Q I would like to become a primary school teacher. I have a masters degree in finance. Would I need to go back to university - if so, for how long? Are there such things as crash courses in teaching? Would any school take me on without a training qualification and train me?
A The first question anyone is going to ask is: “What is your motivation for a change of career from finance to teaching?” The second question is:
“What experience do you have of young people in this age group?” You should be clear about how you can answer both of these questions before you spend too much time researching a move into teaching as a career. If you have been forced down a career path you have always hated, perhaps because of family pressure, then may be you are now free to do what you always wanted in life. However, it won’t be easy, as competition for places to train as a primary school teacher is fierce, and many providers of the one-year postgraduate course are looking for evidence of a commitment to teaching. Such a course comes with a training bursary of pound;6,000 but you will still be out of pocket before you complete it. If you want to pursue this route, don’t delay: get your application in as soon as possible. The alternative method is to find a primary school willing to train you in the classroom, while paying you a salary of around pound;14,000. Finding such a school often depends upon personal contacts, as there is no central register of interested schools.
Q I am interested in becoming a teacher of English as an additional language at a primary or secondary school. I am a qualified teacher of English but left 10 years ago to teach English as a foreign language. I have the RSA Diploma in TEFLA. What qualification do I need to teach refugee children in mainstream education? Are there many posts for such teachers? One agency said I would not be considered for such a post without recent experience. How should Iget experience, or am I in a Catch 22?
A Such specialist posts are not very common and are likely to appear relatively infrequently, but you may find some in the special needs section of The TES or among the secondary posts. I am not aware of any specific courses to prepare you for such teaching - any course covering how children learn in cultures other than their own would help. You could apply for a mainstream post teaching English in an area with lots of refugees and see whether you could get some specialist professional development. Remember that even if job advertisements state that experience is needed, you might still be considered if you are the most suitable applicant.
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