PCGE with no intention of teaching ?

[Sofabitch]

Has anyone done the pcge with no intention of actually going into teaching?

I'm considering doing it. The bursary is pretty good and I could really do with a year to bump up my finances and repair my savings after 3 years of student finance before starting on the bottom rung of somewhere.

I figure it will look great on my CV regardless and has loads of great skills that I can take with me into my carer, plus I can get 60 credits at Masters level which saves a few thousand on the OU.

Is this an unworkable plan?

I mean there is a possibility I'll love it right ;-) but from everything I've read I'm not holding my breath.

I think i would enjoy it. But realistically don't think I could be a teacher in today's climate.

And yes I'd rather have my children taught by someone like me that wants to learn and goes in with ope eyes to the proffesion

I have absolutely no problem with this statement and agree with it but you are being rather disingenuous considering your OP.

"For those wondering about getting experience, DC worked in a school during their gap year. Several teachers at the school where I work did the same. We've also had people who take annual leave to volunteer before applying for once."

Then it's becoming like those professions that you can only get into if you're well off enough to do an unpaid internship. Terrible news.

It is, to me, bizarre that you think that a PGCE would be tempting while teaching is not. For me, and many others, the PGCE was a bloody awful year, way worse than actual teaching in terms of workload, paperwork and scrutiny. I reckon if I'd had a 25K bursary for my PGCE year (I didn't, it was 6k) it would have worked out way less than minimum wage.

Then it's becoming like those professions that you can only get into if you're well off enough to do an unpaid internship. Terrible news.

So you'd rather people take up places to train to be a teacher, using taxpayer's money as well as their own, who have absolutely no idea of what is going on in current education, especially if they have been educated abroad?
Good Grief.

" I reckon if I'd had a 25K bursary for my PGCE year (I didn't, it was 6k) it would have worked out way less than minimum wage."

That's not good, but I suppose you have a qualification at the end of it. In general you're only paying out if you do a post grad, whereas here you at least get some money. I can see OP's point of view.

Struggling to see how it'll look great on your CV? You'd look like you copped out to me..

And yes I'd rather have my children taught by someone like me that wants to learn and goes in with ope eyes to the proffesion,

But your eyes aren't "open wide to the profession". You seem to know very little about it other than you can get a bursary. Which unsurprising as you don't actually want to enter the profession.

"So you'd rather people take up places to train to be a teacher, using taxpayer's money as well as their own, who have absolutely no idea of what is going on in current education,"

That's how teachers have traditionally done it, so, yes. My teachers went into teaching without volunteering first as did all my friends who are teachers.

And you apparently think only well-off people whose parents can afford to fund their gap years should be able to teach.

"
And yes I'd rather have my children taught by someone like me that wants to learn and goes in with ope eyes to the proffesion, than someone who went into teaching because they always wanted to be a teacher despite not actually being suited."

The PGCE is there to weed out those who are unsuited. The high bursery is for those who are able of highly paid employment. If the op thinks 25k is riches then I am sceptical she would be eligible. I did half a PGCE in a shortage subject and most of the mature students had earn well in excess of 25k. Often they were career changers who found commuting into London too much with small children.

Echoing a PP, I also fail to see how a PGCE looks good on a CV? Especially when it isn't followed by at least two years of teaching. Surely it is just looked at as a cop out/failure?

It might be a tempting option financially but it is serious hard work and tbh if you're not intending to teach, I can foresee you questioning whether it is worth the exhaustion. Lost of PPs are playing it down but PGCE is hard work, however you do it.

And you apparently think only well-off people whose parents can afford to fund their gap years should be able to teach.

Where on earth did this come from? Not me that's for sure!

And what exactly do you think 'volunteering' is?! It's not spending whole terms in a classroom so certainly not an 'internship' that you keep fixating on. Maybe 5 days to 10 at most, unless you have worked as a Parent volunteer in a Primary school or as a TA/Cover supervisor. I don't believe that any of your 'teacher' friends from the last 20 years, didn't even spend one day observing in a primary or secondary school, prior to starting their training.

