AIBU to think getting into teaching should be easier?

In my day, science grads didn't have to pay to do their PGCE and got paid to do it. Is it not this way anymore?

No formal teaching qualification - and this is why the quality of teaching in universities is so variable.

I would strongly urge your friend to approach organisations like Teach First who love STEM graduates. Two year programme, class room based with affiliation to a university to study for a PGDE, so one up from a PGCE. Paid as TA in 1st year and 1st year qualified in 2 year. All uni fees paid. Option for heavily subsidised masters post qualification.

It is very true of maths and stem subjects. I've known a few people come into schools with Phds in such subjects but struggled through their training year as they do not understand that them teaching something does not equate to pupils actually learning it. They often found it hard to teach the concepts in simple steps as it wasn't something they found challenging.

OP, most schools won't let teachers just teach A-level year groups. The majority of schools wouldn't even have the pupil numbers doing those subjects at that level to hire a teacher just for them. She clearly needs to experience a training year to understand the reality of how a school actually functions. Luckily of she is in STEM she will most likely qualify for a bursary.

Exactly. You have to learn how children learn maths. I'm better at teaching maths because I'm not good at it as a subject. I've had to learn to break the steps of learning into tiny, concrete steps in a way that the learner can access it, and seeing through the eyes of child who finds abstract concepts tricky to follow, is how I get my students to understand.

And know how to break the concepts down into easy steps, using the CPA approach to make the learning accessible.

My friend wasn't a particularly gifted mathematician but did have a degree in it.

He completed his PGCE but didn't teach maths post GCSE because he knew his limitations.

He was and is, a great maths teacher till GCSE and head of year.

Not saying there are not those who slip through the net.

I also have two friends who had lots of experience and decent jobs that they'd had since graduating. Both tried their hand at training to be a teacher. Both said no not for me. Both hard workers.
It is not piss easy!

I think this is particularly true of maths. A brilliant mathematician can struggle to see why pupils don't understand concepts they find obvious. To teach well they need to understand why student's misconceptions are happening.

One other thing that has irritated me, Is her desire to cherry-pick classes and only teacher A level.

She wants to swan into a school with no proper teacher qualifications and pick and choose her classes.

Presumably the lesser teachers will have to teach Hooke's Law to badly behaved, difficult year 7s whilst she (she has a PhD don't ya know) gets the best behaved most motivated kids in the school.

Sorry, it just doesn't - and shouldn't - work that way.

100 replies telling you that it's not ridiculous to expect someone to be a qualified teacher to work as a teacher, @LavenderFields7. Any comment?

If your friend wants to teach science or maths there is a £30000 bursary

This. It's not enough to be good at your subject you have to learn to teach it.

That's been my experience, funnily enough. Our 2 worst teachers at the moment have Science PhDs.

How long ago was that?

Because there are certainly ECTs in the system now who should have not got through a PGCE.

I agree with pp. It's certainly not "piss easy". It's challenging and demanding and I have failed more than one student. Last year we put one on extended supervision. They didn't meet the criteria.

I used to mentor PGCE students. We failed a couple. And a few more had to do extended placement due to not meeting the standards with evidence.

She may be “so qualified” with her PhD in STEM,
but she’s not qualified to be a teacher is she? And that’s the job she is going for.
Some people think just because they are clever, they can teach. And it’s not always the way. No matter what other qualifications she has, if she is going for a job as a teacher, then she needs a proper teaching qualification. I don’t know why that’s hard for you to grasp.

However genius she may be, she needs to learn how to pass that knowledge on to the required standard.

If she does do a PGCE, she'll have to teach KS3 and 4 on teaching practice, too.

It'll be piss-easy for her to get into teaching. She'll get a massive tax free bursary and everything. Very hard to fail a PGCE too.

Thinking she can waltz into a local school and only teach A-level will be a bigger challenge.

I'm a retired secondary head. In my career, some of the worst teachers were those with the best degrees and some of the best had qualified in the days when you could do a 3 year teaching certificate that wasn't a degree.

YABVVVU.
The PGCE teaches you how to teach! I've an Early Years PGCE and do you think I learned my colours, the days of the week, numbers to 20, how to add, what 'taking away' means or that ice melts when it warn, or how yo sound out the letters in the word 'cat'? No, I learned the pedagogical frameworks and theories on how children learn, how to pace a lesson, how to break learning into chunks, from minute to minute, week by week, term by term. I learned how to manage behavior and motivate students. Literally ever early years teacher knows the stuff they are teaching before the did a PGCE but how come not everyone could do a good job of teaching in an early years setting?

Exactly, because they haven't been trained in TEACHING!

I wish people would get their head around the fact that subject knowledge is only a small portion of what makes a good teacher and that, oftentimes, experts in the field with no teacher training tend to struggle hugely and often fail abysmally.

If she's STEM her pgce will be paid for.

Why just KS5?
Does she think it'll be easier and she won't need to use behaviour or learning strategies?
Does she think she'll just be going through past papers or text books?
Does she think the students will do the required reading to prepare for each session?
Does she think she won't have to chivvy them on if they fall behind?
Does she think she won't have to explain why they aren't meeting their targets at every data capture?
Has she got the emotional intelligence to support members of her tutor group when they are going through a break up or dealing with a bereavement?
Does she know where to direct her students if they require additional help for what ever reason?

also schools don’t generally want somebody just to teach A levels. There wouldn’t be enough teaching hours to fill their timetable unless several classes per year and other staff would also be teaching A level. Just wouldn’t work unless it’s a subject just offered at A level.
If they want to just teach A level they will need to work at a FE college or 6th form college.