Secondary Thinking about becoming a teacher

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I have just accepted an offer from Charles Darwin Uni to do the BA of Teaching and Learning (Early Childhood). I got decent marks in basic Maths and science in Year 11, so I don't think my knowledge would be adequate enough for middle and secondary school.

I have done some volunteer work at the local library helping the youngsters with their reading. Got a real kick out of their enthusiasm and eagerness to learn, so decided to give it a crack. I start in two weeks, but will be doing my first prac in semester 1 next year.

I have managed to gain a prac position at a local Christian school with a great community ethos, and plenty of opportunities for me to be involved with school functions, quiz nights, fundraisers etc...

I have a very solid work ethic and am prepared for the hard yards. My current job (working for TAFE SA) is extremely unsatisfying and I am almost going brain dead in it. I am 28 and have been in my job for nearly eleven years, so time for a big change. I have had to deal with mature age students and their dramas so I hope life experience goes a long way.

Thanks Noddy Holder for your posts on this topic. I have really enjoyed reading them. You both seem to love teaching and your students are very lucky!!
 
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My experience is it gets comfortable as you go.

The worst part is the teaching rounds when the kids know you're not really a teacher, you're being assessed and you have to follow those ****ing lesson plans.

Once you get your own class, you can teach how you want.
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Thanks, yeah the teaching rounds sound like they'll be a challenge though I guess everyone has to start from there and it gets smoother as you gain more experience and autonomy once you start teaching your class.
 
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^Interested in some of your stories.

jacqui9 said:
I have just accepted an offer from Charles Darwin Uni to do the BA of Teaching and Learning (Early Childhood). I got decent marks in basic Maths and science in Year 11, so I don't think my knowledge would be adequate enough for middle and secondary school.

I have done some volunteer work at the local library helping the youngsters with their reading. Got a real kick out of their enthusiasm and eagerness to learn, so decided to give it a crack. I start in two weeks, but will be doing my first prac in semester 1 next year.

I have managed to gain a prac position at a local Christian school with a great community ethos, and plenty of opportunities for me to be involved with school functions, quiz nights, fundraisers etc...

I have a very solid work ethic and am prepared for the hard yards. My current job (working for TAFE SA) is extremely unsatisfying and I am almost going brain dead in it. I am 28 and have been in my job for nearly eleven years, so time for a big change. I have had to deal with mature age students and their dramas so I hope life experience goes a long way.

Thanks Noddy Holder and Funkyzeit for your posts on this topic. I have really enjoyed reading them. You both seem to love teaching and your students are very lucky!!
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Respect to this post. You seem to have the right frame of mind about entering the profession. That's the type of mindset I'd hope any prospective teacher would have (certainly those that I would want to be teaching my kids in the future anyway).

Keep us updated about how you find it when things get underway.
 
I'm primary so it might be a little different, however the parents are forever on your back. The area I teach is of low socio economic status and the parents are completely uncooperative and unsupportive. Kids are coming to school with packets of chips for breakfast and the parents are blind in thinking that their kids can do no wrong.
 
Power King said:
^Interested in some of your stories.



Respect to this post. You seem to have the right frame of mind about entering the profession. That's the type of mindset I'd hope any prospective teacher would have (certainly those that I would want to be teaching my kids in the future anyway).

Keep us updated about how you find it when things get underway.
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Thank you for your post Power King. Much appreciated.

For me personally, life experience has been an invaluable lesson.

I have dealt with parents of school leavers, not in a teaching capacity, but at an administrative level - and when they are pissed off, they do not discriminate. They are normally worse to deal with than the students themselves (most of the students are 18 or over) and the reality is, it is harder to negotiate with parents when their child is legally an adult and protected under the confidentiality clauses.

Our students range from kids who have dropped out of year 9 and 10 and have taken up apprenticeships (my patience is tested every single day by some of these moronic upstarts because they are not governed in TAFE like they are at school. Many of them have received incredibly rude shocks), through to young school leavers thinking a child care course will be rather cushy, only to really struggle with the work, and then of course, the eccentric graphic arts students and their parents.

I certainly could not have considered studying to become teacher when I left Year 12. I simply didn't have the 'street smarts', let alone the confidence. Just from a personal point of view, and everyone is different, getting out there are dealing with the real world before entering into teaching is a greater education than most unis can provide.

When I went to the UK earlier in the year, I met my 8-year old third cousin. She was just extraodinary. She was an unwanted pregnancy, so she was neglected more than the others, yet she had an intelligence, love of reading and a curiosity about the world which was just astonishing. I know all kids are not like this, but spending time with her prompted me get involved with the local library when I returned home. I found I actually began to thrive as a person seeing these kids enjoying their reading etc...

