Enlightenment comes from the strangest of places sometimes. Who would have thought Her Majesty’s Secret Agent 007 could impart knowledge that goes to the heart of effective education and a caring society?
And yet, no less a luminary than Bond actor Sir Roger Moore, has written: “Teach love, generosity, good manners and some of that will drift from the classroom to the home and, who knows, the children will be educating the parents.”
This sentiment, that a teacher’s influence goes far beyond teaching the so-called ‘Three Rs’ – to the extent it can have a positive effect on families and society as a whole – will chime with the aspirations of anyone currently considering a teaching career.
Primary teaching, in particular, offers the opportunity to bring your talents to an environment where young hearts and developing minds are open, eager to learn and keen to master new skills.
Knowing that you will be making a difference to lives right now – and in the future – will be incredibly rewarding.
That said, the role of Primary Teacher can also be challenging. For example, dealing with troublesome or disruptive kids in a way that steers them on the right course without constraining their personality or freedom of expression can be emotionally exhausting – it is certainly not for the person who easily gives up at the first hurdle.
So, before you make that choice to join Scotland’s educators, it’s time to think about whether you have what it takes to be the Mr, Mrs or Ms who will be forever fondly remembered as a mentor by generations to come.
Here are our top five things to consider:
- Is this for you?
In other words, do you actually like children? Are you happy to spend most of your working life with them? You should understand what will be involved in your new role and make sure you know exactly what to expect. The best way to do this is by talking to a Primary Teacher you know. Or why not contact teachers at your old school and join the full circle of life? Akunamatata!
- Put in the hours
You’re going to be giving out a lot of homework, but first you must do your own. Read everything you can about primary school teaching. Spend time doing voluntary work at a school or volunteer to help out at local clubs for children. All of this experience will help you discover if this gig really is for you.
- Skills or spills?
Young minds are sponges, soaking up everything we say and do. It’s important, therefore, to examine your own character. You will be responsible for teaching literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing…beyond this, however, you will bring your own personality, your unique gifts to enthuse, nurture and inspire. Does this sound like you?
- The paperwork
If, after all this, you’re still keen on primary teaching, you will need qualifications to be accepted on to teacher training courses, such as the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programme. Explore courses on university websites to find out if your current qualifications are good to go, or if added qualifications are necessary before applying.
- Why not try this first?
There are many different roles associated with teaching and nurturing youngsters that you might want to try before embarking on full-time primary teaching: these will not only offer fantastic and rewarding job opportunities in themselves, but also offer invaluable experience for a possible future teaching role.
So why not explore s1jobs and find out about roles such as Pupil Support Assistants and Early Year Practitioners, Playground Supervisors and Nursery Assistants?
One thing all of these roles have in common is that, not only are they helping to protect and develop children, they can also offer personal fulfilment doing something you love and are passionate about.