The Benefits
of Teaching

Working with pupils is very rewarding and each day is different. Teachers use their skills, intelligence and creativity; they make learning exciting and relevant for young people and open their minds to the world around them.

Starting pay is impressive and there is a wide range of possibilities for career progression within the classroom or by becoming a school leader.

Teachers have excellent opportunities to develop their skills throughout their careers, for example through the Postgraduate Professional Development Programme, and are well supported by their colleagues and schools.

The holiday entitlement of 12 weeks is the envy of many professions and a generous occupational pension scheme gives guaranteed benefits and a retirement age of 60.

How Rewarding is Your Job?
You’ve always known that teaching was rewarding, but now a report commissioned by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) actually has proof. According to the report, twice as many teachers find their work extremely enjoyable (the highest rating) compared to professionals with careers in marketing, IT and accountancy.

The study also explored which jobs are most likely to cause ‘optimal flow experience’, a concept identified by a leading academic and increasingly recognised by psychologists and management experts, which measures the enjoyment, concentration and absorption in a task.

The research showed that teachers are more likely to experience these enjoyable ‘highs’ than people working in comparable careers. Nearly half (44 per cent) of teachers said they experience this regularly, in contrast to 34 per cent of people working in other professions.

This is confirmed by the 63 per cent of teachers who reported that they often or always find themselves totally immersed in their work. One in five said that they never think about anything else other than the job in hand.

According to the teachers interviewed and surveyed, many factors make their job enjoyable. They cited the buzz around the corridors, working with young people, the satisfaction gained from feedback from pupils and the nature of the school year as contributing to their happiness.

Interaction with pupils featured high on the list of reasons why teaching is enjoyable, with 80 per cent saying the best aspect of their job was engaging with young people. Ninety three per cent cited the sense of achievement which working with pupils offers.

Training to be a Teacher
ACHIEVING QTS
To teach in a state-maintained school you will need qualified teacher status (QTS), achieved through completing initial teacher training (ITT) and demonstrating that you have met the required standards.

The standards apply to all trainee teachers and allow ITT providers the autonomy to decide how they will organise their training and respond to individual trainees’ needs. They do not represent a set programme for study.

WHAT ARE THE STANDARDS FOR QTS?
The standards are a rigorous a set of statements formally setting out what a trainee teacher is expected to know, understand and be able do in order to be awarded qualified teacher status and succeed as an effective teacher.
Standards are organised under three inter-related categories:

Professional values and practice
Outline the attitudes and commitment expected of anyone qualifying to be a teacher – eg treating pupils and students consistently; communicating sensitively and effectively with parents and carers.

Knowledge and understanding
Require newly qualified teachers to be confident and authoritative in the subjects they teach, and to have a clear understanding of how all pupils should progress and what teachers should expect them to achieve.

Teaching
Relate to the skills involved in actually delivering lessons - eg planning, monitoring, assessment and class management. They are underpinned by the values and knowledge covered in the first two sections.

QTS SKILLS TESTS
To achieve the QTS standards you will also need to pass skills tests in numeracy, literacy and information and communications technology (ICT).

Join the student associates
scheme (SAS)
The student associates scheme (SAS) is for students interested in gaining classroom experience while pursuing their studies.

The scheme gives you the chance to:

• discover what teaching is really like
• work alongside experienced teachers, and
• develop new skills.

There is a tax-free bursary around £40 for every day spent in school or college during the scheme. The scheme is open to students registered on relevant HND, foundation degree, undergraduate degree and postgraduate programmes subject to certain conditions.

WHAT DOES THE SCHEME ENTAIL?
All students participating in the scheme are given a training and induction programme to prepare them for working with young people. You will then spend fifteen days in a school or college working alongside experienced teachers and assisting them in classroom teaching. The fifteen days of the scheme can be planned to fit your studies.

