Looking to become an ICT Teacher

wannabedamned

wannabedamned

wannabedamned

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I wont bore you guys with my back story, or why I'm only now deciding I want to teach.(I'm 29) But basically I just need to know what qualifications I need.

I have a BTEC National Diploma for ICT Practitioners and I have my CCNA.

It's the teaching qualifications I lack.

I'm guessing I'll need to start at college level, and then university. Just not sure what qualifications I should be looking at, I'd like to teach at a college level, and then maybe advance to a university lecturer.

Anyone here already teaching?
 
I teach ICT. You need a degree to take a PGCE course. Therefore, if you have no degree you will have to go down the teacher training route at University.
Any questions on all things teaching/ICT, just ask.
 
He is, not initially. After teaching at college level he'd like to move on to university lecturing.
Moses said:
No.

But he's not asking about teaching at university level, he mentioned university when asking what he needs to do to become a teacher (so he's assuming a course at college, then a degree at university which'll allow him to teach)... so he's talking about attending uni, not teaching there.
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wannabedamned said:
I'd like to teach at a college level, and then maybe advance to a university lecturer.
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Don't you need a PhD to be a university lecturer?
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Not always, and it depends on what position within a given department you are planning to hold. Requirements will also be influenced by uni's HR policy. An MSc(sorry in Science mode off the bat, lol, any relevant Masters level, really) level or equivalent experience in the industry is generally desired, though there are exceptions.

To the OP, it may be worth popping down to your local colleges' or university's adult learning open evening, or one specifically for teaching, as some places do organise those separately. You are likely to get better and more up to date information that way.

OU and Goldsmiths(UL) also offer a range of teaching pathways via distance learning and part time courses, which you can undertake without jeopardizing your main source of income. :) If you give their student services a call, they will be able to offer some solid advice, I'm sure.

Lastly, some advertised teaching posts may offer full training and relevant certification to the right candidate, provided you have the skills and attitude they are after. In the current economic climate these are sparse, but I would ask around the open evenings and look online - you never know. :)
 
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datalol-jack said:
Not always, and it depends on what position within a given department you are planning to hold. Requirements will also be influenced by uni's HR policy. An MSc(sorry in Science mode off the bat, lol, any relevant Masters level, really) level or equivalent experience in the industry is generally desired, though there are exceptions.

To the OP, it may be worth popping down to your local colleges' or university's adult learning open evening, or one specifically for teaching, as some places do organise those separately. You are likely to get better and more up to date information that way.

OU and Goldsmiths(UL) also offer a range of teaching pathways via distance learning and part time courses, which you can undertake without jeopardizing your main source of income. :) If you give their student services a call, they will be able to offer some solid advice, I'm sure.

Lastly, some advertised teaching posts may offer full training and relevant certification to the right candidate, provided you have the skills and attitude they are after. In the current economic climate these are sparse, but I would ask around the open evenings and look online - you never know. :)
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yes, you can apply for a GTP position, but they are scarce and quite competetive, but you never know and worth looking at. As for training to be a teacher whilst keeping your main income alive, it is not possible, due to the placements you have to complete.
 
It can be quite challenging, but not impossible. The OP can use the evening or online classes to at least get himself on to a PGCE course. It very much depends on individual's circumstances, and it's not like an IT guy cannot freelance to keep himself afloat. :)
 
Of course he can get on a course, but you have to do placements in schools for weeks on end, hence, you cannot hold down your day job. That is the point I was making. I am not on about getting onto a PGCE, but the PGCE itself, sorry for any confusion.
 
MarcLister said:
Nah. Masters degree. A few of my lecturers at Uni didn't have PhDs.

Surprised me when I realised that. Thought you did need a PhD to lecture at Uni.
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Generally speaking it is department and university specific. At Cambridge there is one non-PhD Chem Eng lecturer, but he worked for Shell for over 45 years so he's pretty qualified to lecture about oil and gas processes :p I don't know anyone in the Engineering department working as a post-doc or a lecturer who doesn't have a PhD though.

Would have thought PGCE was the obvious way in, but do you not need experience of some sort to apply for it? Or is it again course-specific?
 
The OP will need a degree if he hasn't already got one. Though by the fact that my ex-colleagues at a school I worked at before Uni (I was a TA) didn't have degrees in ICT/Computing, OP might not need a Computing based degree. :o And being a PGCE/GTP candidate is a full time job I think. Two of my colleagues at my current school did GTP last year. It took them the entire year, no time off/no part time working schedule. They both did fairly long-term placements at other schools. Becoming a teacher via GTP/PGCE route whilst working in a current job is impossible I think.
Moses said:
Megalulz.

Sorry, misread :o. I'm blaming the fact it's quite late, here (00.49, right now).
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Pfft, excuses!

