Government recruitment of teachers

[Holidayshopping]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-47132288

Hmmm!

This is totally true. I was discussing this with head of department just yesterday.

We have recently had two trainees whose subject knowledge had been so poor, they couldn't teach very basic year 7 science. It was gobsmacking.

Obviously we gave, and are giving, lots of support, but there's only so much you can do when the basic general knowledge is so lacking. One of them has a job already.

Colleagues and I have had to step in to correct them when they were telling the students blantantly wrong information. It's scary actually.

I always thought you had to have done a curriculum subject at degree level, but I'm noticing lots of people training with science-ish degrees, but not one of the 3 curriculum sciences, so they might have a degree in geology or forensic science, instead of chemistry, physics or biology.

They always seem to want to do chemistry as well, and I'm not convinced that over 50% of a geology or forensic science degree is chemistry?

The ones I've met all really struggled - as people they were brilliant and knew their main weakness was lack of subject knowledge, but the work they were having to put in to bridge that gap, on top of having to learn to teach was ridiculous. It almost sets them up to fail.

I always thought you had to have done a curriculum subject at degree level, but I'm noticing lots of people training with science-ish degrees

Yes, I think this was the case in previous years.

I reckon we’re in grave danger now of the rules getting massively bent just to get bums on seats (and recruitment quotas even half-filled). What can they scrap? Having to have Maths and English gcse? That will open the recruitment door quite wide. Not having a degree will open it even further...

I’m sure everything will be fine-‘there’s no problem in education...nothing to see here’ a spokesperson for the DfE will say!