Yet ANOTHER thread by Qui, (but a sensible one this time)

[AquilaLiberum]

Hey you guys!
So I've been thinking about something for the past month or 2 and wanted to hear your thoughts. I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in July this year, and I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I'd applied for a Masters degree, but the thought of diving straight back into a year of really hard work without a break scared me and I withdrew my application in August.

Recently, I've been talking to alot of people who have either done postgraduate degrees or are about to start them. A girl I spoke to recently did an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Masters in Psychotherapy so she's now a qualified shrink! So I've started thinking about vocational courses that are tailored specifically for certain jobs, and I've focused on a PGCE (postgraduate certificate in education). I've always liked the idea of teaching, but wasn't sure when the last applications came around as I was just beginning the final year of my degree.

I've heard the course is really tough, and that to teach you need to be incredibly patient and be able to control the class well. I enjoy teaching people things and explaining concepts to them (for example, one of the main ways I revise is by pretending I'm teaching the material to someone else), but I don't know if I've have the patience, I can only assume it could be developed while doing the actual course?
In any case, I'm going to go back to to my old school and ask if they'll take me on as a volunteer shadowing teachers in the Biology department. Hopefully, this will give me experience that I can use in my application, as well as helping me decide whether or not that pathway is right for me.

Science based PGCE courses in England are normally funded by bursaries from the government so that'd be a pretty sweet way to spend a year of my life, assuming I'm prepared for the level of work it involves.

Have any of you guys considered teaching? What qualities would you consider important in someone considering applying for a teaching course?

PS. Sorry for the excessive length of this post xd  

[scrub]

Been through a lot of education now, had good and bad teachers at all levels. I think a lot of it is down to your people skills.

In college/university it's really important that you know your subject, obvious really but I had a couple who didn't know jack. Most of the students are happy to be there so you just have to be able to hold their attention.

In compulsory education you've got to do that and be able to control the class, lay down the verbal beatdowns... I think they have the harder job xD

I used to be an activity instructor for under 18's and with that it was basically, you are cool until you prove otherwise. If you start boring them, or loose respect say by letting one person give you grief then you're just inviting trouble.
Especially inside, sit them at a desk and they go into school mode xD  

[Junimaia]

I have a friend who plans to teach elementary, maybe high school world history.

When dealing with that sort of generation, you really have to have high tolerance for classroom shenanigans. Which is something my friend is absolutely excellent at cause she's done plenty of babysitting and takes zero s**t from kids. She's quite firm and authoritative when she wants to be (maybe a little too much around us buddies xD Sometimes it's all like, "Uh, that's nice, Liv, but I'm not 10 anymore mmkay? Thanks."), but at the same time she's capable of being very level-headed and reasonable. And she's a total history nut, she's practically an encyclopedia of knowledge. Which is the sort of thing I'd expect from a college-level teacher.  

[PainfullyVivid]

I don't want to teach, but I technically am right now. I have to do "tutoring," which is really teaching up to 15 students a grammar lesson in an hour, so I consider it teaching rather than actual tutoring. It's something I have to do for the Writing Lab job I have, but I'm hoping to get into paper reading as fast as possible. Lol.

From what I can see, I think interacting with the class is something a good teacher does. Lecturing for an hour and fifteen minutes can get boring. Even if you set up scenarios that relate to the topic and ask students what they would do/whatever is relevant to the topic at hand, it would keep most people at least participating. Humor also works. Making the information relevant. Smiling.  

[AquilaLiberum]

Thanks for all the replies you guys biggrin
I've e-mailed my old secondary school and asked if they'd take me on for a bit of unpaid work experience. I have to ring them later today to organise a meeting with the principal, so it looks like they're willing to have me!

When I was at school, I thought alot about what I thought my teachers were doing wrong/right and how they were effectively getting the information across to us as well as keeping us under control. I really like the idea of teaching, and even though I'm not an official coach,I loved teaching people basic trampolining moves (under the supervision of an official coach). I just don't know whether I'm going to have enough patience, or enough of a thick skin. I guess this placement will help me decide if I'm properly suited to the career or not.