Forum surfing whilst tired has similar, and possibly fatal, effects on your health as driving whilst tired. STEP AWAY FROM THE KEYBOARD! :p

Dave said:
Generally speaking it is department and university specific. At Cambridge there is one non-PhD Chem Eng lecturer, but he worked for Shell for over 45 years so he's pretty qualified to lecture about oil and gas processes :p I don't know anyone in the Engineering department working as a post-doc or a lecturer who doesn't have a PhD though.
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Of course it could be like that. I just know what it was like in the Computing department at my Uni. I can also say that one of the better, and more popular lecturers didn't have a PhD, and some of the Doctors were pretty crap lecturers. The professors though were quite cocky, with one exception. He was a fantastic lecturer. :)

Dave said:
Would have thought PGCE was the obvious way in, but do you not need experience of some sort to apply for it? Or is it again course-specific?
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I think it is now. My boss tells me that until recently people taking a GTP or PGCE (can't remember which it applies to) didn't need an ICT degree to learn to become an ICT teacher. I'm told that now they do. So at some point I could conceivably train to be an IT teacher because I have a Computing based degree. It wouldn't surprise me if there are quite a few ICT teachers out there with non-Computing degrees. I know of one ex-colleague who was an RE teacher who's now the head of ICT and the bloke in charge of the network. A deputy head there taught French and Business Studies before getting moved into ICT. He did all the reports and data handling but I don't think his degree was ICT based.
 
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You need a degree, than you need to do a PGCE. There might ways around it, but never heard of any.

For University lecturers you don't need PGCE, just a higher degree(Masters, Ph.D).
 
wannabedamned said:
I wont bore you guys with my back story, or why I'm only now deciding I want to teach.(I'm 29) But basically I just need to know what qualifications I need.

I have a BTEC National Diploma for ICT Practitioners and I have my CCNA.

It's the teaching qualifications I lack.
Click to expand...

You're also lacking a degree, unless they make exceptions for ICT (which wouldn't surprise me.)

Standard route seems to be degree + PGCE so you'd be looking at about 4 years training to become a School teacher.

http://www.tda.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/teacher-training-options/pgce.aspx

Though this has confused me slightly:

I'm guessing I'll need to start at college level, and then university. Just not sure what qualifications I should be looking at, I'd like to teach at a college level, and then maybe advance to a university lecturer.
Click to expand...

It seems you don't want to be a School teacher as the thread title indicated... For university Lecturer you'll need a post grad degree as well as undergrad... for a decent uni you'll likely be doing some research too, a PhD is the usual starting point to get into research... Its not going to happen any time soon, will likely take you a lot of time and probably isn't quite what you were thinking of...

Serious suggestion for you:

Why not see if your BTEC or whatever counts towards some degree credit then perhaps complete a degree in ICT or whatever at the Open University - phone them up and ask them about it, you can transfer up to 240 points of credit (so essentially the 1st and 2nd year of a degree) if you have completed the equivalent elsewhere, in that case you'd only need to complete 120 credits of 3rd year modules (would only take 1 or 2 years) in order to get an undergrad degree. Then you could either get paid to do the PGCE full time and move into a teaching job, or perhaps do an MSc and look into lecturing at a college or on some vocational type IT course at a former poly...
 
dowie said:
You're also lacking a degree, unless they make exceptions for ICT (which wouldn't surprise me.)

Standard route seems to be degree + PGCE so you'd be looking at about 4 years training to become a School teacher.

http://www.tda.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/teacher-training-options/pgce.aspx

Though this has confused me slightly:



It seems you don't want to be a School teacher as the thread title indicated... For university Lecturer you'll need a post grad degree as well as undergrad... for a decent uni you'll likely be doing some research too, a PhD is the usual starting point to get into research... Its not going to happen any time soon, will likely take you a lot of time and probably isn't quite what you were thinking of...

Serious suggestion for you:

Why not see if your BTEC or whatever counts towards some degree credit then perhaps complete a degree in ICT or whatever at the Open University - phone them up and ask them about it, you can transfer up to 240 points of credit (so essentially the 1st and 2nd year of a degree) if you have completed the equivalent elsewhere, in that case you'd only need to complete 120 credits of 3rd year modules (would only take 1 or 2 years) in order to get an undergrad degree. Then you could either get paid to do the PGCE full time and move into a teaching job, or perhaps do an MSc and look into lecturing at a college or on some vocational type IT course at a former poly...
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Open University is the king of former polys, literally. Open University is essentially the ex-regulator of polytechnic academic degrees. Now other universities monitor other universities.

If you achieved a BSc, MSc or/and Ph.D at a polytechnic before they became full universities, open university now hold your records.
 
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