DC’s teacher didn’t go to university.

[RabbitWedge]

Two of my DC’s are at the same secondary private school. It’s a small private school, not a well known name, but costs a small fortune nonetheless. An interaction with one of my DC’s English teachers at the end of term has made me feel uncomfortable.

‘Mrs Jones’ has worked at the school for a number of years. She is a very well liked English teacher; the children love her and she’s given high praise on the parents WhatsApp group. At the end of term, I was having a casual chit chat with ‘Mrs Jones’ and the topic of university came up. I asked ‘Mrs Jones’ where she went to university, and she stated that she had not gone and didn’t have a degree. I must have looked very taken aback, as she quickly added that she had an impeccable educational record (apparently all A’s and A*’s), she’d been tutoring for a number of years and working as a TA, at which point the school promoted her to teach English. I didn’t ask for this explanation, but she perhaps felt the need to justify her teaching.

I was under the impression that all teachers had to have degrees at the very least, and whilst I don’t doubt her popularity and delivery of her English lessons, I am concerned. I was aware that teachers in the private system didn’t need to be qualified teachers, but to not even have attended university seems unsuitable.

Would you raise this with the school in my position?

You would be surprised to learn the teachers at private schools don’t have to be qualified in their subject or qualified as teachers at alll but the state sector does. You should find out what you are paying for before you pay.

Would you raise this with the school in my position?

To what end? The school are fully aware, they employ her

Private schools are a different kettle of fish. They can employ teachers with no training or a degree/QTS.

ETA You still want them to have gone to university, but what difference does it make if it's not in their subject they teach?

No, I don't think you can raise it with the school. They can employ who they like to teach.

You answered the question yourself.

Of course teachers SHOULD have a degree, but in the private system they can do what they like, and in the state system they get whoever they can persuade to stand in front of the class if they can’t recruit.

Teaching needs a huge cash injection to recruit suitable trainees.

I don’t get this ‘need a degree to teach’ bullshit. You can get some very capable individuals who can teach without one. If they are getting good results, what’s the issue?

Independent schools and academies can employ teachers without a degree and qualified teaching status . To tell the truth I have both , but I have found my life experience and learning on the job more useful than my degree in the subject I teach .

Our Deputy PM didnt even get a GCSE.

Wete you happy with her teaching before you knew she wasn't qualified?

Shes basically done an apprenticeship really. More idea about what's she doing than am NQT.

You’ve answered your own point, you knew that private schools don’t have to employ qualified professionals so you left the judgement of whether or not their teachers are capable to the leadership of the school. I don’t think I would raise it in your position.

Send them to State if you're that bothered.

Raise what?
The school know she doesn't have a degree, they employed her knowing that and continue to employ her.

My dd's former Independent school has every member of staff listed on their website, along with their relevant qualifications.

Surely you did research / visited / asked questions before sending your child to the school.

Honestly, this doesn't sound like a good school if they can't attract degree-educated people to teach essential subjects. For context, my DD is at a private secondary and her English teacher has a PhD.

The qualifications of the deputy PM are clearly irrelevant as there are no minimum qualifications to be an MP and the entire sector is pretty much unregulated.

I went to a technical college at 16. One of our English teachers hadn't been to University. Out of the 4 (yes we had 4 different English teachers) he was streets ahead of them in knowledge of subject, teaching ability, control of class, well just everything.

I enjoyed his lessons and looked forward to them. Had he been the only English teacher I would have passed my "A" level, the others were dire

What's your concern? What is she lacking due to not having a degree?

My children’s school isn’t private. Nonetheless I wouldn’t be particularly bothered if someone who was otherwise a good teacher, popular with students and parents and got good results hadn’t been to university. I think University is massively overrated for a lot of careers.

You don’t need a degree to teach! In the private sector, academy and free schools you don’t even need QTS.

Whats the point of raising with the school? They know her qualifications and clearly decided her ability to teach and engage pupils (and presumably deliver exam results) is far more important than having a degree.

This 👆 if shes good at her job and getting the desired results thsts what matters.

Who cares? You don’t need a degree to be an excellent educator. She ended up in her career through an atypical route. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Lots of very bright and capable people don’t have degrees. Lots of utter numpties do. It’s not a guarantee of competence.

So she's a great teacher who your children love, but you now have an issue with her because you've realised she doesn't have a degree? Is that right?

I wouldn’t raise it. They obviously felt she was capable of the job and you said everyone praised her teaching.

There are teachers with a degree who are abysmal and the children know they don’t know what they’re talking about. You wouldn’t be achieving anything.

Why would you raise it? What is the concern?

I would much rather have a great teacher with no degree, than a poor teacher with one. I say this as somebody with a degree, and a Master's; sometimes it really is just a piece of paper. There are so many extremely intelligent people that have so much potential, and fully capable of obtaining a degree; they just simply didn't go to university.
You have alluded to the fact that this lady is a very good teacher. I understand your surprise, I would have thought it was needed too. I'm pleased it isn't, she sounds wonderful.

I think people often assume private schools will have the best teachers. It has been suggested to me, by parents who send their children to private school that I should look to work on one, to earn more.

Private schools often pay less and do not always offer the teachers pension scheme and so it's not surprising they may not always be able to recruit the best qualified staff. I'm not saying private school teachers are all worse than state of course, just that there is no reason to assume they would be better. The only teachers I know that have moved from state to private have done so because they couldn't cope in the state sector.

In addition, there is of course a massive teacher recruitment and retention issue in both state and private sectors. All of our teachers have degrees in my school, but we often have to teach outside of our specialisms to plug gaps in timetables.