WHY BECOME A TEACHER?

Ithought long and hard about what this article should be about as I am quite routine in what I usually share with my readers. I always want to make sure that I have given support and ideas for anyone who has and/or works with young children. On this occasion, I wanted to reflect back on why I became a teacher, what it’s really like and finally share with you some avenues to get into teaching.

I have always wanted to be a teacher since I can remember; I recall creating my own made up registers at home and role playing with my toys from a young age. Later, when the opportunities arose for ‘work experience’ I chose education settings as I wanted to know if it was what I really wanted to do. The rewards I felt whilst working with children encouraged me to fulfil my aspiration. After secondary education and sixth form, I attended University and soon after was awarded my first degree. I then decided it was time to take on a Post Graduate Certificate of Education in teaching. Finally, I became a primary school teacher, leader of education and ironically a mentor for student teachers.

If this is something you would be interested in there are many avenues which you can undertake to do so:

University led

PGCE: Post Graduate Certificate in Education, this is a post graduate degree where you will be expected to attend university and have in-school experience.

School-centred initial teacher training (SCITT)

SCITT programmes are delivered by a network of schools and focus on training as you teach.

These include School’s Direct, Post teaching apprenticeship and Teach First. These may be salaried or fee funded.