What else can a teacher do besides teach?

Transcription

1 What else can a teacher do besides teach? Are you studying for a teaching qualification but having doubts as to whether you really want to teach? This leaflet takes you through some of the issues you will need to consider and outlines the range of career opportunities for education students beyond teaching. Alternatively you may be in the position where you do wish to teach but can t find a job. This leaflet could be useful to help to generate some other ideas to enable you to develop your experience whilst you are job-hunting.

2 Assess yourself Choosing a career involves more than finding out what options are available to you. Self-knowledge is vital too. Start by looking at your strengths, weaknesses, interests, skills and abilities. This will help you to evaluate your career options in relation to you as an individual. A useful starting point could be to identify the transferable skills* you have been developing on your course. When approaching potential employers you need to detail your transferable skills* and provide evidence to support your claims. In other words you need to translate your experience into the language of job hunting. Teaching courses, more than most courses, provide the opportunity to develop a range of skills which will be useful in other fields. For instance, good organisational skills are essential in the classroom. You must be able to think on your feet, do several things at once and communicate effectively. Time management, flexibility, independence, self-reliance, team working and sensitivity to the needs of others are likely to be areas of strength. These skills are what employers are seeking when they recruit*. The level of skills required will depend upon the occupation concerned. You will have developed a range of skills through study and other experience, which you can apply in a variety of ways. The following pages provide a breakdown of some of the skills a teaching qualification may have helped you develop. *The discussion of transferable skills has been superceded to some degree by the current employability agenda. Key definitions of employability include; a set of achievements, skills, understandings and personal attributes that make graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy. Enhancing Student Employability Co-ordination Team a set of attributes, skills and knowledge that all labour market participants should possess to ensure they have the capability of being effective in the workplace to the benefit of themselves, their employer and the wider economy. Confederation of British Industry (CBI)

3 Personal skills There are skills that relate primarily to your personality or temperament and which impact upon: How you appear to other people and how interact with them How you approach and deal with tasks How you react and feel in different situations. Look through the list of adjectives below. Tick those you feel are characteristic of you and put a cross beside those that do not relate to you. If you do not feel strongly one way or another then leave the box blank. Consistent Confident Empathic Outgoing Reliable Professional Organised Resilient Independent Imaginative Methodical Objective Motivated Cheerful Co-operative Energetic Decisive Adaptable Enthusiastic Conscientious Persistent Now go through the list again. Put a star against characteristics that you feel are particularly descriptive of you. Be honest in your responses. Do not try and portray yourself in a way that you think might impress others. None of these characteristics are superior to any other, but some will relate better to particular jobs.

4 Communication skills How you communicate with others, whether in writing, through speaking or via visual media, is critical to the success of many activities, yet it is easy to take some of these skills for granted. Forms of communication Speaking: clearly and effectively in or to a group. Influencing: able to persuade and gain the agreement of others. Talking: relating easily to a wide range of people, using appropriate language; putting people at ease. Writing: clearly and effectively, choosing appropriate style and language. Technology: word processing, , blogging, design software. Willingness to train in use of new software packages as required. Visual presentation: identifying an appropriate format to put a message across effectively. Examples of activities that develop and demonstrate these skills Introducing a topic to a class; giving a presentation; collaborating on group projects. Encouraging unmotivated pupils; introducing new extracurricular activities. Discussing pupils performance with their parents; working in a bar. Producing classroom materials; writing essays, dissertations and reports. Preparing a portfolio; producing posters for an event; maintaining a blog; generating paper and e- mailshots. Using software to produce professional quality handouts, posters. Creating PowerPoint presentations.

5 Working with others These so-called people skills are closely allied to communication skills. You are likely to be able to demonstrate at least some of these skills. Once again you may have taken them for granted. Ways of working with others Team working: working constructively in a group, helping it to achieve its goals. Leadership: taking charge of a task; motivating others. Assertiveness: being able to put your point of view firmly without being aggressive. Teaching: instructing people how to perform a task. Empathising: understanding another s point of view, identifying and allowing for differences then responding effectively. Examples of activities that develop and demonstrate these skills Team teaching; group projects. Classroom management; any position of responsibility. Controlling your class; active participation in meetings; negotiating deadlines for submission of work. Teaching practice; showing new colleagues at work what to do. Supporting a pupil with academic or personal difficulties; actively listening to check pupils understanding of a topic.

6 Planning How do you organise yourself? Do see tasks through to completion? Do you plan ahead or do things at the last minute? Here are some aspects of planning: Aspects of planning Prioritising: being able to rate tasks in order of their importance. Time management: being able to organise your time well so that important things get done. Working to deadlines: working within time constraints. Planning ahead/organising: being able to formulate a plan. Flexible: able to adapt readily to new tasks and ways of working. Able to cope with the unexpected. Resilience: keeping going despite setbacks, maintaining optimism. Examples of activities that develop and demonstrate these skills Ensuring that national curriculum topics are covered before optional items. Deciding how to allocate lesson time; combining your studies with a part-time job and other activities Having all the materials ready for a lesson; getting work in on time. Lesson planning; organising a field trip. Organising social activites, either personal or involving a university society/the student union. Adapting teaching materials to suit different learning stages. Starting or changing a part-time job while studying. Surviving a critical teaching practice report and learning from it; being made redundant; coping with bereavement.

