AIBU to think getting into teaching should be easier?

This!⬆️

Teaching is so much more than just knowing about something that you can then tell someone else!

We need to worry more about how we retain the brilliant teachers we have within the education system, not make it easy for just anyone to do it!!

its Important that teachers are qualified in teaching.
your friend is not.
However secondary stem subject PGCEs are usually have massive bursarys.

Had this person able to complete a phd really done so little research they don’t understand that it wouldn’t cost them 10,000.

I don’t know why the teaching profession is so undervalued in this country, but it speaks volumes that even people who want to do it think it’s not with training for.

Stem!

If she wants to get into teaching sten subjects most of them are offering a bursary of 27k tax free to learn. There couldn't be a better time. Because it is tax free they will get more money training than they will in their first year teaching.

Surely lockdown demonstrated that teaching is a skill that needs to be learnt! I've a professional job and am educated but goodness I couldn't teach for toffee - DC will confirm that. Home education during covid was a nightmare!

She can do Teach First, surely?

She’d have been better spending her time and money on PGSE than a phd

A-Level teaching is often highly sought after in a school and lots in each department wanting to do it. Therefore schools need people to teach the whole ability range and not just A-Levels and that’s where the training comes in. Unless it’s an A-level only subject and even then you can end up covering or having a lower school tutor group. There’s a variety of training options out there, some will pay and you can do on the job. Most schools whether private or state will want you to do a teaching qualification alongside. It sounds like your friend hasn’t really researched the options properly.
Sixth form colleges are different again, but most teaching traditional A-Levels will have teaching qualifications, for example Maths, you may also need to teach GCSE re-takes, Science foundation level courses etc.

People don't understand, @TheMoth . Hence some of the threads about schools and teachers on here.

Well, I don't know how he manages the school or how well it performs, so I can't judge.
I just think it's poor that any school of any kind would appoint someone without a teaching qualification. That's just my opinion.

I don't think people really appreciate the skills that teachers have to learn, until they try to do it. Not only that, the way lessons are constructed changes.

When I first started teaching over 20 years ago, I thought it would be like when I was in school: I would talk about poems, then students would write a bit.

Oh, the shock I got! You never stop learning your craft when you're teaching, no matter how good your subject knowledge.

I did smile when I saw that your friend just wants to teach A Level: don't we all?!

What Teaching experience do they have? Can they control a classroom? What teaching pedagogies do they know?

Knowing your subject is one thing. Being able to teach and being good at teaching is a totally separate subject.

What a bizarre post.

Of course teachers need to know how to teach.

Why on earth would you think she should be handed a job she isn't qualified to do? Teaching is an actual profession with particular skills and qualifications needed. It's not a job for people who fancy an easy life 😡

Yes, it's true that he started teaching many years ago and has worked his way up. Maybe that's not possible now.

I have no actual knowledge of how teaching works and even i think this

Knowing the content of the curriculum is a small part of the job. Pretty much anyone with a degree can stay a couple of lessons ahead of the classes in terms of content knowledge. Ask any primary teacher who suddenly had to learn the history of ancient Benin when that appeared on the curriculum a few years ago!

A PGCE ensures that teachers understand teaching and learning, have a basis in SEND, behaviour management, understand the law regarding protecting children and have experience of working with other professionals and the actual students. All pretty essential to the job.

As everyone else has said, there's a lot more to teaching than (high level) subject knowledge. If they just want to teach A Level, have they approached a local Sixth Form college? Many of them will train a good candidate 'on the job' so they will gain their QTS, but only for teaching that 'level'.
I'm sure your friend isn't one of these people, but a lot of people don't appreciate quite how much you might learn on a PGCE besides actually teaching (legislation, psychology, Safeguarding, sheer volume of workload etc). That's why people often find it quite a tough qualification, regardless of previous experience and ability.
Hope your friend finds somewhere to train them, we desperately need more committed, expert teachers.

I want to be a radiographer but sadly I can't afford to retrain. It doesn't mean I think the requirement for the specialist qualification shouldn't exist.

Could they not do an assessment only course? A friend has just completed this and is now teaching. Only takes 12 weeks.

Subject knowledge is one element of teaching - others include pedagogy, subject progression, curriculum, differentiation, behaviour management, knowledge and experience of special needs, ability to plan and assess, infinite patience and creativity - these are all things teachers need to learn!

Just because someone is very knowledgeable in a subject does not mean they can teach it well.

This is increasing not the case. If he's a head now he must have started a while back. On the rare occasion our school takes someone unqualified they are immediately put through a teaching qualification on the side. It's a frequently trotted out myth on the anti PS threads. It's v rare that any school would employ someone solely for 6th form unless it's a subject only taught at A level.

😂😂

I did a PGCE with someone who had a PhD and he couldn't cope at all. He ended up dropping out of the course.

I think teachers should have teaching qualifications. I don’t think that’s unreasonable. It should be much cheaper/free though or have a system where student loans are written off after X number of years though. The problem with big tax free/bursaries is it attracts people who just do it for the bursary and then they quit when it turns out their salary the first years will actually be lower than their bursary due to tax!

I’ve worked in private schools and the majority of teachers are qualified. At my last school the French teacher wasn’t, she was just a native French speaker. Tbh, her teaching wasn’t brilliant. I don’t think there are that many unqualified teachers working in private schools even though it’s technically possible, and even fewer head teachers.