Any primary teachers around?

[ActionThisDay]

DD has a long term plan to train as a primary teacher. She has spent the last three years volunteering In a primary school for a couple of hours a week (she’s still at school herself so has limited time).

I wondered whether anyone had any views on the best way to train- any degree plus PGCE or an education degree? Any general advice or views on primary teaching as a career? If it makes a difference to the best approach to take, she’s very strong academically- all 8s and 9s at GCSE and hoping for A stars/As at A level.

Thank you.

I was a primary teacher, gave up work 5 years ago.
I did a PGCE, and I think I would recommend this, as it would allow your daughter to get a degree in something that interests her and that would be more useful if she eventually decided that teaching wasn't for her.

I agree with above. I'm a secondary teacher but it works the same. I'd always advocate doing a degree and then PGCE. Teaching is a wonderful job in so many ways but there are also times when Teaching isn't a great place to be. Having a BA/BSc enables you to step away from Teaching (even if just for a short time and you step back into Teaching again at a later date) in a way that having a BEd doesn't. It just keeps your options open a bit!

Good luck

If she is certain that teaching is definitely what she wants, then she should save herself the extra debt and just do the bachelor of education degree.

Primary school teacher here too.
I’d also recommend any degree that interests her followed by a PGCE for the same reasons.

I would recommend that your daughter does her degree in something that she is passionate about. If that’s education, then she should study education. Getting three years to deep dive into something you love is a huge joy and privilege.

With regard to employability should she leave teaching, unless the alternate degree she would be doing is specifically linked to a career path eg engineering, chemist etc etc, then a degree is a degree.

Another vote for degree plus PGCE, less narrow and also buys her thinking time to come to her senses in case she decides she doesn't want to pursue teaching after all.

Just a note, the 'BEd' is very rare these days and mentioning it betrays a lack of understanding of routes into Primary teaching. Most UG courses are 3 year BAs in primary education with QTS, taking their specification from education studies degrees. If she wanted to be a lawyer I presume you would advise her to do a law degree, why should teaching be reduced to a back up option? Graduates of degrees with QTS have more classroom time, more time for reflection, last longer in the profession and save themselves a year's fees. If she chooses not to teach at the end of it, her back up will be teaching and her degree will be as useful as any other, with added proof of successful work based learning.

Definitely PGCE, then she has her degree to fall back on if leaving teaching. Is she sure about teaching?? I'm a teacher- would go into it now.

Retired teacher here. It’s a pretty brutal job with a pretty awful salary compared to some other graduate jobs. The PGCE students we have tend to have a higher drop out rate than those who do a B Ed, but I couldn’t really say why.

I agree with pgce. I did a BA Hons with QTS and it was difficult to find another job once I left teaching as my degree was teaching.

Lots of people who go on to be lawyers haven’t done their undergrad degree in Law.

@Soontobe60 not really the point. I mentioned the better retention of undergraduate routes and the use of the term 'BEd', which doesn't really exist anymore, and hasn't done for a long time. A better legal analogy would be suggesting she did a defunct Dickensian legal apprenticeship in Victorian London.

Degree then PGCE so there are alternatives if teaching isn’t for her.

Thank you, everyone- really helpful. She’s found lots of info online but it tends to be quite general - you can do this route or that route- and it’s great to have a sense of the pros and cons and what most people do.

She is pretty committing the idea of being a teacher but I’m very aware that she’s only 17 and a lot might change between now and her starting work, so keeping options open is a good idea. I also think it’s hard when you’re young to make decisions like this because you simply don’t know all the jobs that are out there and there’s a temptation to pick something just because you know a bit about it.

School careers dept haven’t been much use and just referred her to general websites she’s already seen. She was also considering psychology with a view to specialising in children, and they were very off-putting about that (basically told her she had no chance because it’s a trendy subject which I think is quite unhelpful- it may be competitive but someone has to get the places!) I wonder whether a psychology degree might be an idea and then she can decide whether to pursue teaching via PGCE or psychology down the line. Presumably a psychology degree would be ok if she does pursue primary teaching?

Thank you again. DD has done a lot of research herself and knows much more about all this than I do, but getting honest views from people who’ve done the job is invaluable.

@ActionThisDay when I worked in initial teacher training, psychology would not have been allowed for a PGCE. It's not a national curriculum subject, but they change the rules to adapt to teacher shortages so she might be fine.

Thank you. Her A levels are English, maths, French and philosophy so she'd presumably need to read English? (Maths as a degree isn't on the cards.)

Lots to think about.

@ActionThisDay English would be a safe option, although, as I mentioned, not much more useful than an education/childhood based degree for alternative employment. Perhaps surprisingly, education studies specifications have practically no psychology in them.

I did a psychology degree followed by a primary pgce and I’d say it’s a great route. Keeps your options open, you learn developmental psychology which links well to the pgce. Gives you the option of educational psychologist later on if you want to diversify!

I did a BA degree first and I am so grateful i did it before teacher training through a PGCE. I found teaching hard and dropped it when I could. The first degree is part of my identity and has been important for me just psychologically. If I had gone straight into teacher training with a more vocational degree then I would have less experience and self identity to fall back on, if you see what I mean.

Its always a good idea to get some breadth of life experience

To put it another way, my degree is something I have fallen back on intellectually in difficult days whereas my teacher training was just a skill I acquired. Totally different.

she could do English literature or French or psychology yes.

but I’d encourage her to take her tertiary education as a mind broadening mind educating experience rather than just a stepping stone to a job.

I did a BEd many decades ago!

I would recommend a degree then the PGDE now. Very few teachers now remain in teaching for their entire career and having another degree gives more options if moving on.

DP did BSc in Education before PGCE. After an enjoyable stint teaching, they have moved into a role involving teaching policy. It seems a well regarded route.

Do you have a uni near to you which offers the BA with QTS? It might be worth going to an open day to get a general feel for whether it might be suitable.
I did a Pharmacology degree and then a PGCE as a second career and, although it's tough at the moment in teaching, I don't have any regrets about it and love being a primary teacher.

Your child is clearly very academically bright. Have they considered their earning potential in primary teaching compared to what their similarly academic peers may earn?

Degree then PGCE gives her far more flexibility and wider opportunities . Both at the start of her teaching career and throughout life. She can use either without the other; or combine them in ways she never anticipated.