Troops to Teachers

[oldalbiongirl]

I don't think all the teachers on my training course had degrees.

You don't necessarily need a teaching qualification to teach.

It depends where you teach. If you are in a mainstream maintained school, you need a degree in order to teach. If you are in a free school there are different rules.
I don't see how you can completely bypass the requirements of becoming a teacher just because you are in the military. The government are currently looking at all sorts of ways that they can avoid the necessity of qualifications in the profession thus ultimately getting away with paying less. That's what its all about, lets not believe the smokescreen of the government wanting to help the military. I'm not saying by the way that some military personel would not be good at the job. As in all walks of life, there are those that can teach/train and those that can't, but I can't see the logic in changing the basic qualification needs just because someone was in the military.

 

[clapham_gull]

I was an A-Level Maths teacher for several years and trained in schools. We were told only 25% of Maths teachers in schools had Maths degrees. The problem is that if you've got a good Maths degree you can earn a lot more money than teaching will pay.

Is that a recent thing ? My maths teacher had to study in later years before they let him touch it.

However, my computer studies teacher had a degree in geography and it showed, god how it showed.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Strange strange hypocrisy from the Government. One day we here that the bar to teaching should higher and now it appears to be lowered for ex.troops.

Quite.

 

[clapham_gull]

A good attitude to have; you believe in teaching for qualifications, i believe in teaching to provide a foundation for life.

Both are important.

I've got an issue with the way IT is apparently now taught. I was shocked when I heard.

Personally I'd put ANYONE who inputs data into a database on a short course explaining what a database is.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

A good attitude to have; you believe in teaching for qualifications, i believe in teaching to provide a foundation for life.

I didn't say qualifications are the be-all-and-end-all. But they hold value which you dismissed outright.

 

[clapham_gull]

Why not? I dont have a degree but i have more letters after my name than you could shake a stick at. This interests me as i have taught in the Army for two years, enjoyed it, and if the financial package was good enough i might do this.

All the best though if you choose to take that route. I've got a feeling you might be very good at it.

 

[skipper734]

This is not a new idea. When my lovely old Dad (Don't know why I called him that as I am now four years older than he was when he died.) emerged from the RAF Regiment in 1953 after the War, he was a Sargent small arms instructor. Silly sausage wouldn't go through Officer training, so he was offered Teacher training as a career.
He turned down the opportunity and went back to being a chippy. Which in my opinion was a loss to teaching.
In my school there were probably a few who had taken up the Teacher training option, probably the infamous Jack Liddell is the best example?

 

[Theatre of Trees]

A good attitude to have; you believe in teaching for qualifications, i believe in teaching to provide a foundation for life.

Wait until you meet the wacky world of Ofsted and league tables where the bureaucratic tail wags the educational dog. A piece of paper with a qualification means far more than a rounded individual.

 

[1066familyman]

Isn't it something like half of newly qualified teachers quit the profession within 5 years? I think that probably says a lot about how stressful a profession it can be.

Then consider reports like this: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iop/news/records/2013/March/violent-offending-UK-military.aspx

Then imagine sending people into a profession with less preparation than is normally given, and dare I say, under qualified.

Clearly the Government is looking to paper over the cracks in the support they offer ex-service men and women, and fast tracking them into a profession that is by no means easy to work in seems to me to be a recipe for potential disaster for all concerned. Mind you, expecting proper investment in people from a Tory government is never going to happen so I shouldn't really be surprised by this 'initiative'.

 

[Sergei's Celebration]

I didn't say qualifications are the be-all-and-end-all. But they hold value which you dismissed outright.

No you are absolutely correct there is a very good medium between providing that foundation while ensuring they get the best education available to ensure they get as far as they can in the system. Please see my previous post (18?) as i can see the hypocrisy in dismissing the qualification while considering this as a future career.

All the best though if you choose to take that route. I've got a feeling you might be very good at it.

Thank you Clapham Gull, that is very kind and very much appreciated.

 

[jackcgull]

i think ex-servicemen would be better and more effective as youth workers rather than teachers.

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

In principle this is a good idea but agree there are some obvious pitfalls and assumptions. Why shouldn't ex-military personnel become teachers?

From my experience of recruiting, training and serving alongside ex-military personnel who join the emergency services they bring 'real life' experience and self discipline that many civvies barely comprehend. On the other hand civvies can have a more balanced outlook to life and be better equipped to do 'soft skills'. The key is having the right mix of both qualities plus in a teaching role have a relevant academic qualification.

