By Kate Stockings
Someone once told me that they couldn’t imagine being a teacher and ‘just teaching the same lessons every day for years and years’. This statement is SO wrong for SO many reasons (and I won’t cover all of the reasons why here!). Whilst I suppose you could remain a classroom teacher teaching the same lessons for years and years this is likely to:
a) Not result in great teaching outcomes
b) Get incredibly boring for you
c) Limit engagement and motivation of the students
Now, not everyone in teaching wants to move into leadership and many people love their role of a classroom teacher- perfecting the best lessons possible.
Alongside this however, there are also lots of different options to progress within teaching and many different routes to take. When I started looking into teaching as a career, I had no idea of just how many different options there were. I thought that you had to teach for 10 years or so before you could get any kind of leadership role and progression. That’s why, now in my 3rd year of teaching, I think its important to promote this element to ensure that high calibre, ambitious graduates know that teaching could be a fantastic progressive career for them!
When I started teaching, I planned to do 3 years as a geography teacher before applying for a Head of Geography job. Due to the circumstances at my school however, I took over as the Head of Department in the June of my NQT year. Whilst this rapid progression wouldn’t be for everybody; it’s important to know that it is possible if you want it to be.
Had I not have taken that particular job, it is likely that within a few years I would have taken some of the numerous other roles available in a school. If you have a passion for getting students to experience the world beyond the classroom walls then the role of Challenge and Enrichment Coordinator could be for you.
If your interest lies more in the pastoral side of a school and you particularly enjoy building positive relationships with students then the Head of Year (sometimes called Progress Leader) role might be your chosen path. If you want to work with the most disadvantaged students of the school then taking on the role of Pupil Premium Coordinator would be highly rewarding. In addition, some schools have Deputy Heads of Year and 2nd in command for each department- so you can see many different options there might be!
The bottom line is, the options are varied and open- teaching is a career with plenty of progression if you want it!
