By Rachael Speed
A teaching scholarship provides not only financial support, but also valuable training and networking opportunities. It looks great on your CV too! Here Royal Geographical Society Scholar Rachael Speed shares her experience.
Rachael completed her undergraduate degree in Geography at the University of Cambridge, and is now completing her PGCE at the University of Oxford. She enjoys rock climbing, reading and pizza restaurants!
Geography and Teaching
After graduating from university, I was very lost as to where to go next. I have always considered myself to be a geographer first and foremost, and wanted to go into a career that would allow me to use my degree every day. I had also really enjoyed working with children, both as part of the Royal Geographical Society’s (RGS) Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme and the Cambridge Science Festival whilst at university, so I decided to look into a PGCE.
I knew that teaching would allow me to pass on my enthusiasm and love for my subject, and allow me to feel that I was having a real impact on children’s progress each and every day.
Applying for a scholarship
Having applied for a PGCE, I also decided to apply for an RGS Teaching Training Scholarship, which I had heard about through my work as an ambassador. The interview process in itself was a fantastic experience, and being offered the scholarship gave me a real sense of achievement prior to beginning my training.
I’m really glad I put the effort into the application and interview for the scholarship, as it’s worth so much more than just the financial reward. There have been so many opportunities to meet and network with fellow scholars, as well as development events such as training days on geographical information systems and fieldwork.
In August, just before starting the PGCE course, some fellow scholars and I were invited on a residential fieldwork course at the Field Studies Council’s Juniper Hall. This was a fantastic way to start our new adventure, as it allowed us to not only get into the ‘teacher mindset’, but also talk through some of our concerns and expectations with people about to embark on the same journey!
The scholars have a nice online community for sharing resources, ideas and the occasional funny story. Plus, being a scholar also gets you a Postgraduate Fellowship to the Royal Geographical Society, which looks great on job applications and gives you something interesting to talk about at interviews. The society is also really supportive, and sometimes sends little gifts and cards to you, which is a nice surprise at the end of a long term.
The Year So Far
Teaching so far has been as rewarding as it is challenging, but I go home with a smile on my face every day. Even the worst day can be made better by a funny comment from a student, or the support and understanding of your mentor and other teachers around you.
I genuinely enjoy spending time in the classroom with such a variety of people, and consider it a privilege to work with both children and other teachers. Knowing that you’ve enabled a child to make even a small amount of progress is worth all the work it takes to get to that point.
This year has really taught me the importance of being receptive to new ideas, and that there is always space to take a risk and try a new technique — you just never know what crazy idea might work for the kids in front of you!
Teaching scholarships of £28,000 are available in physics, chemistry, languages, computing and geography. Find out more about these and other funding opportunities available to you on the Get into Teaching website.
