OUAN602 - PPP3: Career Track Tuesdays (Teaching)

OUAN602 - PPP3:

Career Track Tuesdays

A couple of months ago, just before Christmas, Career Track Tuesdays were featuring a seminar on how to get into teaching. One of my tutors emailed me instantly, letting me know about this opportunity and how it may be beneficial for finding out more information on becoming an art teacher within a high school.

Plenty of people turned up, all of which knew each other as most were from the larger courses (Fine Art, Fashion, Photography). Not a single participant turned up from any neighbouring course which was quite intimidating as they all sat in their little cliques. I didn't turn up to socialise, and knew I wouldn't get much conversation out of anybody despite trying to introduce myself, so I sat back and tried to take in as much helpful information as possible.

The guest speaker was a female teacher from a school in Bradford. She showed us a presentation which was lengthy but very detailed, stating that under the current government system there is absolutely no funding whatsoever for aspiring art teachers as art is not considered as "beneficial to the learning environment as maths, english, and the sciences." This was incredibly disheartening, however I felt empowered knowing I had gone one step ahead and passed the first level of my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course which could open a few more doors and allow me to teach English abroad. By using this as my gateway qualification, I was told by former teachers and friends in the teaching sector that I could always primarily become an English teacher and worm my Animation degree in there somewhere by being flexible and teaching two subjects (art and English).

Our speaker stated that £15,000 worth of funding could be granted to you if you were planning on teaching an "academic" subject such as maths and science. I can completely understand the government's way of thinking with this scheme - chucking a large wad of cash at fresh meat (graduates) from hard-industry boosting subjects would mean more teachers in that sector which would in turn create students of a more industrial-work mind. However, in 2014/15, newspaper headlines such as "Art Market Nears Record With $66 Billion in Global Sales" (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-03-12/global-art-market-surged-to-66-billion-in-2013-report) and "UK's creative industries beat employment downturn" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25742231) were cropping up, proving that the creative industry is massive and economically vital for growth, mental wellbeing, and culture.

Despite the saddening talk, I was incredibly grateful of the new information I had learned and I could then adjust my plans to suit the current society a little better. After all, I already felt as if I was going nowhere to begin with, so how much worse could this talk make me feel about my future? I shall pick myself up and think about putting myself first for a change, not the interests of others regarding my career choices.