Becoming a Teacher?

Ive been thinking about this on and off for a little while now, but was wondering if anyone could possibly help me answer these questions.

Due to family circumstances after I finished studying I may or may not (more likely not) be able to move out of the area to gain employment. I have spoken to a teaching friend who has told me the reason that she works in disabiliy care is because she can not get a job as a teacher as there are none around here. Is there somewhere that I can look at or talk to to back that up? Is there somewhere that will show projected employment both in my area and state and nationwide both now and in 3-4 years time?

My next question, If I choose to go ahead and pursue this study is there a different course for primary education and secondary education? :redface:

Im sure I had more questions than that but I cant think of them at the moment. Any help would be very appreciated. :) Thanks

Hi BlackCat. I'm not sure where you could find the information you are looking for in regards to employment prospects etc, but yes, there is a difference between Primary and secondary teaching. The Bachelor of Education (Primary) is a stand alone degree. The secondary teaching is a bit different because you tend to specialise in one area, so at the Uni I am at (UNE), it is a Bachelor of Mathematics/Bachelor of Teaching or Bachelor of Information Technology/Bachelor of Teaching etc. There is also a separate degree for teaching disabled children - the Bachelor of Special Education (Primary)/Bachelor of Disability studies. But that may be different from Uni to Uni.

If you already have a degree and it is suitable, then you may just be able to complete a graduate diploma in education - which was the path I took into teaching.

As for jobs in your area - it will depend greatly on WHERE you are located. Where I grew up and did my training there was a massive shortage in teaching jobs and a vast over supply of trained teachers wanting them. We left the area. Some stay but have a fairly long commute (~1 hour) into outlying areas. Perhaps contact the department of education in your state? They would be able to tell you what it's like.

BW

Trillian - Can I ask how you are finding UNE and also if you have completed any of the intensive training and how you have found it as far as travelling etc. I am looking at studying with them next year and I am currently making my final decision on which course to do, it is mainly the intensive training holding me back at this stage.

I'm loving it! The Lecturers I have had this year have been really good and they have a strong online component for most of the subjects. A friend of mine who is a year ahead of me in the same course said she has had 2 lecturers that didn't really exude excitement for the subject which made it hard for her to remain enthusiastic, but she said if that was the only downside, then it wasn't that bad at all.

I've not had to go to any intensive schools as yet, but I think I will have one subject next year where I have to go. Two of the subjects I did this year had them, but they were non-mandatory so I didn't go. In October they will put up all the subject information for next years courses, so you may not be able to find out which ones have intensive schools until then. I think for my degree, there are only a few subjects that do the intensive schools which is good.

Thankyou Trillian. I have always wanted to work in child protective services and have been thinking for a long time about completing my bachelor of social science, but the practical me has always wanted to be a teacher so I have finally made a decision, I am going to apply for the Bachelor of Special Education (Primary)/Bachelor of Disability studies. My girls have inspired me to work with other children with additional needs as I have discovered how hard it is to find good help and from understanding and compassionate people. So fingers crossed that I am accepted and on my way to becoming a teacher for special little children. Just waiting for tomorrow for the subject information to appear on their website for next years courses to confirm intensive school and exam dates.

Good for you! You wont regret it at all. You can have the exams done closer to you - I don't have to go anywhere to sit exams and can go to the local TAFE to do them, so that is one less thing to worry about.

Thought I would butt in and say I think UNE is a fabulous uni, particularly for external students.

In regards to employment options, your best bet is to arrang a time to go and have a chat with a couple of the local principals. Sometimes there aren't many positions around for permnament / full time teaching staff, but there is a real shortage of substitute teachers. I used to have a friend who was working fulltime hours just being a releif teacher at high school level.

The employment question is really a how long is a piece of string question- especially depending on where you live. I work for the Dept of Ed in WA, I have been teaching for 7 years now, and have never really be without work- however having said that I have never had a permenant job, each year I am on an end dated contract, so come the end of the school year, I am never sure if/where I will be teaching the next year. Each state does things differently, here the schools are staffed through central office, so you put in your application for the schools/ year levels etc that you are qualified to teach, and they match you against available jobs- we are just moving into Independent Public Schools, where teachers can apply directly to and be hired at school level, rather than having to go through central staff.
There is a ranking system for placement of teachers- unplaced permenant staff, permanent staff transfering, fixed term teachers & then graduate and re entry teachers. There are alot of teachers struggling to get full time and on going employment, especially if they are not willing to go and do a country stint. I have only just gained my permenancy this year after 7 years of teaching- 2 years in the country and 5 years metro, I got my permenancy through spending 2 years in a "difficult to staff school" in the metro area.

As for qualifications- Generally High school teachers have a specialty and do a teaching degree, either a bachelor of Ed high school, with units in which ever area of study they are interested in, maths, science etc. Or do their specialty degree then a Grad Dip in Education.
Primary school Teaching is another seperate degree- a 4 year degree in teaching (in WA) this means you are qualified to teacher years 1-7
Then there is an Early Childhood Degree- also 4 years and this (once again in WA) qaulifies you to teach k-3.

