Ways to Train to become a teacher

by ·Comments Off on Ways to Train to become a teacher

Most posts require you to be of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) to work within a school in England.  Here are a few ways to train, depending on your circumstances.

Have a Degree

University-led training: you will spend about one-third of your time in university and the rest in school placements.
Train as you teach: on a school direct (Fee-funded) course, you spend more time learning on the job than on the academic side.
Earn a salary: Some training programmes like School Direct (salaried) and postgraduate teaching apprenticeships offer you a salary.  Again this option means you spend less time learning at university.

Don’t have a Degree

Undergraduate teacher training degree: These courses can take up to 4 years. Qualifications vary depending on the course. You could get QTS with a Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Education (BEd) or Bachelor of Science (BSc).

Short Professional Online Courses to be Offered by the University of Cambridge

by ·Comments Off on Short Professional Online Courses to be Offered by the University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge has developed several new short, online courses to help boost the knowledge and education of professionals worldwide to enhance their skills. Starting with four, to what will expand to 50 in the next 5 years, these courses will be instructed by Cambridge academics and cost around £2000. In an effort to help professionals upskill in a difficult employment world, post-pandemic, these courses are being developed by the Cambridge University Press to help meet a skill-gap need.

The idea of these new courses has been fuelled by the changing mindset to online teaching and learning that has been propelled forward, thanks to pandemic restrictions. The layout of the courses will be catered and optimised for online learning as opposed to trying to replicate the in-person education experience.

If you are looking for some professional up-skilling courses, check out this new opportunity and see if there is yet, a suitable course for you.

Best Practices for Virtual Training and Instruction

by ·Comments Off on Best Practices for Virtual Training and Instruction

With a lot of training and learning moving online, as an instructor, who was used to in-person sessions, you may be wondering how to improve your virtual training sessions. If you feel like your virtual learning is simply not working or could be improved upon, here are a few tips:

• Ensure you are using the right platform. Ideally, you want a platform that will allow for polling, group break-out, screen-sharing, hand raising etc.

• Use the features mentioned above to increase interaction and engagement

• Decrease session length to no longer than 45 minutes and increase session frequency

• Ensure your audio and visual devices are optimal, so everyone can hear and see you well

• Have clear session procedures laid out

• Break info-heavy slides into smaller chunks for easier mental digestion

If you are finding your virtual training sessions need improvement, here are a few best practices tips to help you increase engagement, session optimisation and focus for your students.

What Are Your Options with a TEFL and No Degree?

by ·Comments Off on What Are Your Options with a TEFL and No Degree?

Even without having a university degree, currently, you still have a few teaching options available to you if you have a good quality TEFL Certification:

1. You will first need to gain as much experience as you can before applying for many teaching jobs, such as ones available abroad. One great way is to volunteer teach so that you have proof of your experience with real students and gain great references which are very important.

2. Teaching online can be a great option for teachers who may need more freedom. You can do this by teaching for an online school to gain experience first then set up as a Freelance teacher later, if you prefer.

3. If you like children, it is a lot easier to get a job teaching kids English without a degree. Au paring is one fantastic way to do this. You could even do this in an after-school care or tutoring capacity.

4. Copy Editing is another great angle to take if you have a passion for reading and writing. This offers a lot of flexibility as you can do this from anywhere.

Take your passion for coaching further

by ·Comments Off on Take your passion for coaching further

If you help out at a club or group assisting a coach, you might want to take things further by getting some qualifications. There’s a whole spectrum of qualifications you could go for, with specialisations in a broad range of sports available. A basic level qualification will improve your skills when assisting a lead coach but beyond that, you can qualify to coach on your own.
Some course providers offer one-day coaching workshops for a range of levels. These are great as a taster and may give you an idea of which route you want to go down, as well as giving your skills a boost and having the opportunity to meet and chat with other coaches. These day courses are easy to fit in around work making them great for volunteer coaches.
If you’re really serious about coaching there are great college and degree level courses available. Consider whether you want to specialise in coaching for certain groups (eg. disabled sports) If you want to work with children you’ll need to pass an enhanced disclosure check.