To think entry requirements to be a teacher should be higher

[totteringlump]

AIBU to think too many teachers (obviously not all) don’t have particularly good qualifications themselves and so struggle to teach the syllabus to the class? People are able to pass but not excel and these teachers often struggle to advise students about gaining entry to Oxbridge and other places plus about high paid careers.

If students don’t have this advice at home they cannot know.

I've got an idea OP, let's raise the entry requirements and make teaching such an exclusive profession that then there's no one qualified enough to do it.

Mere, I was talking about Primary teaching. You need to teach the entire curriculum.

I'm talking about people who couldn't name all of the continents, didn't know how many wives Henry VIII had, were unaware of the chemical formula for water and had no idea who Lewis Carroll was.

So the government took away the statutory requirement for proper careers advice which would have narrowed the gap between informed and uninformed, and you blame the teachers for not having a good enough degree...? Riiiiight....

Haha ok - they can't recruit enough teachers as it is so why not increase the level of entry requirements needed . Good idea OP.

There was also a real lack of how to actually be around children. Some of the trainees just had absolutely no idea and after just a couple of teaching practices, were able to become fully qualified.

Fairly poor grammar and punctuation exemplified here too, Smuggsy.

Actually I taught myself one of my A levels as there wasn't a teacher for tjat subject and I had no qualifications at all. (I did get a D so not so good)

The only area where I am majorly concerned about the quality of reachers' qualifications is in science. Because it's so hard to recruit science teachers you often get teachers with poor degrees. My ds had a teacher for GCSE chemistry who had got a C in GCSE chemistry. I'm not making it up. She was awful. Of course the only solution is to pay more but that's not happening any time soon.

You pay peanuts, you get monkeys. People rave about salaries and school holidays in teaching, but if you divided the salary by ACTUAL hours worked you'd be well below minimum wage. More people are leaving teaching year on year than joining the profession. That's your problem.

Pray do tell what is wrong with my grammar and punctuation.

They have to learn what they need to achieve it though, mycathasfleas, not just be inspired...

*Two of my university friends went on to be teachers. Both has 3rd class degrees, one because she scored 0 for a quarter of her final year due to plagiarism.

A couple of Facebook friends are primary teachers and have dreadful grammar.

It takes a lot of dedication for a "better" candidate to want to be a teacher though, it's a pretty tough job with a salary which isn't fantastic. I've put better in commas because I appreciate someone with good academic results might not be a good teacher.*

When commenting on such things please be careful yourself, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones and all.

QUOTATION MARKS- not commas!

In terms of the op, I can see what the op is saying and think a 2:1 is a good idea for secondary, not necessary for primary though.

However, as previous posters have noted, this would leave no one to teach your children!

Better conditions for teachers needed to make it an appealing profession. I don't believe an increase in salary is necessary.

Both has 3rd class degrees

Spot the grammatical error.

What did you get in your degree? Hope it wasn't in English.

I'm not in the glass house though, I'm not a teacher. Hopefully you're feeling nice and superior now though? Well done

In Finland, teachers are required to have a Master's Degree. Finland have the highest scoring academic results - go figure.

Also, teachers there are paid as though they are actually important, so I'm guessing the role is more appealing.

Teachers are not paid peanuts, nor are they monkeys. The teachers I know aren't particularly wanting to be paid more, they'd just like less paperwork and for the government not to move the goalposts or bring out a new initiative every 5 min.

How pedantic, Ruby. Even if the poster above was a teacher, we don't seem to be in a classroom right now. Does no one have an awareness of how different language is used in different places? An internet forum is totally different to a professional teaching a class.

Mere, I was talking about Primary teaching. You need to teach the entire curriculum.

I'm talking about people who couldn't name all of the continents, didn't know how many wives Henry VIII had, were unaware of the chemical formula for water and had no idea who Lewis Carroll was.

Getting a better degree isn't necessarily going to guarantee people know all that, and most of the answers on this thread are interpreting the OP to mean requiring a higher level degree. Maybe "better qualifications" should mean that as well as degree class you should look for good A level and GCSE results in a wide spread of subjects.

And if you did that, you might find that a candidate with a pass degree but a good spread of GCSEs and A levels at good grades gave you more of what you needed than a narrowly specialising graduate with a good degree class.

Not feeling superior at all.

I wouldn't have made a comment on grammar, spelling or punctuation if you hadn't made the comment about your friends having dreadful grammar.

So yes, you are in a glass house as you are criticising someone for something you are not good at yourself.

How pedantic, Ruby.

No- the poster made a comment about dreadful grammar, therefore they opened themselves up to criticism. See above.

I completely agree, Mere. For primary teaching in particular, I think a good range of GCSE subjects and general knowledge too is an essential.

Echoing the other poster my friends dislike all the admin/reporting/documenting. One is on 50k & one is on 60k & they get good pensions. It’s frustrating when the goalposts move all the time.

I have an Oxbridge degree and I'm a teacher.

My HOF has a 2:2 from a decent but nothing posh university.

She is by far and away the best teacher I have ever seen.

Teaching ability and academic ability don't go hand in hand. They really don't. Some spectacularly clever people i know would make horrendous teachers.

However, with my super special Oxford degree, please can get a pay rise ?

My ds had a teacher for GCSE chemistry who had got a C in GCSE chemistry. I'm not making it up. She was awful. A poor GCSE is not the same as a poor degree. It is possible to get a mediocre mark at GCSE, really get into the subject at A level, and then get a good degree.

On the other hand I had a Physics teacher with an excellent degree who was one of the top research scientists during the war. As a teacher, he was truly dreadful. Was totally unable to inspire a class, and very few his pupils went on to Physics A level.

I'm a TA and I will admit that the lack of general knowledge and spelling/grammar ability in some teachers is embarrassing. However I know people with masters and phds with similar poor knowledge outside their areas. There's no guarantees.

Primary teacher here (Year 5). I got straight As throughout school, 1st class honours in my undergraduate degree and a distinction in my PGCE (post graduate teaching degree). A lot of people questioned why I was doing teaching because my qualifications are above the entry requirements, but there's so so much more to teaching than academic results. My dad, for example, is extremely clever, but he admits he would never have made a good teacher, just like I would never have made a good engineer!

I agree, though, that poor grammar and punctuation are unacceptable in teaching.