The role of a Primary Teacher

The role of a Primary School Teacher

25/09/2013

Being Primary Teacher can appeal to many people who are deciding on what career path to take with the vision of it being, not only extremely rewarding with a good salary and good holidays, but also fun and versatile. Not only are there arguments for and against this perception, as with any profession, but there are academic requirements which have to be met and attributes desired in order to be a successful candidate. Despite knowing the negative points to this role, it still appeals to me greatly. The aspect that appeals to me the most is the sense of achievement which is created from helping children start their journey to further education in the best possible way and help them to achieve their goals and ambitions. I see this as a great career, doing something challenging yet worthwhile.

I am aware that classroom experience is essential for entry to all the training routes available for teachers today and the diploma I have chosen will give me the knowledge and skills I need in order to become a confident volunteer or teaching assistant in the classroom which would allow me to gain the required, valuable experience. Once this has been completed, there are a number of ways you can obtain your teacher status. The first being a 'Post Graduate Certificate in Education', often referred to as a 'PGCE'. Another being 'School Direct' which is a new school based training route which is replacing the Graduate Teacher Programme known as the 'GTP'. A third option is the 'School Centered Initial Teacher training' or the 'SCITT' for short, used by consortia schools. Finally, there is a route named 'Teach First' which is a 2 year programme including a PGCE, where top graduates are placed in more challenging schools. Whichever route is chosen, 'having a degree in a curriculum subject area will increase your chances for PGCE entry' ('Primary Teaching entry requirements' 2012. Prospects online). I hope to go onto University after I have completed my diploma and study English as I have great interest in this subject and it would also enable me to fall within the more desired category to gain my teacher status.

The role of a Primary Teacher involves the following; 'planning lessons, teaching a variety of subjects, marking and assessment, leading and assisting a class of pupils, using resources effectively, monitoring the development of individual students, assessing skills and knowledge through tests, communicating with parents and staff and contributing to school events' (jobs.ac.uk. 2012. online). I know that the training and experience that I will acquire as I go through the course will help me to become more confident in carrying out each of the mentioned tasks. Aswel as the qualification itself, I believe you also need to have certain character attributes in order to provide high quality tuition and support to pupils and fellow teachers. I feel that my personality is very much able to adjust, in a positive way, to situations I am put in which would help me in the different aspects of teaching life. I have an open mind, I am a great listener and I am patient but I can also be firm when I feel it is required of me which I feel will be crucial in bein successful as teaching a class of young children. Although I haven't had much experience in the classroom yet, I feel that the skills I already possess will help me greatly.

As with any role, different people enjoy different aspects of their work and have different outlooks on the positive sides to their job. Some of the things which often come up in this topic of conversation within the teaching industry are that being a Primary Teacher is extremely rewarding and versatile with every day being different to the one before, '...undoubtedly one of the most rewarding careers that you can have...every day is different...the role varies massively depending on the pupils...never get bored' ('Information about Primary Teaching. 2010-2013. eteach online). Other positive notes include the stability which can come from being offered a permanent contract, the pension on which you are automatically enrolled onto and therefore ending up with a reasonably good pension when retiring. Another positive outlook is having long holidays, which is considered to be one of the biggest benefits (Kate Halstead ' Learn the top 10 benefits of being a teacher' online article). There are, of course, other aspects which I consider to be positive such as being creative in the classroom and having a good support network from likeminded teachers but these are the main ones I have come across and of course, all of them sound appealing.

With the teaching profession, positives come with, what I see as, equally validated negatives and there are quite a few that I have read about. Not only do teachers tend to receive negative press in general, putting added pressure on them to succeed but there are many teachers who feel that some of the positives, which I mentioned above, are actually a negative aspect to their job. The long holidays are often talked about in a negative way from other public sector employees with teachers fighting back with reports that they are very much needed in order to complete the task of marking and lesson planning, ('Primary School Teacher. 2012. jobs.ac.uk. online). The salary is referred to as a positive but when worked out against the number of hours spent on work outside the classroom, it could actually seem not that much at all. Stress is a big contributor to the negative side of things too. According to a study, 'Primary School Teachers often suffer from more stress than Secondary, Deputy or even Head Teachers as they are responsible for the same class all year round' with two of the main causes of the stress being due to 'student misbehavior and work pressure' ('Classroom stress for Primary School Teachers'. 1999. BBC news. online). Along with the workload and negative press, stress will also stem from the fact that teachers have to deal with the parents of the pupils too, who may not be so understanding or pleased to hear that their child is, for example, disrupting the class. I know this will be a tough challenge, requiring you to maintain a positive attitude and professional manor under any circumstance.

Until you are in a negative or difficult situation, you can only hope that you would have the ability to deal with it efficiently and effectively. Taking into consideration that teaching is a mixture of highs and lows, being stressful but also rewarding, hard work but also enjoyable, I feel I have what it takes to be a likeable, successful teacher who will play a huge part in the early learning stages of many children’s lives. Having been on and still currently on temporary work contracts for the last 5 months in Australia, it has really helped me to adjust quickly and effortlessly to different people, personalities and situations which has made me more confident I believe having confidence in yourself is of huge importance in any aspect of life, work or otherwise, but especially in order to handle stressful situations. I feel having an open mind is of huge importance in order to listen to what others have to say and take it on board. I have been reluctant to start studying again at the age of 27, having worked in the same industry for 9 years but my passion is to do something worthwhile and rewarding and I'm longing for a new challenge, which is what this will most certainly be. The idea to work with children has simply stemmed from having children in my life for the last few years from a god daughter to nephews. I thoroughly enjoy being around children and watching them develop and I look forward to having the chance to make this my career. I want to have an impact on the lives of many children and their early development and education. I feel that I understand the advantages and disadvantages that surround this profession and will embrace the challenge wholeheartedly.