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How do I become an A-Level Philosophy teacher?

I noticed there is no PGCE for Philosophy. How do I become an A-Level Philosophy teacher?

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Reply 1
Expect to become a KS3 and KS4 Religious Education teacher as well.
Reply 2
Original post by varcolac
Expect to become a KS3 and KS4 Religious Education teacher as well.


I have no interest in RE at all and I'm an atheist! I also don't really want to teach below A-level, but as there is no GCSE Philosophy (which is ridiculous, may I add), I have no choice but to teach just A-level anyway. I understand I'm limiting myself greatly but my question was HOW do I become an A-level philosophy teacher? i.e. which PGCE should I do? Or are there different teaching courses for Philosophy?
Reply 3
Original post by lil sister
I have no interest in RE at all and I'm an atheist! I also don't really want to teach below A-level, but as there is no GCSE Philosophy (which is ridiculous, may I add), I have no choice but to teach just A-level anyway. I understand I'm limiting myself greatly but my question was HOW do I become an A-level philosophy teacher? i.e. which PGCE should I do? Or are there different teaching courses for Philosophy?


There is GCSE Philosophy & Ethics, it's just not very widely taught. Philosophy is covered pretty widely in RE and you being an atheist shouldn't really have any bearing on whether you can teach it. RE is not preaching about religion, is it teaching children about diversity and what the different religions worship etc. And as I previously stated it contains a lot of philosophy and ethics in there too. Do more research into RE teaching, you don't seem to understand what it actually entails, it could be an option for you.
Search for current philosophy teacher vacancies. All of them require you to teach philosophy alongside other things, such as RE and humanities. RE is a popular one that they require you to teach.

PGCE wise I think RE is your best option. It links in really well to philosophy, considering it's part of the curriculum of RE, and you'd be able to teach both once you got established.
My Philosophy and Ethics teacher is Atheist - so that's not a problem. What I would say is you'll find it very hard to JUST teach philosophy as in most schools it is Philosophy AND Ethics.

Do your PGCE in RE then teach RE because most RE teachers (you'll have to do KS3 to A Level, sorry) only teach Philosophy OR Ethics at A Level (so students have two teachers).

That's the only real way that you'll be able to do it, i'm afraid.
Reply 5
Original post by lil sister
which PGCE should I do?


A humanities-based one. As Philosophy is KS5-only, they'll expect you to teach something else the rest of the time. RE is the most closely related humanities subject, as it deals with ethics and morality, but I suppose History might do as well. Have you considered asking a school where A-level Philosophy is offered how their Philosophers are qualified?
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 6
Original post by Shelly_x
There is GCSE Philosophy & Ethics, it's just not very widely taught. Philosophy is covered pretty widely in RE and you being an atheist shouldn't really have any bearing on whether you can teach it. RE is not preaching about religion, is it teaching children about diversity and what the different religions worship etc. And as I previously stated it contains a lot of philosophy and ethics in there too. Do more research into RE teaching, you don't seem to understand what it actually entails, it could be an option for you.
Search for current philosophy teacher vacancies. All of them require you to teach philosophy alongside other things, such as RE and humanities. RE is a popular one that they require you to teach.

PGCE wise I think RE is your best option. It links in really well to philosophy, considering it's part of the curriculum of RE, and you'd be able to teach both once you got established.


I don't think I could teach something that I have no interest in though. Thanks for the reply but I'm not really sure how you've concluded that I have no understanding of what it entails. It's pretty obvious it is not preaching about religion but if I am not interested in religion, why on earth would I become an RE teacher? I'm pretty sure passion for your subject is a prerequisite for teaching.

I didn't realise philosophy teachers all taught other subjects alongside it, though I guess it makes sense, so thank you for that information. I think I may look into other arts/humanities PGCEs like history/politics/sociology/english and then try and get into philosophy like that.

Original post by justanothertechie
My Philosophy and Ethics teacher is Atheist - so that's not a problem. What I would say is you'll find it very hard to JUST teach philosophy as in most schools it is Philosophy AND Ethics.

Do your PGCE in RE then teach RE because most RE teachers (you'll have to do KS3 to A Level, sorry) only teach Philosophy OR Ethics at A Level (so students have two teachers).

That's the only real way that you'll be able to do it, i'm afraid.


Ethics is philosophy! I would be more than happy to teach both. I also didn't say being an atheist would be a problem for philosophy, I said it would be a problem for RE as it usually presupposes a disinterest in religion.
Reply 7
Original post by varcolac
A humanities-based one. As Philosophy is KS5-only, they'll expect you to teach something else the rest of the time. RE is the most closely related humanities subject, as it deals with ethics and morality, but I suppose History might do as well. Have you considered asking a school where A-level Philosophy is offered how their Philosophers are qualified?


Thank you, that's a great idea.
Reply 8
Original post by lil sister
I don't think I could teach something that I have no interest in though. Thanks for the reply but I'm not really sure how you've concluded that I have no understanding of what it entails. It's pretty obvious it is not preaching about religion but if I am not interested in religion, why on earth would I become an RE teacher? I'm pretty sure passion for your subject is a prerequisite for teaching.

I didn't realise philosophy teachers all taught other subjects alongside it, though I guess it makes sense, so thank you for that information. I think I may look into other arts/humanities PGCEs like history/politics/sociology/english and then try and get into philosophy like that.


