Do you have a passion for learning and want to help shape the next generation of school-leaving Daveys and Davinas?
Perhaps you’ve been eagerly scanning the teaching vacancies on s1jobs and wondering how you could become the next Mr Chips or Miss Jean Brodie?
Well your chances have been boosted thanks to an increase in new courses that offer opportunities to establish a career in education.
In response to a shortage of teachers, Edinburgh Napier University is to launch a new Professional Graduate Diploma in Education for 30 students, with a focus on maths and sciences.
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Meanwhile Queen Margaret University is to establish an undergraduate primary course with a capacity for 120 students, as well as a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education, aimed at boosting the numbers of Home Economics teachers by 20 a year.
The moves have been supported by the Scottish Government, which has invested £1.3 million to help create hundreds of new teachers.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “We recognise that, in common with many other countries, it is hard to recruit teachers in the numbers we need, particularly in certain specialist subjects. Adding two additional universities to the institutions that offer Initial Teacher Education means we can not only recruit additional teachers to take up post within the next two years but build capacity within teacher education.
“The two new teacher training courses offer more choice and flexibility for anyone considering teaching as a career, especially in the specialist Home Economic and STEM subjects where we know there are shortages at the moment.”
The new course at Napier has been designed by teachers for teachers and will include school placements and practice-based learning.
The university says it will target recruitment from recent graduates as well as mature students who may be seeking a career-change.
However, you could earn a place on the course even without a degree.
Thanks to innovative access routes such as programmes that recognise prior learning, the university is hoping to welcome professionals from a variety of backgrounds with a wealth of knowledge built up in industry, who can use their experiences to help educate children.
The new courses bring the number of institutions within Scotland that now offer teacher training up to 11. These include the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, with its focus on music, dance and drama, the University of the Highland and Islands, which has campuses spread across the north of Scotland, and the University of Strathclyde’s School of Education.
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