There are teaching jobs in nursery, primary and secondary schools, further education colleges, training centres and universities.
If you teach in a school, you will prepare, teach, mark and assess work. You will write reports, do lunchtime, break and before and after school duties, and attend parent evenings and staff meetings before and/or after school. You will need to have a sense of humour, a great deal of patience and be able to enthuse and motivate learners in your subject. Teachers also spend their own time (including school holidays) preparing lessons and marking and assessing work.
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Explore where your qualifications can take you
Career maps
Refer to this useful chart that explains the different sorts of jobs in the teaching sector and what qualifications are required for each role.
Education and Training - FE based pathways
Future careers
As new types of schools emerge, there are more opportunities for business development managers and bursars with experience from other industries.
Teachers will continue to develop teaching and learning strategies using blogs, podcasts, social and other media, as well as online learning programs.
Online teaching, for example guitar lessons, is becoming more popular and is extending the ability of one teacher to teach many learners. Could this and videoconferencing bring about global teaching and learning in the future?
Things to consider
Things you may need to know:
- Headteachers in new types of schools (academies and free schools) can employ unqualified or differently qualified teachers, if they have considerable relevant experience.
- If you have a degree, you could lecture at university while studying for a higher degree such as a master’s and then you could do research for a PhD.
- You could teach or lecture at a further education college or with a training provider, where a wider range of qualifications, both academic and vocational/industry-related, are taught.
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