As a career changer, how do you plan to bring your previous work experience into the classroom?
Hi, my name is Reka, and I used to be an architect. After I received my master’s degree, I worked in the industry for a year, however, I decided to change my career and move towards my passion: teaching. I was working as a teaching assistant in the past two years. Now I am a PGCE student and a Maths Scholar.
Association and utilization are very important when we are about to teach something new to other people. Bringing real life examples to the lessons gives the pupils an easier and clearer way to understand the subject and to realize, why something is so important. Later, they remember better to these examples and the lessons. From the area and perimeter of a plan, through the perfect dome of churches to calculating shadows, we use maths all the time in architecture, and this is something I want to show my students. During my time as an architect, I also became better at drawing and crafting, which comes handy when/in preparing unique, exciting lessons.
Working with multiple companies I have gained experience as an employee and quickly learned how to be a good team-player. This is not really connected to the job I had done, but to the fact that I worked for different employers. I have learned the importance of teamwork, which can be improved by pair and group tasks in the classroom. Not being afraid of sharing ideas, making mistakes and asking for help are also the essential parts of working and learning too. I saw good and bad examples of bosses trying to create this ethos, and I learned from them a lot. With a lot of submissions, I have learned to be organised and get everything ready on time.
As a career changer, I think my experience will greatly support me to become a better teacher. I hope I can create an exciting and motivating learning environment to my students.
By Reka Zelena