Could I please have some advice from Scottish teachers please?

[ZickZack]

Hi everyone,

Been living abroad for years now and have gained teaching experience in various forms (tuition, private high schools, language schools).
I do enjoy teaching and am at the early stages of debating coming back to Scotland to train as a secondary teacher in either history or German. (I have a bachelor's in history and german, and a master in history, my German is fluent).

I'm looking for any advice from teachers in Scotland after hearing some bad stories. Is it really something I should avoid? Are there parts that are enjoyable for you? Are there really no jobs for teachers who specialise in history or German?
Any other real advice / experiences, good or bad, would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Sorry for the spelling mistakes and repetitions of words 🤦🏼‍♀️ currently one tired mum of a 6 month old baby!

History is one of the only subjects to have filled its quota of ITE (Initial Teacher Education or teacher training) places in courses starting soon. The others are Modern Studies and PE. German isn't taught in any of the central belt average size schools that I've worked in. Might be different in bigger cities or schools with larger rolls.

If you have been living abroad (I mentored a great student who was in this position) you will need to pay fees for your post grad and won't be entitled to the guaranteed probationary year. You'd need to gain full registration via the independent route.

I still enjoy being a secondary teacher in Scotland. It's not without challenges but certainly matched with rewards.

Unless you've studied Scottish History, you might be best trying German.

And yes, it is annoying that German doesn't seem to be taught anymore - we have German ancestry and I'd be really keen for DD to have studied this.

The biggest concern you should have is gaining a permanent position after the induction year. They are few and far between with many previous years' probationers stuck on supply lists and chasing them. It's cheaper for LAs to replace each year with a new set of funded probationers. It's even quite hard to get on the supply lists and get work. Possibly better if you are willing to move well outside the central belt. Social and behaviour issues are a massive challenge compared to teaching internationally. I honestly wouldn't recommend it to anyone. As others have pointed out German isn't in demand so history is the better option if you do go ahead. I moved into alternative work in education using my skills and am incredibly grateful to have escaped.

German is taught in our (private) school, up to Higher or A level if there is enough demand.

But it's rare. Therefore limited jobs.

See here - https://www.understandingstandards.org.uk/Subjects/German/CourseReports

1500, 505, 110 for Nat 5, H, AH German candidates in 2022.

History is 15710, 9865, 1470.

That huge difference in scale tells you the relative number of jobs. And with History I would think you can probably teach lower school humanities in other disciplines (not my area so I'm not certain) so that makes you much more attractive than German too.

This is why I recommend History of your 2 options. Although I honestly recommend neither.

All of the history teachers in the school I've retired from can also teach Modern Studies or RE or Geography. Having two subjects helps but is no Guarantee of a job. The same applies to languages. All of the teachers could teach french and Spanish. German has all but disappeared from state schools.

Why do you think you need to have studied Scottish history? I am a history teacher with no Scottish history in my degree!

Gaining an ITE place for history is very competitive and there are far more applications than places. Permanent jobs for social subjects teachers are very scarce, particularly in the central belt, but even in rural areas.

Languages jobs are much easier to come by, but French is the predominant language. Do you have any French in your degree?

German, French and Spanish all taught in the school I most recently worked in, but the teachers seemed to teach more than one of them. Can you get a PGCE course where you do both your subjects? History includes Scottish history and buckets of WW2 and Russian Revolution kind of stuff, so I wouldn't worry on that point.

German is taught in Shetland to AH level but the language teachers all have 2 languages. Likewise History teachers can teach geography or modern studies too.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I was speaking to someone doing a primary teaching degree and she seemed to believe secondary teaching jobs are in demand right now. This thread has given me another perspective. Seems like it will be a difficult route.

It's true for some subjects. Home Ec, Tech applicants can pick and choose. My subject (English) plenty of vacancies and half the teacher training places unfilled. When I qualified it took me 4 years to bag a permanent contract. But the job market has changed. For many subjects - sadly not yours.

Do you have any Politics or Social History modules in your academic transcript? My DD1 completed her probation year in Geography and contacted the GTCS to see what she'd need to apply for dual qualification, to teach Modern Studies, and be more marketable. She had some Geo Politics modules and turned out she already had enough to teach Modies and achieved dual qualification quickly. She was also (eager) prepared to leave the central belt so that helped her too.