Teacher Training what is going on !?!?
Discussion
boxst said:
Thank you for the information. I may have a look as I've been it IT programming and teaching for (gulp, just about to fall off my chair) 30 years! I was assuming that that kind of experience would negate a degree as it does in most instances.
It might do but the place that puts you forward will have to know you, so start working there and that would be your route in. I went from industry straight to an FE college where I got chucked in the deep end and learnt on the job whilst doing the teaching qualifications at night.
Two of what were probably the worst years of my life before I finally escaped. It was an utter nightmare of stress and ridiculous hours coupled with the fact that at an FE college you don't get the 'normal' academic holidays.
I really think I would have had some stress related illness if I'd done it for much longer. Straight back into industry and I've never been happier.
Two of what were probably the worst years of my life before I finally escaped. It was an utter nightmare of stress and ridiculous hours coupled with the fact that at an FE college you don't get the 'normal' academic holidays.
I really think I would have had some stress related illness if I'd done it for much longer. Straight back into industry and I've never been happier.
Tampon said:
Lots of opinions here on teachers, teaching and training for it.
As someone who is now a teacher and in their NQT year you can ask questions and will try and answer them.
I am 36, ran my own upholstery business since I was 20, went back to Uni to study history at the age of 30 to become a teacher (had a epiphany and wanted to do something better with my life), then starting working and training in a school once finished. Now qualified and working as a Teacher in a special needs and behavioural school in South London.
Tamps.
P.S. the Maths and English exams you have to sit aren't just basic everyday maths, some of the questions are simple, but they have a very wide range of topics, you might be good at mental arithmetic but working out 36% discount of a purchase of a wardrobe at £215 and a bed at £340 with a timer in front of you counting down from 20 secs that beeps as it goes down, in your head, might be a touch more pressure), they are timed and there is the pressure of if you don't pass them by 2nd or third attempt you can't sit them again for a year. Maths I was fine on, I did sweat the English one a touch beforehand but passed first time. Is one of the things you worry about as sometimes they are hard to book depending on your centre and you need to pass the before you start training.
? you have two minutes to answer each question not 20 seconds. You get three attempts then can't re-sit for two years. I sat the tests last week and without exception all the maths questions were easy in that the percentages were 5% or 10%. One question was 'what is 75% as a fraction in its lowest possible terms'. Fractions were 1/4 3/4 (of numbers divisible by 4) Frankly if you have 'passed' your maths GCSE at grade C then fail these tests three times I think it is only correct that they bar you for two years. As someone who is now a teacher and in their NQT year you can ask questions and will try and answer them.
I am 36, ran my own upholstery business since I was 20, went back to Uni to study history at the age of 30 to become a teacher (had a epiphany and wanted to do something better with my life), then starting working and training in a school once finished. Now qualified and working as a Teacher in a special needs and behavioural school in South London.
Tamps.
P.S. the Maths and English exams you have to sit aren't just basic everyday maths, some of the questions are simple, but they have a very wide range of topics, you might be good at mental arithmetic but working out 36% discount of a purchase of a wardrobe at £215 and a bed at £340 with a timer in front of you counting down from 20 secs that beeps as it goes down, in your head, might be a touch more pressure), they are timed and there is the pressure of if you don't pass them by 2nd or third attempt you can't sit them again for a year. Maths I was fine on, I did sweat the English one a touch beforehand but passed first time. Is one of the things you worry about as sometimes they are hard to book depending on your centre and you need to pass the before you start training.
The pass mark for these tests is 18 out of 28. 12 of which are the mental arithmetic. The multiple choice section was simple and a couple of the answers could be eliminated just by looking how far out they were before any working out was needed - and you could use a calculator for the multiple choice.
Somebody has posted about he has been offered two places blah blah he has a 2.1 in Biology and as he has £24K debt from his studies so far his parents are 'going to borrow him the money'. Wonder if he will pass the literacy test.
SamR380 said:
Vron said:
One girl has no Maths A level or dDegree and has been accepted to teach secondary maths !?! She is also one of the ones complaining about the numeracy test.
If she had a maths degree she wouldn’t be doing something like inspiring and educating our next generation, she’d be doing something actually valued by our society like building trading algorithms to improve rich peoples RoI by 0.0001%.Edited by Vron on Wednesday 23 November 17:51
This is only one problem with our education system.
Vron said:
Interested in people's comments. I'm toying with the idea of Teacher Training. Reason being I want to - but as a supply teacher as my plan is to spend time abroad so need a job I can pick up and leave when I am back in the UK. I've also been told I would be good at it.
Do you not have to get 1 year of teaching accreditation as a NQT within 3 years in order to continue as a teacher, which might curtail your plans a bit as a supply teacher.I had a quick chat from someone at the department of education -- a degree is a legal requirement to teach in a state school, although it doesn't have to have any relevance to the subject you wish to teach. Seems a little absurd for someone like me (old!), as it shouldn't really matter that I haven't got a degree from 25 years ago as it wouldn't have any impact at all. Plus the salary ... goodness.
