Thinking about becoming a Teacher?

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So you’d love to inspire our future generations? Would you know where to start?

You’d need to decide first who you want to teach. Would it be Early Years (Up to 5yrs), Primary (age 5-11yrs), Secondary (age 11-18yrs), or further education. You could look at getting some experience to decide which age group you prefer.

To be eligible for postgraduate primary or secondary initial teacher training courses, you would need a degree or equivalent qualification. You would also need Maths, English and Science grade 4 (C) or above.

If it’s the cost that’s putting you off, you could get funding that wouldn’t need to be paid back if you train to teach certain subjects.

Exploring the right training for you, would it be PGCE or directly into a school.

The final step would be actually applying, you could get a teacher training advisor who would be able to help with various stages, including getting your application ready.

Good Luck!

The Teaching Assistant Role

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A teaching assistant is a member of the teaching staff that assists the teacher with instructional tasks. Teaching assistants are often employed in primary and secondary schools. They usually take care of administrative tasks such as taking attendance and managing classrooms.

The teaching assistant’s role is to provide classroom support, such as helping children with their work or giving assistance to the teacher to answer questions. They are also responsible for managing the class for minor tasks, such as distributing materials.

The best way to become a teaching assistant is through volunteering. This will let you explore your interest, build up your resume, and make connections with potential employers. You can also go back to school for an education degree or certificate if you want more formal training.

Teaching assistants can choose to specialise in supporting children with special educational needs. They are expected to know and understand the learning process from various perspectives, including the learners, parents, and teachers.

Ways to Train to become a teacher

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Most posts require you to be of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) to work within a school in England.  Here are a few ways to train, depending on your circumstances.

Have a Degree

University-led training: you will spend about one-third of your time in university and the rest in school placements.
Train as you teach: on a school direct (Fee-funded) course, you spend more time learning on the job than on the academic side.
Earn a salary: Some training programmes like School Direct (salaried) and postgraduate teaching apprenticeships offer you a salary.  Again this option means you spend less time learning at university.

Don’t have a Degree

Undergraduate teacher training degree: These courses can take up to 4 years. Qualifications vary depending on the course. You could get QTS with a Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Education (BEd) or Bachelor of Science (BSc).

Short Professional Online Courses to be Offered by the University of Cambridge

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The University of Cambridge has developed several new short, online courses to help boost the knowledge and education of professionals worldwide to enhance their skills. Starting with four, to what will expand to 50 in the next 5 years, these courses will be instructed by Cambridge academics and cost around £2000. In an effort to help professionals upskill in a difficult employment world, post-pandemic, these courses are being developed by the Cambridge University Press to help meet a skill-gap need.

The idea of these new courses has been fuelled by the changing mindset to online teaching and learning that has been propelled forward, thanks to pandemic restrictions. The layout of the courses will be catered and optimised for online learning as opposed to trying to replicate the in-person education experience.

If you are looking for some professional up-skilling courses, check out this new opportunity and see if there is yet, a suitable course for you.

Best Practices for Virtual Training and Instruction

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With a lot of training and learning moving online, as an instructor, who was used to in-person sessions, you may be wondering how to improve your virtual training sessions. If you feel like your virtual learning is simply not working or could be improved upon, here are a few tips:

• Ensure you are using the right platform. Ideally, you want a platform that will allow for polling, group break-out, screen-sharing, hand raising etc.

• Use the features mentioned above to increase interaction and engagement

• Decrease session length to no longer than 45 minutes and increase session frequency

• Ensure your audio and visual devices are optimal, so everyone can hear and see you well

• Have clear session procedures laid out

• Break info-heavy slides into smaller chunks for easier mental digestion

If you are finding your virtual training sessions need improvement, here are a few best practices tips to help you increase engagement, session optimisation and focus for your students.