SEB Bulletin January 2007
Horizons - Science Teaching
“Taking complicated ideas and making them simple, that's the most important thing to do as a teacher”, says Alan Knott, Teacher Trainer at St. Martin's College, Lancaster. Alan taught science for 17 years before turning his talents towards training new graduates to be effective and inspiring teachers of science. He has seen quite a few changes over the years, especially in the light of the 'Education, Education, Education' policies of the Labour government which has proved financially helpful to teachers with increased salaries in line with other public sector jobs.
It's no secret that science has become an unpopular choice for school students over the past years (not only in the UK and Europe but in the Western World as a whole) so that the main challenge for science teaching these days is to make the sciences attractive to young people so that they feel inspired to take them at GCSE and A-level and then on to degree level with assurances of good employment prospects. With a current shortage of Chemistry and Physics graduates nowadays there has been a knock-on effect such that Biology teachers find themselves having to teach these subjects in school up to A-level. This is off-putting to some Biologists and so attempts have been taking place to improve this situation with the introduction of pre-training Chemistry and Physics Enhancement courses. These courses, which are being piloted until 2009, are aimed at graduates who do not have sufficient Chemistry or Physics in their degree to make them directly eligible to train as Secondary Chemistry or Physics teachers. The courses help to increase Biologists' confidence in one of these subjects and to update them on key concepts, including getting hands-on practical experience. They do not include any teaching practice but are purely to increase knowledge of these physical sciences up to A-level. Running prior to the start of the PGCE course between January and July the courses are already proving popular especially since those taking the courses are paid £1000 per month while they train.
Another incentive scheme to bring in more Chemistry and Physics teachers is directed at those who choose to do a 2-year PGCE course which is designed for those graduates with little science in their degree subject (e.g. psychology, sports science, equine studies) in which the first year is subject study (chemistry, physics, biology and Earth sciences). These courses are now being fully funded with bursaries available for both years for those students who choose Physics or Chemistry as their specialism in the PGCE year.
The basic starting salary for a teacher nowadays is more in line with other Public Sector jobs at £20,133 (£24,168 in London) rising to £29,427 (£33.936 in London). Then the upper scale allowances (which you can apply for after 6 years) add a further £2500 - £5000, with a head of a big science department earning a salary in excess of £42,000. The PGCE training bursary is £9000 per year and there is a £5000 Golden Hello at the end of your probationary year.
But money isn't everything, “Energy, enthusiasm for the subject and an inner determination are the qualities needed to be a successful and effective teacher”, says Alan Knott. “You don't need to be an overtly out-going extrovert, but someone who will be able to get the subject across to the kids whilst maintaining discipline in the classroom”. You can get an insight into schools today by attending a taster course. These are usually 1 - 3 days in length and run by teacher training colleges. Alternatively, you can approach a school yourself to enquire whether you can spend a day or two workshadowing one of the teachers. This is advisable as it will also help you with your application form and interview when you are asked why you want to teach and what your impressions are of teaching nowadays. You may have had 14 years' experience of being on the other side of the fence as a pupil but do you know what it's like from a teacher's perspective?
There are many routes into teaching nowadays and you will also need to choose between applying for primary and secondary school teaching. Many graduates consider primary teaching because secondary school students appear loud and scary but as Alan points out, “Secondary school children may play up and make your life difficult from time to time, but you only have them for an hour at a time and then they're somebody else's problem - unlike with the set-up at primary school where you have the same class (and difficult children) for a whole year”. On top of that many graduates and postgraduates find teaching at a higher level more interesting and intellectually stimulating with the added bonus of being able to specialise in the very subject which you enjoy.
For more information about getting into teaching go to the Teacher Development Agency website (www.tda.gov.uk/). Once you have decided whether you would like to apply you can visit the Graduate Teacher Training Register (GTTR) to make an on-line application (www.gttr.ac.uk/).
Sarah Blackford
Education & Public Affairs officer