Why should you go into teaching?

Can you think of any reason why an Imperial student might want to become a teacher?” “They got a third class, maybe?” This response from a second year mathematician may well sum up the opinions of some Imperial students, and indeed a section of society’s wider opinion of the profession. We’ve all heard the age-old adage, “if you can’t do; teach”. And, with the starting salary for teaching being significantly lower than the average starting salary for Imperial graduates, not to mention challenging classroom conditions, it isn’t hard to imagine why the UK faces its largest shortage of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) teachers. “You’d be at the bottom of society. You’d be in your crappy Smart car and everyone would be looking at you”, the mathematician continues. This week we challenge some of the misconceptions surrounding teaching, and ask why more Imperial graduates don’t generally consider teaching as an acceptable career option.

Firstly, why is Britain’s lack of STEM teachers such a problem? According to Teach First, a charity that directs high calibre graduates towards teaching disadvantaged children, “46% of employers are concerned that they will not be able to fill posts in their organisations that require graduate or higher level STEM qualifications”. In order to tackle the STEM professional shortage, one needs to understand just why there is such a low uptake of STEM graduates into teaching or STEM careers generally. And with the UK’s international ranking in Science and Maths compulsory education steadily declining in recent years, it has never been more important to address the issue.

You’d be at the bottom of society. Everyone would be looking at you Second Year Mathematician

Perhaps the most worrying fact is that it is children from disadvantaged backgrounds who are least likely to end up in a STEM-related profession. And with only 10% of teachers even prepared to consider teaching in a disadvantaged school, it isn’t hard to see why. Student experiences of their own schools only accentuate the problem, with our second year recounting the many times he saw teachers “get torn to shreds by the ... the mob.”

But all of this has a knock-on effect as, according to the Department for Education (DfE), 2009 saw around half of all schools enter no pupils at all for any separate sciences at GCSE level. Deprived areas are most affected by this trend, because these are the schools that fail to attract good teachers of STEM subjects, and are consequently more likely to stop teaching those subjects altogether. This has a direct effect on the type of students who end up studying STEM subjects at university, with Imperial in particular attracting fewer and fewer students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Teach First

Teach First is an independent charity focused on delivering far-reaching social change by addressing educational disadvantage – driving up standards and raising aspirations in schools facing challenging circumstances. They have their sights set on Imperial College to help combat the so-called “STEM challenge”.

Over the last nine years, Teach First has been strengthening their connections with Imperial, and has taken on 89 Imperial graduates into the Teach First Leadership Development Programme (LDP). This year Teach First aims to recruit around 1000 graduates and experienced professionals to the LDP, with just under half of all recruits coming from a STEM background. Teach First currently have three student brand managers at Imperial: students who promote awareness of Teach First across campus, whether through promoting events, shout-outs in lectures or working with staff.

Felix got in touch with two of these brand managers, and asked them about their experiences.

Douglas Hunt, a fourth year chemist, was drawn into what he describes as an “innovative graduate programme” after getting involved in teaching with the Student Associates Scheme (a now-terminated scheme in which students spent fifteen days in schools as teaching assistants). He acknowledges that many students might not think of teaching as a lifelong career, but Teach First provides a good middle ground, since there is no obligation to stay in teaching after the two year programme, thus keeping your options wide open. As third year physicist Elwin Carlos points out, “Teach First is creating a movement for change, innovation and inspiration, not just in the classroom, but in the boardroom, the government and across society”.

Teach First is trying to create a movement for change and innovation

Salary is undeniably a leading reason why graduates tend to stay away from teaching, and to students for whom salary is the biggest consideration, careers in banking or consultancy might look more attractive. However, as Hunt points out, “are those jobs going to give you a chance to change people’s lives, better job satisfaction, security, lifestyle or long holidays?” And, whilst the average starting salary of a teacher is below Imperial’s graduate average, it is still possible to progress rapidly in to positions of leadership within schools, with salary scales for head teachers in inner London schools reaching upwards of £100,000. Additionally, Britain isn’t the only country struggling with a lack of STEM teachers – lots of British STEM graduates end up immigrating to Australia or New Zealand to teach. But the most important thing, according to Carlos, is that “teaching is a vocational thing, and if you love what you do then money shouldn’t really come into it”.

“The great thing about Teach First is that over half of those who do it enjoy it so much that they continue teaching full-time, and if you are, indeed, concerned about pay, the LDP is an amazing opportunity for what is essentially paid work experience. The skills you pick up and lessons you learn whilst being on the Teach First scheme really do make you vastly more employable. Put simply, graduates who can engage, manage and inspire a class of young people can handle pretty well any situation in any industry.”

Teach First will be holding a Milkround Presentation on Monday 24 October in the Reed Lecture Theatre in the Sherfield Building.

Other Schemes

Teach First is by no means the only pathway for Imperial graduates into teaching. YELP is an organisation aimed at reducing inequality in primary and secondary education, with the stated aim to remove the (currently strong) correlation between affluence and academic achievement. Formed in 2007, the organisation already has links to Oxford, LSE, King’s and Queen Mary.

This year, it has set up connections with Imperial, with Teach First providing the preliminary training. Its activities centre mainly around one-to-one tutoring with struggling students, committment typically being an hour a week.

So, all things considered, why should you go into teaching? Maybe you genuinely do want to help others. Maybe you enjoy the thrill of conveying understanding. Maybe you want to keep your knowledge fresh; nothing sharpens your skills more than an interrogative student.

Probably, you won’t be appreciated as much or as often as you might like, but as long as you’re not too thin-skinned, that shouldn’t be a problem. So even if you didn’t get a third, it might be worth a think.

Academia: over on the other side

Of course, there is one group of Imperial students who will certainly end up teaching, though they might consider it a mere aside to their primary vocation. Academics, whether they love it or hate it, spend large amounts of their time teaching. Some might regard this as a drop in the ocean when compared to the demands of research work, but such a view is misguided; aspirant lecturers should be careful not to underestimate the primacy teaching will assume in their work.

Certainly there are big differences between the classroom and the lecture theatre. The material is more advanced, while students are (for the most part) easier to handle. Putting ideas across is a lot more straightforward when your audience is actually interested.

In some respects, then, teaching at university level is a more detached affair. Students are largely expected to be self-motivated and to take responsibility for their own work. Because of this, the necessary skills differ from school teaching, with a greater emphasis on command of the subject, as opposed to engagement with pupils.

Many academics rate teaching very highly. One anonymous lecturer told Felix: “teaching is one of the main perks of the job.” Another interestingly noted that “it is a commonly observed fact in the academic community that engaging in teaching while doing research ... often enhances that research.” So the two certainly are not mutually opposing interests.