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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Uni degree choices v prospective employment Secondary school Art teacher

19 replies

ohforgoodnessake · 15/08/2022 14:00

I'm hoping for some input from any secondary school art teachers here- I know none IRL. DD is waiting A level results this Thursday to decide on where/what to study. She wants to be a secondary school art teacher (today, she changes her mind as they do), but is about to turn down an English degree conditional offer from Southampton to do a BA Illustration at either Falmouth or Brighton. I think she will still need a PGCE either way, but can someone advise if this particular degree will get her to where she wants to be? English is her best subject but she doodles all day long and has compiled a small, mostly digital, portfolio.Many thanks.

OP posts:
FrippEnos · 15/08/2022 14:26

She could do the English degree and then go on to do a PGCE in art and design with QTS.

MadonnasKebab · 15/08/2022 14:36

3 years is hard slog and I’d say for her to do what she’s interested in.
An undergraduate (poss will need a minimum of a 2:2 to then do PGCE) her Uni will be able to advise her more

OrangeBlossom28 · 15/08/2022 14:43

If she wants to teach Art she'll need an art related degree. Not sure how she could teach art with an English degree.

YuppieToast · 15/08/2022 14:45

Quite, was just going to say that. Although you can teach without the subject knowledge, any PGCE is going to ask for a directly relevant first degree.

She should do whatever interests her most.

Original poster
ohforgoodnessake · 15/08/2022 14:47

Sorry, should have been clearer. Will the Illustration degree be OK to teach Art, as opposed to Fine Art, which is what I've read?

OP posts:
HalfLass · 15/08/2022 14:47

If Art is where her passion is, she should do that. She will need a 2:1 or higher for a PGCE. By following her passion, career routes other than teaching may also suggest themselves to her.

OrangeBlossom28 · 15/08/2022 14:48

@ohforgoodnessake
She's better getting advice on the degree from the unis she's be looking at doing a PGCE at. Better to get it right at this stage.

Original poster
ohforgoodnessake · 15/08/2022 14:48

And sorry again, she just wants to teach - not necessarily Art, but English is her forte.

OP posts:
OrangeBlossom28 · 15/08/2022 14:50

Does she def want to do secondary? If primary then the degree specifics are slightly less important. (I have a Pharmacology degree and teach primary with a primary PGCE).

Original poster
ohforgoodnessake · 15/08/2022 14:51

OrangeBlossom28 yes, this is what she has done but has received conflicting and imprecise advice back - hence my question here.

I should have started really with, if she doesn't know what she wants to teach yet, which degree subject will stand her in the better stead for the world of work ahead?

OP posts:
TheHomeEdit · 15/08/2022 14:55

I would say schools will always need English teachers, but wonder if art will start to disappear from some schools if we have a major recession. I’m not saying I think it should but lots of schools have dropped music A level already for example. When she graduates as a teacher in 4 years time there may not be any jobs for art teachers.

OrangeBlossom28 · 15/08/2022 14:56

Then that's an issue if she wants to teach secondary she needs a subject specific degree. DD1 is doing a Geog degree and is thinking of secondary teaching so will go for the Secondary Geog PGCE and as she has a decent A level
In History will be able to teach that to GCSE.

TizerorFizz · 15/08/2022 17:59

If she wants to teach English she will need an English degree. It’s not a shortage subject so the offer from Southampton would be preferable. If she wants to teach Art, she might be limited by illustration. Teachers need a broad portfolio of skills. However if she likes the course at Brighton, then where would that lead? Possibly not to teaching.

daisyjgrey · 15/08/2022 21:14

I know the head of art at Falmouth and he's fantastic. Is there a reason she's gone for illustration over fine art? She can still do mainly drawing if that's what she's into but there will be far fewer restrictions on it.

I have a fine art degree and am doing a PhD in education, and will follow it with a PGCE (probably, if I haven't died from stress and exhaustion) and the specifics of the undergrad only really matter if it's maths or sciences she wants to teach. She needs to do what she does, a BA in something you don't care about is really unpleasant.

As a side note: In four years time we will need art teachers and artists more than ever; without creatives we have very little in terms of holistic enrichment. The arts is also a huge contributor to the economy. We disregard it at our peril.

Xenia · 15/08/2022 21:21

An English literature degree will keep many more career options open to her if that is her plan.

Verbena87 · 15/08/2022 21:24

I’m a secondary school art teacher with fine art and textiles a levels, a textiles-specialised foundation course (these are mostly gone now), an illustration degree then a PGCE. I teach fine art up to a level (and am good at it if our results are anything to go by).

I don’t know if any providers who’d take on an art PGCE student with a non-art degree unless they’d been working as an artist for several years in between. Why would they?! So definitely an arts subject for degree if she wants to teach art.

Verbena87 · 15/08/2022 21:30

Also, though I did PGCE after degree I would really recommend looking into the SCITT route as well, we’ve had a couple of trainees through this way and they (and I) really rate it as there is a real opportunity to build long-term relationships with classes and then experiment pedagogically in a context where you have established mutual respect. Obviously you need a placement in a school that suits you, but don’t solely look at PGCE as the way in (@daisyjgrey might apply to you too if you’re academia-ed out by that point as there is less lecture time and more classroom time, but you still get a solid grounding in educational theory and can obviously poke around in interesting research etc at your leisure too to inform your practice)

AliTheMinx · 15/08/2022 22:07

BIL's girlfriend is Head of Art at a secondary school and studied Fine Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art.

Diamond7272 · 15/08/2022 22:23

Teacher here, secondary senior management.

Do the art degree. Then do a PGCE.

ALL DAY LONG

Easiest job in teaching, teaching art. No real marking, no targets - well, not real ones - far less pressure.

Go to Falmouth College of art. Place is utterly buzzing, safe, clean, stunning place to study and be happy - with low drop out results and few students with mental health problems.

Just the one negative, teachers wages to start with are desperate. You will need money in the family to buy any kind of property anywhere in the uk. Remember large teacher pension outgoings, student loan interest 7%, and a lot of problems with accommodation... Our newly qualified teachers are renting rooms in shared houses of 6 people as estate agents wont rent anyone a bedsit until they earn at least 30k....(they wont even give them a viewing) That is a good 4 years into the job.... It may be a safe job for people in their 20s/30s, but low wages mean we haemmorhage staff once they hit 30 years of age and still are sofa surfing or renting rooms.

I am in surrey btw, but property in Cornwall these days is barely any cheaper.

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