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Original poster

What makes a good teacher?

32 replies

back2work · 02/07/2012 18:59

I am seriously thinking about training to be a maths teacher. Maybe this sounds stupid, but I don't want to do it unless I will be a good teacher. What makes a teacher a good teacher though? Are there personality traits that all good teachers have, and weak teachers don't have?

Any other advice would be appreciated too

OP posts:
Original poster
back2work · 03/07/2012 12:31

I've been helping out in primary school as a parent volunteer for the last three years. Last year I was working with the special needs group approx 2 days per week. This year i seem to be the TA's office junior!

So I know a bit about primary schools and I can see what goes on (though obviously not a full picture!). Are there any similarities with secondary schools or is it completely different?

OP posts:
mummytime · 03/07/2012 12:24

Do not rush into it! The hours are long. If you really don't know teenagers or how schools work, you could be in for a huge shock. Also colleges which still have places may not be the best places to learn.
Next year a lot of the training is going to change, as far as I know GTP is going to disappear, but a lot of GTP providers are going to become SCITT instead eg. you train with schools instead of outside colleges.
Maths teachers are in demand, but it is still a demanding job, and there is a lot to teaching other than knowing your subject.

The best thing to do is to contact schools and ask to go in for observation, and make the most of anytime doing observation you get.

Original poster
back2work · 03/07/2012 12:05

I just spoke to the teaching information line and I got some good advice. Apparently there is a shortage of maths teachers and there is even spaces available on courses due to start in September.

They see me as a good candidate because I have a lot of professional experience using mathematics and I have business and personnel management experience too, both professionally and, more recently, from running my own company.

I really want to be a teacher because I just feel like its my vocation (I know that's not a fashionable word).

However, they did say that I would likely have to take a loan of £9k to pay the tuition fees, which i would then start repaying as soon as i got a job which would pay £25k per year before tax as we live just outside London.

I fully accepted that I would not be paid well but Wow! £2k a month from which i have to pay tax as well as transport to work, clothes for work, childcare and repayments on a debt of £9k??? I don't think I'll break even. I am really shocked.

They said that the salary could go up by a large percentage (but I am a maths graduate and I understand that a large % of a small number can mean a very small increase in absolute terms, so that's just using statistics to mislead).

DH doesn't want me to become a teacher. I don't think its about the money, although he would prefer me to earn a good salary (which i used to do) if I am not going to be a SAHM. However, I need to really think about this now because I had not realised that as well as buying my food, paying our rent, travel, entertainment etc with his salary, I may need him to help repay my student loan too. Expecting DH to subsidise my wish to teach is asking a lot.

OP posts:
Original poster
back2work · 03/07/2012 10:57

Can i just ring up a secondary school and ask if I can come in?

OP posts:
vj32 · 02/07/2012 21:47

Go and see what it is like in a secondary school, preferably 2 as they are all really different. You will have to do at least 2 weeks observation before you apply for teacher training anyway. (Although I think Maths is easier to get into than a lot of other subjects so they may be less strict about this.)

You have to be very confident in yourself, and not take crap personally. You need to be able to explain things clearly, and then in another way and another way.... until they get it.

PGCEs at uni are hugely variable, some are good, some bad, sometimes they are both at the same time and it is just luck. At uni you learn the theory, basics (very basics) of legislation around CP, SEN etc and some subject based theory. You will also have to do assignments at masters level, and of course pass your school placements.

Original poster
back2work · 02/07/2012 21:02

I like young children, but I don't know any teenagers. Oh dear!

However, I am quite stubborn!

What about training colleges? What do you actually learn there? Is it the technique of preparing lessons and legislation?

OP posts:
cardibach · 02/07/2012 20:43

Stubborness is good Grin Teenagers are very stubborn and you need to be more so.
I find it helps enormously that I like teenagers: they make me laugh, so I can control irritation at them most of the time.
You need to be able to make connections really quickly and make good working relationships with a variety of people (staff and pupils).
It's very hard to know if you will be good until you are doing it full time, though. Good teachers are not all the same, and I'm not sure whether there are many qualities they even have in common.