Interested in retraining as a teacher? Here is some guidance as to what skills and qualifications you may need to continue.
Teaching is a difficult job but it is also one of the most rewarding. You take young minds that don’t know anything and you fill their tiny heads full of useful information. You start to prepare them for the long journey through life that, without you, would be perilous. Teachers have long days and longer nights, but they form unbreakable bonds with students. One teacher saying one correct word, and an artist forms, or a future doctor, or a firefighter. Teachers shape dreams. To do it, they need excellent training.
What Skills do Teachers Need?
So before you decide to switch careers to something a little more inspirational, think about what life skills a teacher needs and whether or not you possess them. A teacher has to be flexible and try to accommodate their students learning needs. They need to be resourceful in finding those solutions, and good problem solvers in order to come up with those solutions. They need to be endlessly patient and understand that when kids act out it is a symptom of something deeper.
Teachers training doesn’t stop with university. They need to spend a lifetime in education, studying academia in their field to improve their insights. They need the kind of courses and motivation found through Hays Education, who provide online guidance through safeguarding training and free well-being modules. The average teacher needs to be smart, have excellent communication skills, and the ability to calm even the most stressful situation.
If you don’t have all of the above, teaching might not be for you. Consider carefully before you continue and think about a career in alternative teaching, instead.
What Qualifications do Teachers Need?
The qualification you will need to start teaching depends on the type of teacher that you want to be. If you want to teach primary school children, then you need GSCE grades in English Maths and Science with a grade of C or above. You need an undergraduate degree in teaching, and you need to finish a probationary period. You also need to pass a skills test.
If you want to go into teaching a specific subject at secondary level or above, you need an undergraduate or graduate degree in that subject. If you want to teach at university level, you need a PHD. Once you have your subject of study, you can complete the PGCE course of one year in teacher training. After this, you will also complete a probationary period and pass a skills test before you qualify to teach.
What’s the Salary of a Teacher in the UK?
The salary of your average teacher depends on their position. A primary school teacher receives around £34,000 per year. A secondary teacher’s annual salary is £37,000 per year. If you wanted to go into college and university teaching, you stand to make £40,000 a year as a lecturer, or £90,000 as a professor.