I realise I can't change the world, but I would love to at least try and be a positive influence on the younger generation and encourage their interest in the world at an early age.

Sorry about the rant.
 
Hard Ball Get said:
I'm primary so it might be a little different, however the parents are forever on your back. The area I teach is of low socio economic status and the parents are completely uncooperative and unsupportive. Kids are coming to school with packets of chips for breakfast and the parents are blind in thinking that their kids can do no wrong.
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I drive to school shaking my head. Drive past all the kids who have stopped in on the shops and grabbed a can of V for breakfast.

It's kind of heart-breaking to watch kids blindly follow poor behaviour patterns set by their parents.
 
Been thinking of moving towards a teaching degree, am currently first year commerce at UWA and quite frankly it has done nothing for me. I got a score of 92.3 in my TER, so when I put my mind to it, I'm no slouch, I just think commerce isn't for me.

I went to boarding school here in Perth and have been doing some tutoring for the younger kids of the boarding house lately and have really enjoyed it. Admittedly it is different to teaching (being more one on one) however I have got a kick out of helping the kids. Helping is in my personality. I'm just not sure how I will go about it. I could do a double degree in Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Education at UWA or I could do a plain Bachelor of Teaching degree at Curtin, I'm just not sure what I want to do. If anyone has any information for me, it would be a great help.
 
Finished my first year of a four year Education course and im hoping the Education aspect gets better because I found it to be highly useless when it came to the Observation Rounds.

In my opinion they should make you do Observation Rounds for the whole year instead of having Tutorials and Lectures that dont seem at all relevant.

Tutors at uni insist you cant teach somebody how to be a teacher. That you only really learn to be a teacher once you're actually teaching. Yet they persist with tutorials that are boring and so far, pointless.

Ive enjoyed my first lot of rounds but found nothing useful from what I had learnt this year. Will it get any better? Or should I start wagging Tutorials? :p:thumbsu:
 
TigerGlory said:
Finished my first year of a four year Education course and im hoping the Education aspect gets better because I found it to be highly useless when it came to the Observation Rounds.

In my opinion they should make you do Observation Rounds for the whole year instead of having Tutorials and Lectures that dont seem at all relevant.

Tutors at uni insist you cant teach somebody how to be a teacher. That you only really learn to be a teacher once you're actually teaching. Yet they persist with tutorials that are boring and so far, pointless.

Ive enjoyed my first lot of rounds but found nothing useful from what I had learnt this year. Will it get any better? Or should I start wagging Tutorials? :p:thumbsu:
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I also finished my first year of BEd a few weeks back and I agree completely. I learnt more in the 6 weeks of placement than the rest of the course combined.. so much irrelevant material.

On a side note; for any people considering an education course next year, use your placements as a rough gauge as to whether it is the right career path for you. No point wasting 4 years of your life if you are hating what is effectively the demonstration of how the teaching game works.
 
Knife Wrench said:
I also finished my first year of BEd a few weeks back and I agree completely. I learnt more in the 6 weeks of placement than the rest of the course combined.. so much irrelevant material.
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No you didn't, what you learn was how to apply the principles in the appropriate places. If you went into any education facility without the basic understanding how things work, you would then be wasting your time. However by understanding the phycology behind education, the development behind a lesson, unit and semester plan and a basic understanding behind the approach to learning you can then observe how a fully trained teacher does it.
 
alex_is_on_fire said:
No you didn't, what you learn was how to apply the principles in the appropriate places. If you went into any education facility without the basic understanding how things work, you would then be wasting your time. However by understanding the phycology behind education, the development behind a lesson, unit and semester plan and a basic understanding behind the approach to learning you can then observe how a fully trained teacher does it.
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Haha, yeah i was probably exaggerating a tad.. but my point was there was a lot of irrelevant content. It really depended on which course it was though.

Classes like 'learning to be literate' and 'numeracy in schools' were a lot more useful than 'humanities' (which for some reason mainly involved us doing a normal assignment similar to a vce research project) and 'child development' (the title of the course was very deceiving..).
 

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Knife Wrench said:
Haha, yeah i was probably exaggerating a tad.. but my point was there was a lot of irrelevant content. It really depended on which course it was though.

Classes like 'learning to be literate' and 'numeracy in schools' were a lot more useful than 'humanities' (which for some reason mainly involved us doing a normal assignment similar to a vce research project) and 'child development' (the title of the course was very deceiving..).
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Yeah, i understand the unnecessary time consuming bullshit they require you to do during university studies. But my point stands, a kid coming straight out of year 12, into a week long teaching block, will not identify the correct stuff required for teaching (or your area of study).

They have to scaffold the learning in a way, best suited to the homogeneous group of students, not an individual student.
 
it is certainly one of the better jobs for australians in terms of pay and kids are fun if you can tolerate them at the worst of times.
 
