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Secondary education

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Original poster

Does anyone know what is the difference between an "instructor" and a "teacher"

8 replies

bruffin · 15/03/2013 14:01

One of dcs' teachers is a russian professor. He is referred to as Dr. At a meeting at the school the HOY said that he was an "instructor" which was why he was allowed to teach 6th form and i got the impression that he was not allowed to teach lower than that. However when he arrived 3 years ago he was teaching my dd's year 7 class. He is given my DS yr 12 some extra tuition during school time.
DCs really like him as a teacher and have a lot of respect for him. Just curious as to the different definition.

OP posts:
adeucalione · 15/03/2013 14:09

I think he is probably someone who is highly qualified (title of Dr suggests to PhD level) in his subject, but who hasn't achieved QTS.

Definition here

Original poster
bruffin · 15/03/2013 14:20

Thanks that makes sense.
It sounds like they were having difficulty recruiting when he first came, so they could use him as a teacher but now he is only allowed to teach 6th form.

OP posts:
kritur · 15/03/2013 18:10

An "instructor" is an unqualified teacher, one without qts. I'm guessing it's an independent school as most Russian is taught in Indies so in that case it makes little difference as they do not have to employ qualified teachers.

Original poster
bruffin · 15/03/2013 18:18

No its a normal comp with academy stun but he doesn't teach Russian, he teaches another subject.

OP posts:
Original poster
bruffin · 15/03/2013 18:19

Status

OP posts:
kritur · 15/03/2013 18:24

sorry just reread that and realised you meant he is actually ethnically Russian rather than a teacher of Russian!

Academies can get away with non qualified teachers too (not good in my opinion!). He may also be registered on a training programme to get qts as this is possible for overseas teachers who may need to convert their home country qualifications. He will be fully CRB checked it's just he will have no formal teaching qualification like a pgce. If he's a decent teacher it maybe doesn't matter too much but it is worrying that academies have started employing more instructors. Previously LA controlled schools could only employ an instructor when they had recruitment difficulties meaning they couldn't get a qualified member of staff.

Original poster
bruffin · 15/03/2013 18:32

He was employed before they became an academy if remember correctly. The subject he teaches does have a shortage, but as i said above my ds thinks he is an excellent teacher. He is only teaching 6th form now.

OP posts:
meditrina · 15/03/2013 18:36

Is QTS required anywhere for (non statutory) 16+ education?

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