Unqualified teachers

[morethanpotatoprints]

Who, apart from some qualified teachers are really mad about this. I do think there seems to be a lot of sensationalist reporting going on in the press.
I heard an advert on the radio today for unqualified teachers posts and apparentely they need a degree to be able to teach and in any subject. How is this any different than today with people with degrees in Textiles teaching in primary schools.
However, according to some QTs on here children will suffer as a consequence and anybody is allowed to teach without so much as a GCSE let alone a degree

I have a certificate saying that I am outstanding I have no intention of moving to an independent school. Why would I?

All I can add is I have recently been made redundant and many people have suggested I look in the private sector as my subject has more funding there....

Don;t fancy it really...

But I bet this has been the reason many 'good' teachers go.

Also I am very proud of the 42 ticks I got next tot he 42 standards during my QTS and NQT years :)

MC said

Also I am very proud of the 42 ticks I got next tot he 42 standards during my QTS and NQT years

Good for you. Hope the ideal job comes soon. Best wishes.

Well, since my children are in state schools, I'm glad you see no evidence of good teachers getting out. However, I think anyone living in commuting distance of London will cite evidence of teachers (and all manner of other essential workers) favouring the higher pay there rather than working to do a good job for local schools and their local community. And the temptation then of maintaining the higher pay but working closer to home (only an option in private schools which pay higher salaries than the local state schools) doesn't pass them all by, it would seem...
However, it was QualifiedTeacher who talked about concentration span and large classes and children these days being incapable of taking in more than little bite size chunks of information at a time and only if scintillatingly delivered, and how you can't compare private schools' results with state schools' unless you take into account the larger classes, SEN, etc... Which from a parents point of view makes it sound as though private education might be a good idea... after all, you can't blame teachers for everything or expect a brilliant teacher to get excellent results with the wrong sort of children....

I think going through the QTS hurdle is important. A benchmark is needed. We should also allow no more than two attempts at the basic Maths, English and ICT tests. It is ludicrous that potential teachers can sit these again and again - it is like constantly resitting GCSE and A Level modules to improve your grade.

There are some pretty poor teachers in the independent sector too. They tend to last no more that a couple of years in a school before they are found out.

happilyconfused - not sure it's true that bad teachers only last a couple of years in a private school. Some bad private school teachers stay on 'til retirement, or until a new head arrives at the school, and headteachers in private schools can hang around for donkeys years.... I think private schools think it looks bad to have a high turnover of teachers... After all, private or state, we are talking about human beings with feelings and emotional ties, not robots - even private schools can be "incompetent" when it comes to weeding out incompetence.

Well hopefully the teachers who have been coming into the profession over the past few years with QTS are driving standards up. Parents should be up in arms if children are not being taught by qualified people. Teachers should have degrees and they should pass QTS tests.

We are assessed every year for competency. At my school the competency route was taken with a Humanities teacher this year who resigned before being pushed. The person had the knowledge but lacked classroom management skills and could not keep pace with pupil assessments.

Teaching is important and our economy depends upon the output. We will be doomed if we have people 'drift' into teaching just because they could not get their dream job of lawyer, doctor, politician, CSI bod, astronaut or whatever.

Happilyconfused. I'm afraid you're a bit late with your hope of people drifting into teaching because of....... It has been happening for about the last 20 years really. I know this as it coincided with the birth and schooling of my older dcs

MTPP - I think Happily is meaning that those who might miss out on their "dream" career could now potentially drift into teaching without undergoing any further training. I agree that would be disastrous.

I would never blame teachers for everything, hardly anything actually.
In the state sector I know they do the best they can with the system and policies they are given.
I do feel there are discrepencies in ITT and QTS but there again, not the fault of the teachers.
Personally I don't like the nc, testing, and standard of education deemed good.
Again, not the fault of the teachers.
I feel sad that there are very good teachers who through the policies and procedures brought in by various governments are required to do everything but teach.
It is mainly for these reasons that I chose to take dd out of state school, not because of Gove. He is just another politician messing around with the system. There will be many more like him.

If teacher were not trained how would they know how to manage a class, plan, teach, assess and deliver lessons. Design and implement a scheme of work showing progression and continuity teach reading, writing ect, ect, ect. I had 4 A'levels before I trained my BEd training was not in vain. Some TA's can manage a class and deliver lessons but have a surface level of uderstanding of the other stuff I mentioned.

I have moped up many a time after some, who feel they know more than the teacher. Sometimes they do know a lot, but as a back seat driver it looks easy. As for total lay people doing it, forget it.

There have always been unqualified teachers in schools. They just get paid less. We have a handful in our school. They teach vocational subjects and they are all good teachers. They are subject to exactly the same performance management procedures as qualified teachers, and the same level of scrutiny in the classroom and of their results. Anyone who thinks any teacher is just left to get on with it is mistaken.

Actually there is a sometimes good cause for unqualified teachers at times.
As children get older and they learn vocational subjects such as construction and car mechanics it makes sense to have a subject specialist who might not be a teacher. I'd rather have a builder teach my child to build a wall than a teacher teach my child to build a wall.

In younger years a qualified artist might be far less restricted and get better results than an art teacher, and sports staff might be more effective they are sporstman themselves.
TA are being used more and more as 'cover' its unfair on them as the salary is nowhere near the same as a teachers and unfair onthe children who deserve someone who knows in detail about how and what will help them to learn best.

Many trained teachers cannot cope with life in the classroom, without proper training the job would be impossible.