Considering doing Arts/Arts Edu at La Trobe next year, majoring in English and History. I got an ATAR of 96.7 and my careers counsellors are attempting to sway me from the education double degree, but I really enjoy helping students and feel that it is my career path.

Anyone been in a similar situation?
 
How did I ever miss this thread last year?

I spent 25 years teaching in Melbourne(24) and Perth(1) and wouldn't change a thing. I started in 1975 in a western suburbs government high school and after three years switched to the Catholic system. I taught in three Melbourne Catholic Boys schools and one in Perth.

I was one of the thousands of American teachers recruited by the Victorian Education Department (and other states) to fill the void in teaching numbers. Most of us were sent to the "poorer" schools or to country Victoria. I was lucky enough to end up in Avondale Heights where I really learned what teaching is all about. I'd rather not go into specifics, but I'm still in contact with some of my former students from 35 years ago. In fact, I went to the footy with a former student (a fellow Western Bulldogs supporter) during my visit to Melbourne earlier this year. I also had lunch with a former student who I had not seen since around 1981 and caught up with at least ten others during my three weeks in Melbourne.

I taught mainly English, SOSE and Religious Education during my career. I first concentrated on Years 7 and 8 and branched out to the Senior years later in my career. I was a Year 7 Coordinator and Year 8 Coordinator in three of my schools. I ended up my final year of teaching in 1999 teaching mostly VCE English but also teaching Years 8, 9 and 10 English and SOSE. I "retired" and returned here to the US to spend some time with my family. I decided to return to Melboune to live in late 2002 and had accepted a teaching position at my last school for the 2003 school year, but family commitments here prevented me from returning to Melbourne to live. The hardest phone call I ever had to make was the one where I spoke to my former principal telling him that I could not return to Melbourne and take up the position he had offered me. I have not taught here in the states, but am currently a full time caregiver, which at times has been much tougher than any class I ever taught.

I can not truly explain the overwhelming sadness that I have for no longer being able to teach. I put up with a hell of a lot of crap at times, but in the end everything was worth it. I am proud that I had the chance to help shape the lives of thousands of young people, hopefully for the better. I have taught AFL players and umpires, lawyers and doctors, union officials and financial experts and plenty of policeman and members of the armed services. And yes, I've even taught a few teachers who took my American Civil War/Slavery class in Year 9!

The highest honour ever given to me was when I ran into a former student in Box Hill about 25 years ago. I hadn't seen him since he had done his HSC a few years earlier. I asked him what he was doing. He told me that he was training to become a teacher. I laughingly said, "You want to become a teacher after having me?" His reply: "I want to become a teacher because of having you." Of course I know that there are many of my former students who would disagree with such sentiments, but that reply is something I will never forget.

When my caregiving responsibilities are finished here, I plan on returning to Melbourne and hopefully resume teaching even after all of these years in spite of the fact that I'll be very close to the usual retirement age.

So for anyone considering teaching as a career, go for it, but only if you feel it in your heart. Teaching isn't for everyone, but if that's the course you choose, best of luck. Maybe in 35 years you'll read some thread about some poor soul considering teaching and think back over the best decision you ever made. :D

Oh yeah...

Hey, tuck your shirt in and pull up your tie or you'll be picking up rubbish at lunch. :)
 
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Has been enjoyable reading this thread and good luck hoff in your decision. Was wondering if any of you that posted were adults who went to uni. I work in a school now as a KESO but would love to teach Methods or English. Being back in the school setting has really stoked those fires and really keen to get into it.
 
kidgorgeous said:
Has been enjoyable reading this thread and good luck hoff in your decision. Was wondering if any of you that posted were adults who went to uni. I work in a school now as a KESO but would love to teach Methods or English. Being back in the school setting has really stoked those fires and really keen to get into it.
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I did an Arts degree(Literature and Music) back in the early 90s then went overseas teaching ESL for ten years. When I came back to Australia I enrolled in a Dip.Ed as a 35 yr old. I thought I would be the eldest in the course but I was actually one of the youngest. There were people in their 50s doing the course. It's never too late to go to uni. I think that having life experience is very beneficial to undertaking university studies.
 
Noddy Holder said:
I did an Arts degree(Literature and Music) back in the early 90s then went overseas teaching ESL for ten years. When I came back to Australia I enrolled in a Dip.Ed as a 35 yr old. I thought I would be the eldest in the course but I was actually one of the youngest. There were people in their 50s doing the course. It's never too late to go to uni. I think that having life experience is very beneficial to undertaking university studies.
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Ten years, awesome. I knew you did it, as you have talked about it before, and I asked you a few questions about Taiwan. Work commitments have had me postpone that, but definitely still looking at hitting Taiwan at some stage! What other countries did you work in?
 
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