Teacher: Job Profile and Role

We all remember our time at school. Some of us have happy memories, and some of us may have not-so-happy ones. To a certain extent, our school memories are closely connected to our teachers. Teachers have been and still are a vital part of a child’s educational upbringing. Therefore, teachers should be role models we learn from and who inspire us. Maybe the teaching profession is your dream job since you want to inspire the future generation or adults?

In this blog, we will take a close look at the job profile of a teacher. We will tell you what it takes to become a teacher and which skills you should have or develop. We will also tell you what annual salaries you can expect and where you can find employment. Last, but not least, we will take a look at a day in the life of a teacher. You will also get valuable tips for thriving as a teacher.

Short Summary

• As a teacher, you are in charge of the educational path of your students. This does not only include imparting your knowledge but also recognising their educational needs. As a teacher, you may also be responsible for their pastoral needs, depending on your exact job description.
• As a teacher, it is your responsibility to encourage your students to be curious, to be willing to learn and to pursue their dreams – both in their private and professional lives.
• As a teacher, you are tasked with various administrative tasks, such as planning a curriculum, filing reports, and marking.

Job description

It is a teacher’s job to prepare lessons, curricula and extracurricular activities. All these things set the path for the following responsibilities of a teacher: imparting his or her knowledge, ensuring that the students reach their educational goals, and ensuring that the students get the best possible tools for their future lives and careers. A teacher needs to be familiar with the latest teaching methods, teaching materials, and teaching tools. This way, a teacher can meet both the educational needs and interests of the students.

Responsibilities

• Record Keeping
• Safety/Well-Being
• Professional Ethics
• Administrative Tasks
• Providing Resources
• Imparting Knowledge
• Encouraging Students
• Organising School Events
• Setting Performance Goals
• Parent/Guardian Communication

Different types of Teachers

• Teacher Assistant/Paraprofessional
• Traditional Classroom Teacher
• Lifelong Learning Instructor
• Homeschool Teacher
• Online Teacher

Salary

On average, teachers in the UK earn annual salaries ranging from £29,000 to £42,000. Note that there is also a base salary which amounts to considerably less. It comes in at around £17,600 per year. Various factors affect a teacher’s salary, the teaching job being one of them. You can expect differences in the annual salary for primary school and secondary school teachers, for example. Please note that your employer and the location will also affect your yearly wages.

Working hours

Similar to the annual salary, a teacher’s working hours are affected by multiple factors. These are not so much the location and the teaching job but the tasks that are part of the teaching job. But first things first. Typically, a teacher works about 35 hours a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Added to that, the weekly working hours of a teacher include lesson preparation, marking papers, planning extracurricular activities, and meetings with superiors and parents. Due to these factors, a teacher’s working hours can easily rise to 50 hours per week or more.

Also, note that the working hours of an online teacher might further vary. Depending on your workload and the number of students, you might work fewer hours per week. Online teaching also means working remotely, for example, from home.

Employers

As a teacher in the UK, you can find employment in different sectors. Naturally, schools are the most common employers when it comes to finding a teaching job. But you can also look into teaching positions in the following sectors and institutions: free schools, nurseries, independent schools, SEN schools (Special Educational Needs Schools), charities, or so-called LEAs (local education authorities).

Qualifications

The qualifications needed to become a teacher in the UK are manifold. Besides an academic degree, an apprenticeship, or a part-time degree while working as a teaching assistant, you will need the following qualifications: the Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and/or the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). Note that the individual approaches and qualifications require a certain number of GCSEs, including specific subjects, such as English and Maths.

Skills

Nerves of steel, a superhuman ability to be patient and a strong sense of justice are only three skills you should perfect when you want to become a teacher. Needless to say, you will also need strong communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal. What other skills you should have as a teacher will be what the following section focuses on.

Empathy and Emotional Intelligence

Regardless of your students’ age, emotions will play a major part in your teaching job. Each age group comes with its own sets of emotions, worries, expectations, and hopes. Therefore, empathy is an important skill every teacher should have. Paired with strong emotional intelligence, empathy helps you to recognise your students’ needs and deal with them appropriately and helpfully.

Problem-Solving

Emotional challenges, worries, and expectations can also lead to discord. Problems are a natural consequence which requires strong problem-solving skills from a teacher. Potential conflicts in the classroom are not the only scenario where problem-solving skills are needed. As a teacher, you may face your own problems when trying to plan a curriculum or dealing with administrative tasks.

Adaptability

These occurring problems also require adaptability skills. Even though you may already have found a solution for a specific problem, you need to be flexible and alert. This enables you to react to a problem and deal with it swiftly. Your adaptability skills also mean that you reduce your stress level since you will not see these challenges as obstacles that you cannot overcome.