Tampon said:
Some of the guys I trained with were young but they worked silly hours and were really good at putting the time in outside of the class. Some were wet blankets and are now qualified, god help where they go.
One guy was ex army, he was struggling with the workload, he was doing 11hrs a day in school, then marking at home in the evening, and working 8hrs on a saturday and 5 on a sunday just to tread water. Depends on the school you work in and what they expect. His was a horrible school and nearly cost him his marriage. Moved schools now and is much happier.
The drop-out rate overall is immense, and it's worst for older trainees. One guy was ex army, he was struggling with the workload, he was doing 11hrs a day in school, then marking at home in the evening, and working 8hrs on a saturday and 5 on a sunday just to tread water. Depends on the school you work in and what they expect. His was a horrible school and nearly cost him his marriage. Moved schools now and is much happier.
My daughter teaches and she said it's not uncommon for older entrants turn up for a few weeks placement during their teacher training year and even at that stage still think it's 9 to 3.30 job.
I know a few now retired teachers, early retirement obviously.... I can't put it any more politely than to say they are thick as pigs**t, god only knows how they obtained their teaching qualifications in the first place and it's quite scary to think that they have ''educated'' generations of people.
Sheepshanks said:
Tampon said:
Some of the guys I trained with were young but they worked silly hours and were really good at putting the time in outside of the class. Some were wet blankets and are now qualified, god help where they go.
One guy was ex army, he was struggling with the workload, he was doing 11hrs a day in school, then marking at home in the evening, and working 8hrs on a saturday and 5 on a sunday just to tread water. Depends on the school you work in and what they expect. His was a horrible school and nearly cost him his marriage. Moved schools now and is much happier.
The drop-out rate overall is immense, and it's worst for older trainees. One guy was ex army, he was struggling with the workload, he was doing 11hrs a day in school, then marking at home in the evening, and working 8hrs on a saturday and 5 on a sunday just to tread water. Depends on the school you work in and what they expect. His was a horrible school and nearly cost him his marriage. Moved schools now and is much happier.
My daughter teaches and she said it's not uncommon for older entrants turn up for a few weeks placement during their teacher training year and even at that stage still think it's 9 to 3.30 job.
Vron said:
I don't think that but it will without doubt be less hours then my current job. Agree the money is crap but it's more about something to do and I know it sounds cheesy but something more personally satisfying. I've been careful with my earnings for the last 20 years to be able to get to the point of doing something more vocational.
What hours are you working now? You will need to think of you realistically starting work around d 7.30 and finishing around 7. That doesn't have to all be at school, you can bring stuff home. Probably a 4 hour block at least one day at the weekend as well minimum. It will be more in your training year as you will take ages learning things you will crack out in minutes later if you get a paid training position.You tend to get systems in place that allow you to do some of the stuff quicker but you fill that time with more responsibilities.
One of the biggest shocks I found was going from running my own business and being the boss was the culture in schools. Lots of people in your business and gossiping, nobody takes the bull by the horns and makes a decision unless it has been checked with someone else etc things can be frustrating. Does help being a man in a female dominated arena. Helps with the kids as well.
21TonyK said:
We have tears at least once a day from teachers "unable to cope" with what I consider to be "life". And this is not from NQTs. Problem as I see it is that many teachers have never experienced life outside of academia and have always had the support that environment and working in the public sector provides. Theres a reason so many teachers are off with "stress" or long-term ill. The environment almost supports and encourages it.
Working in Education (not as a Teacher) this rings very true. Some (not all) teachers exist in the 'edububble' where they have never worked in industry and the teaching profession ethos and unions pander to ways of working that wouldn't last five minutes in an industry setting. A classic is the TLR system (stands for Teaching and Learning Responsibility), basically if a teacher is asked to do extra duties (run the schools Gifted and Talented program for example) they get given an extra TLR payment. In some cases the TLR is entirely justified but there are too many examples of extra tasks that would just be expected of someone in industry being rewarded with a four figure sum. What particulary rustles my jimmies is when the task a teacher is given (and paid for) is pushed onto admin staff to actually do the administration side and the teacher just does some lightweight supervision.Edited by 21TonyK on Wednesday 23 November 17:33
mike74 said:
I know a few now retired teachers, early retirement obviously.... I can't put it any more politely than to say they are thick as pigs**t, god only knows how they obtained their teaching qualifications in the first place and it's quite scary to think that they have ''educated'' generations of people.
Cert. Ed from a Teacher Training College ? one of the reasons why there was the move to 'real degree' +PGCE particularly for secondary teaching was to try and get some better understanding of the subjects in there.
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