There are ex-military personnel who possess meaningful academic qualifications and often offer very strong abilities to deliver training and education, albeit from a background of recruits in a 'comply or goodbye' militaristic environment. This would obviously transfer more readily into a uniformed role in the Police etc. but I am sure they could bring energy to a teaching role too. However I agree they might find the overly 'PC'-ness of the general education system and prevarication over taking immediate and decisive disciplinary action too 'pink and fluffy'.

 

[surlyseagull]

The Govt have been fast tracking women for years in the fire service ,police force ,etc etc in fact every conceivable job you can shake a stick at and called it positive discrimination ( now there`s a contradiction in term ) and not a word has been mentioned anywhere,so if this means more male role models for our kids and a bit more discipline then I am all for it.

 

[Kaiser_Soze]

Normally they still have to reach the same standard though. They just accept applications from just woman for a period of time.

 

[Seagull over Canaryland]

The Govt have been fast tracking women for years in the fire service ,police force ,etc etc in fact every conceivable job you can shake a stick at and called it positive discrimination ( now there`s a contradiction in term ) and not a word has been mentioned anywhere,so if this means more male role models for our kids and a bit more discipline then I am all for it.

That is very true, albeit it was a stampede to redress the balance in terms of historical male bias and lack of diversity that was woefully under representative of the community. However at times the positive discrimination became so blatant.

I do strongly agree that kids should have access to strong role models many of whom could come from a military background but ideally this should be irrespective of gender etc as long as it 'ups' the quality of education and makes them more rounded young people who are better equipped to make a positive contribution to society. There are excellent trainers in the military of both genders, race etc.

I don't know if it is a myth but the media talk up the lack of strong male role models in the education system which in turn compounds the lack of a male role model at home in many single parent families.

 

[clapham_gull]

Personally I do have a problem with the conveyor belt attitude to education and certain professions in this country.

Vested interests, keep the outsiders out annoys me just as much.

But fast tracked ? Not so sure. Again more than happy for the government to pay a troop to get to an educational standard to pass it on.

At which point yep, you are going to end up with a fine teacher.

But it isn't quite as simple as that. Even when I was at school the most popular teachers were the ones who let you get away with doing little.

It was only recently when I went back to University I appreciated the Sergeant Major approach. The friendly ones simply annoyed me.

 

[The Large One]

In principle this is a good idea but agree there are some obvious pitfalls and assumptions. Why shouldn't ex-military personnel become teachers?

From my experience of recruiting, training and serving alongside ex-military personnel who join the emergency services they bring 'real life' experience and self discipline that many civvies barely comprehend. On the other hand civvies can have a more balanced outlook to life and be better equipped to do 'soft skills'. The key is having the right mix of both qualities plus in a teaching role have a relevant academic qualification.

There are ex-military personnel who possess meaningful academic qualifications and often offer very strong abilities to deliver training and education, albeit from a background of recruits in a 'comply or goodbye' militaristic environment. This would obviously transfer more readily into a uniformed role in the Police etc. but I am sure they could bring energy to a teaching role too. However I agree they might find the overly 'PC'-ness of the general education system and prevarication over taking immediate and decisive disciplinary action too 'pink and fluffy'.

No-one is saying they shouldn't, and not from an academic point of view either.

The rest of your posts then seems to highlight how relatively few would be applicable.

For instance, I'm just curious as to what skill sets a person who has served in the military has to offer to the child who is say, autistic, or has learning difficulties, or is in special needs, or is being abused at home - without going through the same training that anyone else who wishes to enter teaching has to do?

In fact, the main opinion in terms of skills on offer coming up from this thread is... discipline. Is this really the cornerstone of the government's thinking - discipline?

 

[Theatre of Trees]

In fact, the main opinion in terms of skills on offer coming up from this thread is... discipline. Is this really the cornerstone of the government's thinking - discipline?

The cynic inside me believes that the announcement is an attempt by Gove to win future support amongst the Daily Mail/Express readership whose idea of what goes on in schools is akin to the current problems in Syria. Whether it benefits ex-service personnel or schools is another matter. For the record I'm from the 'If they can do the job they should do it' camp irrespective of qualifications.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

You can become Secretary of State for Education without any apparent qualifications, experience or aptitude, so why not let former members of the armed forces become teachers?

 

[oldalbiongirl]

You can become Secretary of State for Education without any apparent qualifications, experience or aptitude, so why not let former members of the armed forces become teachers?

alternatively let the military get a fastrack into parliament.