Trillain, this may be a little personal so please feel free to not answer :lol: but, I have just filled out the application and I am a bit nervous as I did not complete my VCE and I have not completed (commenced not completed) any courses since leaving school, I could sit the STAT test but I am not in the position at the moment to do so, I have attached the mature age entry form so :crossfingers: that is enough but I am curious as to whether you had completed any previous study or VCE equivelent upon entry?
(I blame it all on lack of career counselling from my school and my parents and vow to educate my children to make wiser decisions)

All I had done was complete my HSC back in 95. So to get into Uni I could do what you did - fill in the mature aged student form to justify relevant work experience etc OR I could do their Pathways course, which is a free 12 months course which is only part time, so 2 subjects a semester and the components of the course were two foundations units based in English and Maths as well as two pathways units of your choice - there is a list of subjects you can choose from and if you knew what degree you would do after the pathways course you could pick two subjects that would count towards it. So I picked the two that were part of the Bach Ed degree. The idea of the pathways course is to get you used to University study and let you get a feel for what will be expected of you during your degree. I did the pathways course instead of the mature aged entry because I felt it couldn't hurt to brush up on my writing skills and it has helped a lot because learning how to write academically is different to what was expected during school. The only requirement of the course is that you have to get an 80% pass or higher to successfully pass the course and it will guarantee you entry into your chosen course the following year. So far I am well on track to pass the pathways course and the bonus is that you get advanced standing for the two subjects you chose provided that you passed them. I think had I just filled in the mature aged form I would still have gotten in, but I think I would have floundered a bit so I'm pleased I decided to do it the way I did.

My DH enter UNE as a mature age student (at the ripe old age of 17yrs :rofl: ) because he never got his TER (or whatever it was called). He had to sit the STAT test to get in back then (but this was 11yrs ago now). The STAT test wasn't that hard. There should be a free phone number where you can get in touch with the admin at UNE where they will tell you what you will need to do and point you in the right direction. The phone number should be on their website. They are generally very helpful with these sorts of questions.

Edited to take out the link (not sure if I am allowed to put it in or not).

Thankyou Trillian and Misty. Unfortuntely the closest place for me to do the STAT is a 6 hour round trip and my DD is BF so I would have to take her for the trip and get someone to mind her while I sit the test and the applications close today (there is another one but it is on the closing date for applications).

I didn't even realise you could do a pathways course. I had been looking at doing my study through a different uni and changed my mind at the last minute as UNE offered much better services (relevent to me). Oh well, I will wait and see how my application goes I suppose, any ideas where I can find the offer dates? I know applications close on November 28th, so after that I suppose.

Thanks again for all of your help Trillian.

Daintree, did you use the online application service? If you did, go back in to the online submission and check it tomorrow and you should be able see your application and in the OFFER RESPONSE STATUS column, you should be able to click on ACCEPT to accept the offer of admission. Then you will get a letter in the mail detailing how you enroll in early November. I'm pretty sure that if you met all the requirements on the mature aged form then they should offer you a place, especially considering that you are studying distance ed. In the subject I'm doing now there are 607 external students and only around 100 internals.

Good luck and I hope you get a place!

Check with the uni, because there always used to be other ways you could get an application in, even if the close off date was past - not sure if this is still the case or not. They also used to do late round applications from memory and mid year applications. Basically there are the ways everyone is told about to get admitted into uni and then there are other ways (or at least there used to be).

This is a great thread - I was just reading up on this stuff last night! I just applied for a place in a Graduate Diploma of Learning & Teaching at USQ.

As already touched on = different uni's offer different types of degrees. Some have Bachelor of Education (early years), (middle years) and (secondary).

The only thing I would recommend is that you do your research - if you want to be a teacher, just make sure the course you're looking to do qualifies you for registration as a teacher in your state. This isn't so much important for bachelor degrees, but if you're doing the graduate entry type of qualification, just be sure they lead to that qualification.

Further to what Misty's mentioned - I understand that you can start a degree (just to get in to start with) and then change or transfer once you're in. Half the battle is getting in - once you're in, generally you can go anywhere (within reason and good grades).

Hi guys,
Thought I would pop in and say, I completed my MBed (Bachelor of Education - Junior Prim/Prim) in July 2009, 2 weeks before having DS. I have since started relief teaching and struggling big time to get a permanent/contrat job. It is very dependant on where you are and who you know. I have 10 years exp in teaching dance and this has only helped a little. I am applying for country jobs as DH and I are keen for a tree change, hopefully it works out. I will say though a uni degree in teaching is always going to be very valuable. Eventually there will be a lot of retirees and jobs will open up. I say go for it. I love teaching and even though it has been more difficult than I expected to get my foot in the door, I would never regret it. If you are meant to teach - it will work out eventually - I guess that goes for any job you are passionate about :)
All the best with your studies everyone! It will be worht it in the long run that is for sure!
Rach x