I said you don't really know what it entails because you cited being an atheist as your reason for not wanting to teach it. Having no interest is a more valid reason.
Be warned that History and English are extremely competitive so try to link your degree to the subject as much as you can in your application. I think there are a couple of PGCEs in Humanities and the Social Sciences, they could be an option too.
Reply 9
What about a job as a philosophy teacher at a 6th form college? That would surely get around the ks3 and ks4 issue. I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your original question though.
Reply 10
Original post by Shelly_x
I said you don't really know what it entails because you cited being an atheist as your reason for not wanting to teach it. Having no interest is a more valid reason.
Be warned that History and English are extremely competitive so try to link your degree to the subject as much as you can in your application. I think there are a couple of PGCEs in Humanities and the Social Sciences, they could be an option too.


I simply meant that as an atheist I have no interest in religion - sorry for the confusion and thank you for the help so far.

I see, that makes sense. Can I ask if you remember which university offered the PGCE Humanities? I can't seem to find it with google, though I did find one called Citizenship which sounds like it could be good for Philosophy too. There is also a Classics one which I would like - I am currently learning ancient Greek so that may be an option. Isn't it strange how there are all these obscure PGCEs but no Philosophy ones?! We have gone from Plato's Academy where philosophy was the central focus of education, to modern society where philosophy is just an add-on to other subjects with no teaching qualification for it!
Reply 11
Original post by Bencant
What about a job as a philosophy teacher at a 6th form college? That would surely get around the ks3 and ks4 issue. I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your original question though.


Yes, that would be my ideal job - I just don't know how to attain this! :redface:
A degree in philosophy and sadly education will probably be required, notice how Plato didn't need a degree to teach... -.-
Reply 13
Original post by John Stuart Mill
A degree in philosophy and sadly education will probably be required, notice how Plato didn't need a degree to teach... -.-


I know... I was trying to understand which PGCE is best for teaching philosophy. You don't actually need a degree in philosophy as there is no PGCE for it, though 50% of my degree is philosophy so that's covered either way. My reference to Plato was just to highlight the decline of philosophy in modern education.
Original post by lil sister
I know... I was trying to understand which PGCE is best for teaching philosophy. You don't actually need a degree in philosophy as there is no PGCE for it, though 50% of my degree is philosophy so that's covered either way. My reference to Plato was just to highlight the decline of philosophy in modern education.


erm I confess to not even reading your post about Plato I was just mocking that to teach you needed a degree and yet Plato's Academy produced some of the greatest minds. As for not needing a degree in philosophy wouldn't having an independent post-graduate degree be useful? My teacher at sixth form studied for a degree in Intellectual History; if you do a PGCE it will probably have to be in religion because for some reason they don't teach it as a seperate subject despite the fact there's so many more areas of philosophy...
Reply 15
Original post by John Stuart Mill
erm I confess to not even reading your post about Plato I was just mocking that to teach you needed a degree and yet Plato's Academy produced some of the greatest minds. As for not needing a degree in philosophy wouldn't having an independent post-graduate degree be useful? My teacher at sixth form studied for a degree in Intellectual History; if you do a PGCE it will probably have to be in religion because for some reason they don't teach it as a seperate subject despite the fact there's so many more areas of philosophy...


Yeah I will have a masters when I apply for the PGCE. I really have no interest in RE so will be looking at other routes, probably History or Classics. I agree, it is odd how philosophy is just lumped together with religion. I was hoping to find out with this thread that there was a specific route for teaching philosophy that I had missed, but unfortunately it seems there is not.
Reply 16
Original post by lil sister
I simply meant that as an atheist I have no interest in religion - sorry for the confusion and thank you for the help so far.

I see, that makes sense. Can I ask if you remember which university offered the PGCE Humanities? I can't seem to find it with google, though I did find one called Citizenship which sounds like it could be good for Philosophy too. There is also a Classics one which I would like - I am currently learning ancient Greek so that may be an option. Isn't it strange how there are all these obscure PGCEs but no Philosophy ones?! We have gone from Plato's Academy where philosophy was the central focus of education, to modern society where philosophy is just an add-on to other subjects with no teaching qualification for it!


I can't recall. Citizenship would be a good route if you don't want to do PGCE RE. I think classics might be a stretch, but you should contact the unis that offer this to ask if they'd accept your degree. However, there are only like 2 classics pgces and they are very competitive, ie you'll be up against people with classics degrees. It does seem strange, but I think the main reason for it is that philosophy isn't taught at gcse, whereas the others are.
Reply 17
Hi there,

You need to do a PGCE in Post Compulsory Education, which will enable you to teach in 6th forms and Further Education Colleges.
Reply 18
Original post by lil sister
Yes, that would be my ideal job - I just don't know how to attain this! :redface:


There are PGCE (possibly called something slightly different, can't quite remember) courses for those wanting to teach only in post-16 further education colleges and such like. You could look into those, although I'm unsure whether there would be a purely Philosophy based course.

As others have said, RE at KS4 and 5 is pretty much Philosophy at a majority of schools these days. Many also have a heavy philosophical emphasis at KS3 as well, obviously at a much more "basic" level and some are even renaming their "RE" classes altogether. I know lots of schools use a special "Philosophy for Children" course which may be of interest.
There is much less learning about specific religions, particularly as you move up the age ranges. However, you say you have researched this and still decided against, so fair enough.

I'm not sure you will get any closer to teaching Philosophy and the types of things you have mentioned than by doing an RE PGCE (unless that post-16 Philosophy PGCE does in fact exist?)

Sorry if this isn't the answer you wanted!
I did Philosophy and Ethics at GCSE and am doing it at A level; my teacher is also a KS3/KS4 RS teacher. If you have no interest in RS, doing Philosophy is really not an option - they're so closely intertwined. And atheism shouldn't really have much bearing on the decision.

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