Im still only at scondary school but im looking at going into teaching?

Question

Does anyone have any advice as to weather or not i should and what the perks and downfalls of teaching are.

Also what do i have to have to get into teaching?

Answer 1

I also want to be a teacher! I'm about to take a-levels and then my next step will be one of the two below! :D

Primary school teacher:

After your A levels, you need to do a degree called Primary Education with QTS. Here you teach all subjects.

Secondary school teacher:

After your A levels, you will need to study a degree in your subject of choice when you have finished this, you will then need a PGCE to qualify you as a teacher.

As you can see, the latter route is longer (more time at uni) but it really depends on what you prefer.

You have a long time to think about what you want to do.

For more information, see

http://www.tda.gov.uk

or if you want more advice from me as a fellow teenager, message me through this. :)

Answer 2

I'd say you should widen your horizons. Teaching is a great career, but there are thousands of careers out there. Get busy and find out about all kinds of jobs and start figuring out whether you would like any of them before deciding what you want to do in the future.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Perks depend on your attitude.

Holidays may seem great but often they are the most expensive time of year.

A lot of teachers use some of this time to prepare other work for the next term, etc.

A big drawback is that some of the pupils are unruly, abusive, lazy, and not very motivated.

BUT a good teacher can turn most of these around and this gives a great feeling of satisfaction.

Marking homework can take up a LOT of time, remember you have about 30 per class, sometimes up to 8 classes a day, 5 days a week. Planning is everything.

Money is not that great, the Authorities rely on the goodwill of teacher to do the work and be altruistic!

I earned a lot more in industry, but the job security was a lot worse than teaching.

The best teaching jobs are in the private school sector (you will need VERY good degrees here) and sixth form colleges (here you need to be able to teach A level standard).

You will need good GCSE's all round, especially Maths, Science and English at least "C" grade for whatever subject area you choose (these 3 are now essential).

At A level, specialise in an area that there is a shortage of teachers (Science and Maths are a good pair, so is a modern "foreign" language).

Then you have two choices

1. B.Ed which is a 4 year degree leading to a teaching qualification in your preferred subjects.

2. BSc which is a three year degree on the subject of your choice followed by a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) which then allows you to become a qualified teacher.