences and passions and got a job in an FE/HE college and now im solely an HE lecturer/instructor which i really enjoy.


I do believe that the placement mentors you have in PGCE are very important, as its the mentor who will help you develop as a teacher (its a shame that the uni I went to didn't vet their mentors a bit better!)
 
I'm kinda thinking the same as what you said, Dave. If little kids are what I want then secondary seems a silly idea. The bursaries available also seem to be pretty handy, wish I'd worked a bit harder on my dissertation though knowing it could have got me an extra 4k with a slightly better mark! ;)

Thanks again for the information everyone :)
 
Yeh, that extra potential cash was definitely the spur that kept me going!

Good luck with it.
 
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Thanks, Dave.
Going to give it a go and see how long I can survive back in the UK haha!
 
Bump.
Just wanted to thank folks for their advice/knowledge on this thread.
I decided on secondary in the end and have been accepted onto a course starting in September.
I've spent some time in various schools (primary and secondary) and I'm excited and nervous, but ready to get started!
 
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