But its not just 25k. It would for me work out equivalent to a taxable income of around 50k. So its a considerable sum of money for essentially 10 months of work and a short delay in starting my career. And you get the pcge after a year. It's only qualified teacher status if you do the NQT year.

And yes I'm pretty sure I could earn more than that in a few years if I went off and did something else. But I'd be starting at the bottom of a new area. So it wouldn't be for a few years.

I'm still doing my degree at the moment. So its not like I'm switching out from a high paid career.

Anyway I'm ducking out on this for now. It's certainly given me a lot to consider. And people are clearly passionate about protecting their proffesion :-) thanks for the advice.

"I don't believe that any of your 'teacher' friends from the last 20 years, didn't even spend one day observing in a primary or secondary school, prior to starting their training. hmm"

It's the truth. I'm talking of people who went straight from university to their PGCE. I suppose they still had recent experience of the school system as the were only 21. This would have been just under 20 years ago.

It was soupsandwich who mentioned the gap years.

We aren't necessarily 'expected' to mentor, certainly not in my workplace. I choose to do it.

I love teaching and I love mentoring, but they are both exhausting. I do both because of the huge difference they make to individuals. I would be royally fucked off if a mentee I had invested time and effort in had no intention of teaching.

I think it's really unfair on the kids you'll be teaching during your placements, they deserve someone who actually wants to be there.

Gwen, apologies, typing on phone and posted without proofreading. DC worked in school during gap year, ie, paid work. We are by no means well off and absolutely could not have funded a gap year. Our income is such that DC not only had maximum student loans, but also received a grantfrom student finance and bursaries from university.

All dcs fellow pgce students had also been employed in a school either before uni, or between uni and pgce.

The training bursary sounds a lot, but compared to what DC could earn outside teaching, it's not that much at all. And it's only for one year, thereafter, it's teacher payrate.

You really need to do some more research OP
No fees aren't paid out of the bursary

But you do need to have payment for the fees set up before the course starts. Any plans for that, OP?
I'm assuming that you are aiming for Physics or Maths or Chemistry or MFL or Computer Science for Secondary?

"DC worked in school during gap year, ie, paid work"

Ah, OK. I misunderstood what you meant by 'gap year'. So they went to uni, did a year as a TA (on 12k presumably) and then did the PGCE?

When I was young, people went straight to the PGCE, no volunteering required.
I wonder why it's becoming harder to become a teacher if there is actually a recruitment crisis and a shortage in some subjects?

Kitty, I would think it's science and not MFL as the bursaries are lower for MFL, at least here in Wales.

I think OP mentioned a loan for the fees.

Gwenhwyfar

So you remember/currently talk about, the preparation your teacher friends did, circa 1996/1997?
Ok then.

In England, you can currently get a £25000 bursary in MFL if you have a 1st or a PHD

"In England, you can currently get a £25000 bursary in MFL if you have a 1st or a PHD"

In interesting. I don't have either of those though :(

"So you remember/currently talk about, the preparation your teacher friends did, circa 1996/1997?
Ok then."

Yes, I do remember talking to them about their PGCE. I know they did it straight after uni and didn't spend their summer holiday volunteering. I remember one girl did the PGCE and decided it wasn't for her. She didn't seem to think it would be bad for her CV and didn't regret it because at least then she knew it wasn't the right thing for her.

Hi Gwen, DC took a gap year after A levels. No, salary was nothing like 12k, nearer to 4500. Support workers in schools (here, anyway) are mostly part-time. Full time equivalent may be around £12 , but 15 hours a week, term time only, is nowhere near that. I am at the top of my scale as a TA, working around 30 hours a week and my annual gross salary is just on £12k.

I expect it's become more difficult partly to try to lower the dropout rate. As I said earlier, DC was told that at their pace uni, it costs around £100 000 to train a teacher in their subject. At that rate taxpayers can't afford for too many people to drop out and I guess that making it harder to get in discourages some of those who may have gone into teaching as a stop-gap in years gone by.