To Teach First or not to Teach First?!

It was a rainy, corona-virus, lockdown type of day. I was flicking through facebook absentmindedly, unexcited by the arid posts of my fellow bored and isolated friends, when an advertisement for Teach First appeared. 'Apply by the 30th April!' it screamed, 'change the world!'.

Being an avid supporter of higher education, I had never considered other routes into teaching. There had been no doubt in my mind - I would be pursuing a university-led postgraduate certificate in education. However, having been living 'days of not much', I decided to apply purely out of boredom.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the programme, let me provide you with a brief overview. Teach First is an educational charity supported by generous funding from the government and several big dog partner companies. The organisation's vision is to create a huge movement of leaders to help decrease educational inequality within the UK. To do so, participants complete an intensive 5 week training programme over summer. They are then thrust in-front of students in a disadvantaged school with FULL responsibility in September and expected to complete two years within that school, alongside university assignments and training days. Once the participant has finished the programme, they are awarded with a fully funded postgraduate diploma in education (worth 120 points) and QTS. Sounds great, ey? I thought so.

The application process was insanely simple. There was no need for me to spend ages scrawling through my past CVs for work history or spend time writing a painstakingly, cringeworthy personal statement. The form consisted of your degree, A level and GCSE information alongside answering three (I think) questions which were, also, insanely simple. Needless to say, I got through to the online development centre. I don't want to say too much about it because my moral compass would begin to swing, but it was pretty easy so long as you had done your research.

I was offered a place to teach geography in the East of England. At first, I was incredibly excited. I had not anticipated to be SO excited. I assumed that this was my gut telling me that THIS was the route I must take. I, of course, wanted to change the world and close the gap in educational inequality! I had completely fallen for their marketing strategy.

Post excitement and upon reflection, I started to become a little unnerved. I couldn't shake the feeling that I had merely ticked some commercial boxes for a huge recruitment company. Firstly, every single activity I completed during the development centre was monitored and assessed by a different individual. I asked those who assessed me how they had found the programme, naively thinking that those interviewing me were also teachers, only to be told that they hadn't been through it. I was actually only assessed by one individual who was part of the teaching network - an NQT.

I questioned this. How could I be interviewed accurately for a teaching course by interviewees who were not within the profession themselves? To add to this, the interview itself was very impersonal. The interviewer was interested in making sure that I had displayed the competency they were looking for - a tick box exercise. I suppose I felt very unattached to Teach First. Of course the pandemic had not helped as everything had to be online. There were other things though. For instance, it took ages to get a confirmation email from the university I would be assessed by - it came only 2 weeks prior to beginning the summer training. I also had not had any form of contact with my development lead/ tutors whom I would be working with, or really any of the other participants who would be equally as crucial to my teaching journey. It all seemed very rushed and vague. I felt unsure of exactly how the programme was going to go and how I was going to be supported, despite speaking to my recruiter several times on the phone.

In comparison, the PGCE interviews where conducted by two people whom I would have direct contact with throughout the course. They were interested in me as person, asking about my likes, dislikes, what I thought about geography, how I learnt best or what I got up to in Australia. There felt to be a huge emphasis, particularly from UEA, on my mental health and well being. They explained exactly how the PGCE would work and exactly what modules I would be completing alongside the placements. Making a decision to train with them didn't feel rushed - they understood the importance of choosing the right place to learn.

I will admit, I actually accepted the Teach First programme initially. I was excited about the prospect of having my own classroom immediately, teaching with full responsibilities from day one and earning a salary.

I stopped myself though. I knew deep down that I needed a flexible programme and one with tutors and mentors I could trust. I also needed some time to rediscover physical geography again. If teaching was to my be chosen career, then another £9k in debt was a worthwhile investment. I think Teach First would have been a really good option had I not applied so late in the year and had a little more time to engage with the organisation. Ultimately, the university interviews made me feel like a person, not a number. That was something I felt to be really important.

Making the right decision on teacher training is really hard. There are so many options out there and the more you look, the more there seems to be. It is certainly wise to chew over your choices for as long as you can. Take time to consider the stress that is an absolute given whilst completing your training and understand how you'd best cope with it. Teach First is excellent for some, especially for career changers who need a salaried route. For me, I felt like I needed a little more time to prepare than what I was going to get with the programme. It is all down to the individual and no route is better than the other. Each teacher will be doing their bit to provide a quality education for ALL students, whether it's printed loud and clear in their marketing or not.

#pgce #teachertraining