Teaching Assistant to Teacher – What’s involved?

Although working as a teaching assistant has numerous benefits and you may be content, it is only normal to want to advance in your profession and become a teacher. You can advance your career by switching from a teaching assistant to a teacher.

When you start teaching, things will alter. The degree of responsibility you will bear will be one of the most significant adjustments. Your position will change from one of assistance to one of educator. Lesson planning, preparation, and delivery will be your responsibility in accordance with national curriculum standards.

There are a variety of benefits to becoming a teacher, such as raising your income, and changing lives, and you’ll never stop learning.

You must take ITET with QTS to become a certified teacher. You can do this by enrolling in a university or in a QTS development programme run by your school, such as Straight to Teaching.


Teacher V’s Coach


Some people may think that a teacher and a coach are the same thing when they are not. Teaching is focused on acquiring new knowledge and skills, whereas coaching is focused on refining and developing existing knowledge and skills. Ownership and responsibility for success are placed on the teacher. Where with coaching, both parties have a responsibility, and it opens up a communication pathway. Coaching often happens when dealing with real-life, on-the-job problems. Teaching is a theoretical situation that may or may not arise. Teaching also usually has a defined timeline with an end goal or deadline in place. Coaching will happen over an undefined period of time.

Teaching is used when someone has no previous knowledge. Communication differs when coaching assumes a level of knowledge to be built upon. A teacher will be one-sided and instructional, whereas a coach is two-way, with the emphasis being on the person being coached to come up with their own conclusions.

The Benefits of Working As A Teacher

Working as a teacher brings a wide variety of benefits. With teaching jobs, Bedfordshire is a popular for those based in and around Bedfordshire. But, what are some of the main benefits teaching jobs are going to bring?

You Are Inspiring Future Generations
One of the main jobs that teachers enjoy is the fact they are inspiring the lives of future generations. Teachers are the people who are going to shape everyone into the people they choose to become. No matter what route they take. If they become a lawyer, celebrity, police, doctor or teachers themself, their school teachers are always going to be the ones that get thanked for shaping them and inspiring them.

Working Hours
Another point surrounding teaching jobs Bedfordshire that teachers enjoy is the working hours. This is especially useful for those who have children of their own that they need to care for. You can easily work these hours around childcare, with you having similar working hours to your child’s school hours. You will also have the same time off with regards to school holidays, making it easy for you to not need time off work during these periods as you will already be off.

Every Day Is Unique
When working as a teacher you are going to benefit from every day being unique. You simply never know what your students are going to have in store for you on a given day. Of course, this can bring a mix of emotions, but it is going to make the job more enjoyable, especially when the students can be seen having fun and enjoying the lessons you have planned.

Showcase Your Creativity
Another benefit of teaching jobs Bedfordshire is the ability to showcase your creativity. Of course, you are going to have a curriculum to follow, but how you teach these lessons is completely up to you. Meaning you can show your creativity with how you teach your lessons and adapt them to suit your class.

You Are Constantly Learning
Again with the school curriculum, you are going to be constantly learning. It is likely that when you start in teaching, the curriculum is going to be different to what you remember learning. This gives you ample opportunities to learn. This will be constantly changing and you will be constantly learning new skills to ensure you are giving the best teaching to your class.

A Life Time Job
When you start in teaching jobs Bedfordshire, you are going to find that it is a lifelong job. It is going to be a job that you want to stick at and continue to help students for as long as you can. All the good that teaching brings is what is going to keep you wanting to stay put in your current career.

So, these are the main benefits you can receive when choosing to become a teacher. If you’ve got the mindset to want to inspire and change the lives of young people, we 100% recommend that you start your teacher training and begin your career.

Thinking about becoming a Teacher?

So you’d love to inspire our future generations? Would you know where to start?

You’d need to decide first who you want to teach. Would it be Early Years (Up to 5yrs), Primary (age 5-11yrs), Secondary (age 11-18yrs), or further education. You could look at getting some experience to decide which age group you prefer.

To be eligible for postgraduate primary or secondary initial teacher training courses, you would need a degree or equivalent qualification. You would also need Maths, English and Science grade 4 (C) or above.

If it’s the cost that’s putting you off, you could get funding that wouldn’t need to be paid back if you train to teach certain subjects.

Exploring the right training for you, would it be PGCE or directly into a school.

The final step would be actually applying, you could get a teacher training advisor who would be able to help with various stages, including getting your application ready.

Good Luck!

The Teaching Assistant Role

A teaching assistant is a member of the teaching staff that assists the teacher with instructional tasks. Teaching assistants are often employed in primary and secondary schools. They usually take care of administrative tasks such as taking attendance and managing classrooms.

The teaching assistant’s role is to provide classroom support, such as helping children with their work or giving assistance to the teacher to answer questions. They are also responsible for managing the class for minor tasks, such as distributing materials.

The best way to become a teaching assistant is through volunteering. This will let you explore your interest, build up your resume, and make connections with potential employers. You can also go back to school for an education degree or certificate if you want more formal training.

Teaching assistants can choose to specialise in supporting children with special educational needs. They are expected to know and understand the learning process from various perspectives, including the learners, parents, and teachers.