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.

Many of us end up teaching different subjects to those we qualified in. I was a Hod for a while for a subject I don't even have a GCSE in but had taught as a second subject for 15 years. I got fantastic results too .

OP - Aside from being a fucking teacher, what other qualifications do you have?

Pretty good qualifications here, if I say so myself 😂

None, outside standard GCSEs, A level and degree. Why, should I?

My colleague with a degree from Cambridge is on capability. Qualifications do not mean you can teach. If you struggle to manage a class then it doesn't matter what your qualifications are.

OTOH I’m not sure we need lots of teachers drawn from the same pool as the current and previous batch of government ministers...

So teaching is just managing kids’ behaviour, Loki?

I personally think Seconday school teachers should have a degree in the subject they are teaching, not a teaching degree in that subject if that makes sense.

But only because in my experience teachers who have studied their subject tend to not know the answers to any questions which stray from the syllabus.

Can I just jump on and say;

You do bloody need a degree to teach Reception! I couldn't teach my class without qualified teacher status.

I think my 14 GCSE's, 3 A Levels and 3 year honours degree in primary education makes me more than qualified to teach 3-11 year olds.

What 16 year old wouldn't be able to use good old google to look for careers advice?! They spend enough time on their chuffing phones!

Do you know how hard teachers work? I don't think you have a clue! If there's anything we don't know subject knowledge wise we actually spend our unpaid working hours (which is when 90% of our work happens) getting our heads around it!

What a bloody stupid sweeping generalisation!

I'm a teacher.

I have the following:
An honours degree in the two subjects I'm teaching.
2 postgraduate masters degrees.
A teaching licence.

Here - have a biscuit, OP.

Some people just love a good old boast

But you don’t need top qualifications to enter teaching. For medicine, law, dentistry, you do.

What 16 year old wouldn't be able to use good old google to look for careers advice?! They spend enough time on their chuffing phones!

the rest of your comment was spot on but that part was just a bit silly. Of course 16 year olds need sound career advice that goes deeper than what google can give them.

That is true of course Loki. But It's not either/or. I think the suggestion is highly qualified *in addition to" good teaching skills.

I achieved very well academically but I would be a terrible teacher. You need a certain level of intelligence and knowledge retention to teach, but beyond that there are so many more important skills.

The best teachers don't always have the best qualifications. I've had 2 trainee teachers vrecently with 1st class degrees and one had a PhD as well. Both (rather sadly) were both absolutely useless in the classroom and one was failed and the other was persuaded to drop out.
You have to have some personality, an ability to communicate and be able to empathise with the students to understand how to help them.
Some people just don't understand why other people don't understand things straight away. If you can't do that you will be a crap teacher.

The student we failed just didn't get why he wasn't good in the classroom as in his words 'i never fail anything'. He just couldn't apprehend that the students wouldn't just listen and be enthusiastic in his lessons. It was truly painful to watch his lessons and even more painful to try and get him to understand where he was going wrong.

My chemistry teacher openly told us she got a D at GCSE! Not very reassuring.

OP - You talk about "top qualifications" and then when I ask you about your own qualifications, you won't answer the question properly.

I don't understand the rudeness of some people on this website. What an unkind person ruby is.

@Batmanwearspants

I don't mean exclusively - but they can certainly look up entry requirements!

There's usually someone specific in the school like a pastoral support person who has more expertise about careers/Uni etc.

What the OP was saying unless I've misunderstood is that all teachers should have these expertise!

The main problem is that teaching isn't a good career nowadays: the salary is too low and the workload is too heavy. The best graduates have better options available, so in some cases it's those who don't have any better options who become teachers. If we want highly skilled and qualified people to become teachers, the profession needs to be more attractive.

Gf

What do you want to know Persian?

Actual grades?

From talking to my husband, the support he got with uni applications, especially Oxbridge, medical, dental etc is one of the big plus points of a private education. I am just comparing 2 schools though but at my place we were just left to it woth a bit of nagging as the deadline approached. They were coached for interviews, given all kinds of advice on which colleges would best suit them, etc.

Op if entry requirements for teaching are to be raised, then it needs to be made into a more attractive profession. There is currently a recruitment crisis.

Teachers need better pay and working conditions, when which would help with retention as well.

Not really.

What I’m saying is that many teachers will not know how to advise, steer and guide students towards qualifications and courses that will ultimately make them the top earners.