Bringing Previous Work Experience Into The Classroom
I am not a career changer as I have started my teacher training straight out of university. However, I thought that my work experience from my part time job and how I am bringing what I learned there into the classroom was very relevant to talk about.
I started to work at McDonald’s while I was studying my A levels and continued to work there until I got my degree and began teacher training. When I was only a regular crew member and I first began to work, I developed my teamworking skills which are a necessity for a teacher to have. This is because many people are involved in a student’s education including, but not limited to, all their teachers, their head of year, their safeguarding leaders and even the student’s parents. Being able to work well with all these other people is crucial in order to make sure that your students are getting everything that they need.
After I had been there for a while, I asked to become a crew trainer. I knew that this role would allow me to gain a lot of experience that I could apply to my future classroom teaching. As a crew trainer I gained three main responsibilities that were very similar to what a teacher has. These were training new staff members, coaching existing staff and managing the kitchen of the restaurant.
When I was training up new members of staff, it allowed me to experience what it is like working one to one with someone and being the expert. This made me realise what being the expert means. I am the person who knows the subject well and I am directly responsible for passing that knowledge on to my students. Coaching staff is also something that can be applied to a school setting as this has to happen frequently in school. As a teacher it is important to carry out formative assessment regularly so that you can see how your students are doing and guide them in the right direction when you recognise that they may be going off track. And finally, being put in charge of the kitchen gave me practice of overseeing a large group of people. This is what a teacher does when they in a classroom. In work I would make sure that everyone was on task and getting what they needed to get their jobs done. A teacher also does this as they want to make sure that their students are focused and completing their work so that they learn effectively. So, to summarise, I was practicing skills in that job that are extremely useful for my teaching now and I use them every day.
By Lloyd Pennington
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Message from the Scholarship Team
You can apply to the Scholarships with a 2:2 degree classification, providing you can demonstrate 'significant relevant experience'. Also you can apply before completing your subject knowledge enhancement course. See our eligibility criteria on our About Us page and our FAQs.
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