BENEFITS OF THE SCHEME?
Guided by experienced teachers you will gain experience of how to work with pupils in the classroom. The scheme gives you the chance to develop new skills, contribute to helping raise the attainment and aspirations of young people in school and gain firsthand experience of what a career in teaching involves.

Teach First – for High Flying Graduates
Teach First is a programme run by an independent organisation enabling top graduates to spend two years working in challenging secondary schools in London and Manchester, qualifying as a teacher while completing leadership training and work experience with leading employers.

Working with specially selected partner schools and businesses, Teach First aims to build the leaders of the future by providing high quality teacher and leadership training, internships, coaching and networking.

It is for high-flying graduates who may not otherwise have considered teaching or aren’t sure of it as a long-term career. It leads to qualified teacher status (QTS) but also provides the potential to develop a commercially oriented career.

HOW LONG DOES TEACH FIRST TAKE?
Teach First takes two years to complete.

WHERE CAN YOU DO TEACH FIRST?
Teach First places teachers in challenging secondary schools in the Greater London or Greater Manchester areas only. It is not available at primary level.

WHAT QUALIFICATIONS DO YOU NEED?
Teach First aims to recruit from top graduates who have shown high levels of ability in areas such as leadership and communication. As such, its entry requirements are strict. You must have all of the following:

• A minimum of a 2.1 undergraduate degree
  
• 300 UCAS tariff points (24 points using the old tariff, equivalent to BBB at A-level)
  
• Grade C or above in GCSE (or equivalent) mathematics and English.
  
• Ability to show high levels of competency in areas such as leadership, teamwork, resilience, critical thinking, communication skills, initiative and creativity, and respect, humility, and empathy.

What you studied at university is not important, provided at least 40 per cent of your degree relates to a national curriculum subject.

IS THERE ANY ADDITIONAL FUNDING AVAILABLE?
In addition to the training salary you’ll receive from your school, Teach First will pay for your food and accommodation during the Summer Training Institute. You will receive Point 3 on the unqualified teaching scale during the first year and normal NQT salary during your second year on the programme. It will also help you access any other financial support available to you in making the transition to teaching.

HOW DO YOU APPLY?
Teach First only accept applications through the online form available on its website www.teachfirst.org.uk/. If your application is successful, you will be invited to attend a challenging day-long assessment at a centre in London.
Bear in mind that Teach First is a demanding two-year programme and definitely not for the faint-hearted. You should do some thorough research to ensure that it is the option for you before you apply.

WHEN SHOULD YOU APPLY?
There are two closing dates for applications; the first in December and the second in June. Visit the Teach first website for details of the application process and timings. www.teachfirst.org.uk/.

Choosing a School
There is no such thing as a typical school. The kind of school you choose to work in will make a significant difference to the kind of experiences you will face as a teacher.

MAINSTREAM SCHOOLS
In England and Wales, 90 per cent of children are educated in state-maintained schools, of which the majority are what you might refer to as mainstream or ‘ordinary’ schools. Their prominence means that there are more teaching positions available in such schools than in any other kind.

Mainstream schools share a lot in common – for instance, they all receive public funding and are required to teach the National Curriculum but you will find that each school has its own individual characteristics and emphasis.
Most visible are the variations in size, location, age group and gender of pupils, presenting both subtly and completely different teaching challenges. Just as significant though is the school’s ethos. Different kinds of schools are run in different ways, implementing different policies and serving different educational needs.

For instance, grammar schools select all or most of their pupils according to academic ability – with the intention of catering for relatively high achievers – whereas comprehensive schools are open to children of all abilities.

Although rare now, secondary modern schools tend to emphasise practical, vocational skills over academic skills, while church and faith schools incorporate more religious and spiritual elements into the schooling of their children.

However, perhaps the biggest single influence on how a particular school is run is its headteacher. Individual personalities and visions vary from head to head, but they always set the tone for what happens both in the staffroom and in the classroom.

Exert taken from The Newly Qualified Teacher’s Handbook (Elizabeth Holmes, Kogan Page).
www.kogan-page.co.uk

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