Your career and pay questions answered by John Howson
Q I am in my fourth year of teaching and have decided to change schools. Can you tell me where to find information on applying for second posts? I feel out of touch with interview and application techniques, as they have probably changed in the past four years.
A There are no hard and fast rules, except that any application that looks as if it has been written in haste, and doesn’t connect with the post on offer, is likely to find its way into the bin. You are selling yourself; first on paper, and then, with luck, in person. Why do you want to move? If for a similar post, but to broaden your experience, say so. If for promotion, what can you offer the new school? Ask what would I want to know if I was appointing someone to this post? Interview techniques probably haven’t changed much in four years, but these days you are likely to be observed teaching a sample lesson. If a school isn’t trying to appoint the best candidate, it probably one you’d want to work in.
Q I am a learning support assistant, and would like to move into teaching (I know my days of walking into the classroom at 8.45am and leaving at 3.30pm will be over). I am in the final year of a BTec early years and childhood studies course, and my college is encouraging me to enrol for an HND in early years education, followed by a postgraduate certificate in education. But my local education authority recommends I take a course with a curriculum base to it, otherwise they say I might struggle to find a teaching post. What would you advise?
A Although the HND sounds useful, a grounding in a curriculum area is important, as your qualified teacher status would qualify you to teach more than just early years pupils. But as you can’t go straight from an HND to a PGCE, it might be possible to convert the diploma to a degree with a curriculum focus by taking some extra courses. You would need to see if there is a modular course locally that meets your needs.
John Howson is visiting professor at Oxford Brookes University and managing director of Education Data Surveys. Do you have a career question for him? Email susan.young@newsint.co.uk.