7 Problem solving How do you go about solving problems? There are usually a number of stages, each of which is critical to the process. Aspects of problem solving Identifying the problem: isolating the problem area from the broader issue. Define the outcome: what do you want/need to be the end result? Researching: being able to find information from a variety of sources; asking relevant questions; using reference material. Sifting out the important points: keeping your objective in mind when researching data. Considering all the options: this can involve creativity - the obvious solutions may not be the best. Critical evaluation: weighing up options, deciding on the accuracy/relevance of data, identifying possible issues. Examples of activities that develop and demonstrate these skills Having to teach a lesson on a topic with which you are unfamiliar. Knowing the learning outcome that you wish to achieve within a lesson. Accessing relevant information from a range of materials. Taking relevant information from lengthy documents to use in course work. Identifying appropriate media; handouts, web pages, pictures etc. Looking at other people s approaches to similar problems and learning from them. Looking at learning styles and evaluating which of the possible methods of presenting materials would work best. You can find more information on identifying and enhancing your skills on our webpage Develop your skills Graduate Toolkit.

8 So what are the options? This section includes information on: Jobs related to your degree Careers open to graduates of any discipline Going on to further study or training Changing or leaving your course Jobs related to your degree More information on many of these options can be found on the careers service site under Plan your career Explore your career options - Occupations and industries. *indicates a job profile is available on under Jobs and volunteering Types of jobs Educational administration Education Administrator* Education Inspector* Educational Fundraising Manager School Bursar Education welfare, social work Community Education Officer* Community Home/School Teacher* Education Welfare Officer* Social Worker* Counselling and pastoral work Counselling Pyschologist* Counsellor* Family Therapist Advice and information Careers Advisor/Personal Advisor* Education/Information Officer within organizations, e.g. charities/education trusts Environmental Education Officer* Further Education Careers Advisor*

9 Higher Education Advice Worker* Higher Education Careers Advisor* Learning Mentor* Museum Education Officer* Youth Training and Placement Officer Educational media and publishing Broadcaster* Journalist* (various specialized profiles available) Publisher Other jobs with children and young people Afterschool Club Coordinator In-school House Parent Nursery Education Manager Playworker* Play Therapist* Youth Worker* Other teaching and educational roles Adult Education Lecturer* Distance or Open Learning College Tutor Prisons Instructor* Private Tutor* Teacher of English as a Foreign Language (Tefl)* Education in industry, commerce and the public sector Training and Development Officer* This list is by no means exhaustive. You will see that many career options exist wherein your skills and experience would be useful. You may also wish to consider the wide range of careers open to graduates of any discipline.

10 Careers open to graduates of any discipline About 60% of vacancies advertised for graduates do not ask for a specific first degree subject. However, and especially in a highly competitive graduate job market, you may need directly relevant postgraduate training or work experience. You can obtain information about a wide range of graduate occupations from the careers service website under Plan your career Explore your career options - Occupations and industries. Alternatively, you can access detailed job profiles at under Jobs and work experience Types of jobs. Going on to further study or training If you have completed your degree you may be looking to undertake some postgraduate study. See the careers service webpage for more information under Plan your career Studying further. You may find it helpful to explore the available options with a careers counselor. Changing or leaving your course If you have not completed your course you may want to consider switching to another degree, using the credits from your current course. See our site for advice on the implications of changing or leaving your course. You should also make an appointment to see a careers counselor. We will look at your circumstances and advise you on your options. The help you receive will be impartial and focused on what is best for you.

11 What s next? Having been focused on teaching for so long, you may find it hard to imagine yourself in relation to these alternative options. Book an appointment with a careers counsellor where you can explore your skills, interests and values and gain some idea about the kind of occupations that might suit you. See also our page Develop your skills Graduate Toolkit. You ll find advice on how to assess your skills and interests and match them to particular occupations. Useful publications The Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey has data on what Brighton graduates are doing, collected six months after graduation. The most recent survey looks at 2011 graduates. You can also view reports going back as far as Find out more at under Facts and figures Graduate employment. You might be interested in our case study of Education graduate, Claire. Claire is a qualified teacher but is currently working for East Sussex County Council as a Teaching and Learning Consultant. See the careers service website under Plan your career What do other graduates do? What Colour is Your Parachute? This book is often described as the career changer s bible. The latest edition has been updated to address the ongoing difficult economic situation. Reference copies are available at all careers centres.

12 Contact the Careers Service where you study Come and carry out your research, speak to a member of the team or make an individual appointment to discuss your plans (or lack of them). Moulsecoomb First Floor, Manor House, Moulsecoomb Place, Brighton BN2 4GA (01273) careers@brighton.ac.uk Grand Parade Student Services First Floor, Grand Parade Brighton BN2 0JY (01273) Falmer E Wing, Checkland Building Village Way, Falmer Brighton BN1 9PH (01273) careers.falmer@brighton.ac.uk Eastbourne First Floor, Room 113, Trevin Towers, Gaudick Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN20 7SP (01273) careers.eastbourne@brighton.ac.uk Hastings Priory Square Building, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 1EA (01273) UCHstudentservices@brighton.ac.uk Careers Centres are usually open Monday - Friday 9.30am pm studentcentral: select Student Life from the menu at the top right of your home page. Then select careers, jobs and volunteering from the menu to the left of your screen. This leaflet and related information is available online at or in alternative formats please ask for details. October 2012