what are independent schools looking for in a newly qualified or unqualified teacher??

[thepeke]

Hi -

I'm starting to think about career change to secondary maths teacher. I wonder if anyone might have time to advise please?

I have some sense of what I would need to do for state schools applications I think and there are lots of online resources to find out about this. But I'd also like to look at independent schools. How would I go about making myself a good candidate for an independent school? And how does it differ from going for state school jobs? In particular,

• What experience would be valued?
• What qualifications would be valued?
• I went to a state school myself. Does that matter?
• My accent was once RP but it's now a ragbag of influences and I'm often mistaken for antipodean. Does that matter? Do I need to dig down and find my childhood accent?
• None of my degrees are in maths. And I didn't do any competitions like olympiads when I was a kid. Does that matter?
• Can you move between state and independent jobs? Or does it disadvantage you in one sector to have been employed in the other sector?
• I imagine I might be expected to make an extra curricular contribution as well as providing classroom teaching. I'm not sporty or a debater. I'm not artsy or practical. Is a philosophy discussion group or a puzzle or board game club an acceptable alternative?

My background: So far I've taught in universities (in a different subject though: philosophy). I want to change career because I am on fixed term contracts and now in my late 40s I need more financial security and better pension. I also want a change and a challenge. Secondary teaching seems like a natural direction. I've always felt happiest doing maths and regretted not doing my first degree as joint honours with maths. I enjoy the teaching and pastoral side of what I do now and I enjoy doing outreach work in schools.

Any pointers very welcome even if they seem obvious to you!

Thanks!

None of my degrees are in maths. And I didn't do any competitions like olympiads when I was a kid. Does that matter?

The answer to most of your questions is ‘no’ but this one likely does matter. Independent schools hiring an unqualified teacher want a maths graduate, or a degree with a very significant mathematical component (eg engineering). They tend to like higher degrees too. A PGCE provider will probably consider you if you have Maths A level and either a significant mathematical component to your degree or a ‘subject knowledge enhancement’ course.

What are your degrees in?

In our school :
Being cheap.
Contribution across the school.
Most importantly being a very strong teacher.

Thanks. This is very helpful, and makes sense.

My degrees are showy in themselves: 1st in PPE at BA, Master's and DPhil in philosophy and all from Oxford, along with many years teaching in Oxford colleges. But it's PPE then philosophy. I won't teach philosophy in schools, partly because I do not want to (and am not qualified to) teach religion, which seems the standard companion subject.

Yes I would do a SKE for state maths. I'd be happy to do other things to improve subject knowledge. If I could justify spending time and money studying modules from maths undergrad degrees, this would make me very happy! But it would have to be somewhere I could get second degree loan for (e.g. Open, Birkbeck) as I don't have the savings to pay for more studying.

Thanks Dootball. How would I show that I'm a strong teacher if I hadn't taught under 18s before? Does cheap mean cheaper than state? Does contribution across school mean extracurricular clubs?

I don’t know if my contemporaries at Oxford were typical but the PPEists I knew generally dropped as much of the ‘E’ as they could after the first year. You would have to undertake an honest assessment of how much mathematical content there was in your BA.

That being said, independent schools love nothing more than an Oxonian DPhil on the staff so that would go in your favour. I assume you have Maths and possibly further Maths A Level? If you haven’t already, I would start by looking at the specifications for GCSE Maths, A Level Maths, and A Level Further Maths and evaluating how much of the content you would feel able to teach.

Editing to add that your academic qualifications would be particularly valued in a school which offers IB in order to teach the Theory of Knowledge component.