The Benefits of Supply Teaching

Many schools will require cover for their teachers, perhaps they’ll ill or on leave, and because of this supply teaching can be a job that’s always in demand, if you’re willing to travel far enough.

There are also other numerous advantages that come with supply teaching, also known as substitute teaching, and being able to teach a range of different subjects is one of them. One day you may find yourself teaching English, the next day Geography and then perhaps History.

You can then be teaching year 5’s one day and year 8’s the next (if you work in a middle school) and the range of experience you can gain is quite surreal. There’s also the benefit that you open yourself up to permanent teaching jobs if they become available and if you’ve proved to be a worthy supply teacher. This means that you’ll already be familiar with the school and their system rather than starting a permanent position in a school you’re unfamiliar with.

Another Career Opportunity for Teachers

Getting into teaching is difficult, it requires a lot of qualifications, perhaps more than many other industries, and a lot of dedication. Because of this, there can be a number of frustrating individuals seeking alternatives.

Occasionally patience and luck do not work for some individuals and a career switch can be a good idea. Another alternative instead of teaching can be a support worker or a social worker. These can see individuals take an extremely personal approach to helping children and adults (whatever age they wish) and there may be more luck in terms of job opportunities in these roles.

It can take a lucky break to get into teaching, and some individuals may grow tired of waiting, or perhaps they find that their passion lies elsewhere, if this is similar to your situation, then consider social work or support work, it may just be the job you’ve hoped for.

Consistency is key to Teaching

Teaching in the UK has come under scrutiny in the media due to hundreds of schools under-performing in the league tables, and some people have even suggested performance-related pay for teachers.

We feel a good teacher should be able to perform well consistently, and they should have their own teaching ideas, rather than constantly changing their own rules, and providing care and attention to students one day but not the next.

Workload for teachers is huge, especially in terms of marking and planning, and it’s important to never let the workload affect their teaching performance. If you’re a teacher, or you’re preparing to enter the world of teaching, then it’s important to think about consistency, because it will ultimately help you become a better teacher.

If more teacher focused on their level of performance, teaching in the whole across the United Kingdom will improve. Well, that’s our verdict anyway.

Gaining Experience in Teaching

Teaching is a tough industry to break into, but it’s important that you get your foot in the door, and work experience can help open you up to career opportunities in the future.

You can look for schemes and work experience placements online, or you can go direct and email schools with an application for volunteer work. You should outline why they will benefit from having you at their school.

There is also a range of taster days, and if you are previously a student at the school, you can give prospective students an overview. It may not exactly be teaching but it at least shows you’re interested. There are occasionally a shortage of these groups in universities and colleges, so it’s certainly an easy way of getting in to education.

You may require extra qualifications before a school accepts you, and don’t let it get the best of your confidence, and make sure your actively seeking paid and unpaid placements.

Becoming a Teaching Assistant

Not every individual want to take full control of the entire classroom, and perhaps they still want to work in education, and if this sounds like you, then you may want to become a teaching assistant.

Many teaching assistants will play a significant role in the classroom, they may be given their own students to teach in a private setting, and obviously assisting the teacher is important. This doesn’t just mean making coffees for the teacher, you can work together, build a relationship and come up with ideas. Just because a teaching assistant is not a teacher does not mean they do not know how to teach, and they may often be required to fill in for the teacher if he or she is unavailable.

Being a teaching assistant can be a rewarding job, and if you eventually want to take the step up to teaching, it will certainly boost your hopes of becoming enrolled on a course.