Other Things that define a Great Teacher

Your qualifications and skills are what ideally make you a good teacher. But what defines a great teacher as opposed to a “good teacher”? Things like passion, inspiration, and dedication. Be passionate about the subjects you teach. Inspire your students to be avid and curious learners and pursue their dreams. Be dedicated to their progress, and go the extra mile to ensure they reach their goals. These simple things make you a great teacher your students will look up to.

Career Path

The first step on your career path as a teacher is earning the needed GCSEs. In short, to become a teacher, you first have to finish school yourself. After that, you can choose between attending university, doing an apprenticeship, or earning a part-time degree. With a few years of training and work experience, you can get promoted to the head of school. You can also look into senior teaching positions in institutions not necessarily related to schools.

Educational Background

The most common approach to becoming a teacher is attending university. Here, you can do an appropriate undergraduate degree, such as a Bachelor of Education (BEd), a Bachelor of Arts (BA), or a Bachelor of Science (BSc). These degrees generally lead to the Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Alternatively, you can look into appropriate apprenticeships. Lastly, you can start your teaching career through work experience, for example, as a teaching assistant. While working in this job, you can do a part-time teaching degree.

Teacher Training

After you have completed your educational background, you need to look into teacher training programs. These set you up for earning your Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and/or your Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). You need to apply for your teacher training. Typically, you need to apply at certain times to secure a place in a training course. If you are looking at an undergraduate training course, you should apply in May. Applications for postgraduate training courses have to be handed in in October. Note that these applications are for courses that take place in the following year.

Continuous Learning

Learning is one of the key factors in teaching. It is not only what is expected of your students but also of you. Just because you have already spent years at university, in training, or at work does not mean that you can sit back, relax, and stop learning. The opposite is true. As a teacher, you will have to continuously learn – be it about your chosen subjects, new teaching methods, digital tools, or ways to handle the challenges of your job.

A Day in the Life of a Teacher

Regardless of your teaching job, imparting knowledge to your students is one of the main tasks of your working day. But being a teacher includes more than teaching and usually extends to administrative tasks and meetings.

In this section, we will take a look at a few other things that are also part of the working day of a teacher.

Curriculum Planning

Planning a curriculum is not a daily occurrence. It is nevertheless an important part of a teacher’s work life. As a teacher, you need to define what your students are to learn in the coming term. Planning a curriculum does not only depend on your personal preferences. A curriculum also always has to meet curriculum guidelines which you need to be aware of and adhere to at all times.

Breaktime Supervision

Every school day is divided into lessons which are interspersed with much-needed breaks. Depending on the school type, the students need to be supervised during break time – regardless if the breaks take place indoors or outdoors. Therefore, break-time supervision can be a part of your teaching workday. It will not happen every day but most likely every few weeks or months.

After-School Activities

Lots of schools offer extracurricular activities for their students, for example, sports clubs or further tutoring. Therefore, a teacher’s working day can include being part of these after-school activities, either by supervising them or by taking an active teaching part in them.

Tips for Thriving as a Teacher

After reading our blog you have decided that you want to become a teacher? Then, you will benefit from our three tips for thriving as a teacher. So, let’s take a look at ways to improve your qualifications, skills, and competencies as a future teacher:

• Subject knowledge
• Know your students’ needs
• Personal quality time

Subject Knowledge

As a teacher, you should be the expert on the subject or subjects you are teaching. Granted, you will never know absolutely everything there is to know about your chosen subject/s. After all, life is a learning curve and this also applies to your expert knowledge. You should nevertheless be as knowledgeable as possible. After all, some students are very inquisitive and sometimes might try to catch you out. If you are confident in your subject knowledge, you will be better prepared for such eventualities. Note that you should also always be prepared to admit mistakes and when a student might know better than you.

Know your Students’ Needs

Every student is an individual. Therefore, you are faced with different intellects, different needs, and different talents or competencies. As a teacher, you should be able to spot these things. And you should be able to design lessons, curricula, and tasks accordingly. If you know how your students “tick” you will thrive as a teacher. This way, you also improve your chances of being an inspiration to them which they will remember fondly in the years to come.

Personal Quality Time

You may wonder how your own quality time can contribute to your thriving as a teacher? It is quite simple, really. The job of a teacher is stressful and demanding – regardless of what others may think and the fact that you enjoy several weeks of holidays. Burnout, substance abuse, and depression are common health issues in the teaching profession. To improve your chance of counteracting these issues, you should always take some time out for yourself. It does not matter if you go on a short trip, enjoy your favourite TV program, or introduce wellness sessions into your day. Taking time for yourself is an important tip to thrive as a teacher. Because in the long run, only a relaxed and happy teacher is a good teacher.

Frequently Asked Questions