Becoming a maths teacher

I am currently studying mathematics at university and want to consider teaching as a career. When you apply for a job as a teacher, how long do you get to learn their syllabus? If so, do you independently learn it, or would it just be assumed that you are fine with the content? I'm just not sure how confident I would be with A-level topics after a long period of time not practising them. When you apply would you also be tested on your knowledge of what they teach on their syllabus?

Reply 1

Vinny C

20

Very little... maths teachers are so rare they now skip the training. Love the subject and be damn good at explaining it.

Original post by lukefoxx

I am currently studying mathematics at university and want to consider teaching as a career. When you apply for a job as a teacher, how long do you get to learn their syllabus? If so, do you independently learn it, or would it just be assumed that you are fine with the content? I'm just not sure how confident I would be with A-level topics after a long period of time not practising them. When you apply would you also be tested on your knowledge of what they teach on their syllabus?

We have a National Curriculum and A level now has the same content for all Awarding Bodies so there isn't the variation of content you appear to believe there is. You have your training year to master the content. Very few schools/colleges test you on your knowledge. You might be asked to assess this yourself and fill in any gaps while training.

Reply 3

FormerTeacher

6

Original post by lukefoxx

I am currently studying mathematics at university and want to consider teaching as a career. When you apply for a job as a teacher, how long do you get to learn their syllabus? If so, do you independently learn it, or would it just be assumed that you are fine with the content? I'm just not sure how confident I would be with A-level topics after a long period of time not practising them. When you apply would you also be tested on your knowledge of what they teach on their syllabus?

Hi, so firstly, you'll get support with your subject throughout your training year (you'll get a subject audit during interview to assess knowledge gaps). Also, you have no obligation to teach post 16 at all and there are enough 11-16 schools desperate for a Maths teacher, meaning you can start as an NQT doing just up to GCSE and then build on your knowledge as you go until you're eventually ready to teach A Level (if you want to!).
Good luck!

Reply 4

vicvic38

19

Original post by lukefoxx

I am currently studying mathematics at university and want to consider teaching as a career. When you apply for a job as a teacher, how long do you get to learn their syllabus? If so, do you independently learn it, or would it just be assumed that you are fine with the content? I'm just not sure how confident I would be with A-level topics after a long period of time not practising them. When you apply would you also be tested on your knowledge of what they teach on their syllabus?

I should hope that, if you're studying maths at uni, you're relatively comfortable with A Level Syllabi.

Otherwise I am very worried for you.

Reply 5

lukefoxx

OP

3

Original post by Mr M

We have a National Curriculum and A level now has the same content for all Awarding Bodies so there isn't the variation of content you appear to believe there is. You have your training year to master the content. Very few schools/colleges test you on your knowledge. You might be asked to assess this yourself and fill in any gaps while training.

Thank you, I looked into the National Curriculum for A-level maths, and for some reason I thought different exam boards test different things, but this does not seem to be the case. I recently finished my first year and I took 15 exams at the end of it (way too many lol) and I got a 1st in 13 of them. So i'm okay with maths, although I seem to have to work harder than my peers to get decent results, which makes me doubt my abilities a lot, hence why I asked the original question. The fact that uni maths is pretty different to A-level maths can be a shock, because you end up forgetting chunks of A-level because you simply don't do it at uni. But looking at this National Curriculum I think it wouldn't be too hard to relearn my knowledge gaps and it has given me some more confidence! Many thanks for the helpful response!

Reply 6

lukefoxx

OP

3

Original post by FormerTeacher

Hi, so firstly, you'll get support with your subject throughout your training year (you'll get a subject audit during interview to assess knowledge gaps). Also, you have no obligation to teach post 16 at all and there are enough 11-16 schools desperate for a Maths teacher, meaning you can start as an NQT doing just up to GCSE and then build on your knowledge as you go until you're eventually ready to teach A Level (if you want to!).
Good luck!

Would you recommend NQT to start at GCSE level first? Or is it just down to preference? The only thing that worries me about GCSE is that in my high school some of the kids were mental. My maths teacher got headbutted after trying to calm one of my classmates down. Seems to be half about controlling the kids, and half about actually teaching the content from my high school experience.

Reply 7

FormerTeacher

6

Original post by lukefoxx

Would you recommend NQT to start at GCSE level first? Or is it just down to preference? The only thing that worries me about GCSE is that in my high school some of the kids were mental. My maths teacher got headbutted after trying to calm one of my classmates down. Seems to be half about controlling the kids, and half about actually teaching the content from my high school experience.

Hi Luke - it is down to personal preference. You might be able to find a position for just KS3, so you don't have to deal with KS4. Just have a good look round any school you apply to, and grill the department (and the pastoral team) to see what the kids are like. Teaching is often a fine balance between imparting knowledge and pupil management! Best of luck

Reply 8

The Empire Odyssey

21

Original post by lukefoxx

Would you recommend NQT to start at GCSE level first? Or is it just down to preference? The only thing that worries me about GCSE is that in my high school some of the kids were mental. My maths teacher got headbutted after trying to calm one of my classmates down. Seems to be half about controlling the kids, and half about actually teaching the content from my high school experience.

Teaching GCSE has nothing to do with student behaviour. That's on the student. Year 7-9s can be awful and vile too! It will almost be mandatory for you to teach GCSE. Schools now are pretty much exam factories that only care about results.

Every school, every year, every student is different. You may have some lovely groups in your training year. You may get difficult groups; capability, motivation and behaviour. But being in one school doesn't reflect all schools. I would recommend you get some experience in many schools as you can throughout your time at university. Your uni timetable (I assume) will be quite flexible and many schools only offer like 2 weeks (unpaid) shadowing of teachers. But I think a lot of schools will value and welcome any young, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed uni student to "help" out.

Reply 9

squeakysquirrel

20

Original post by lukefoxx

I am currently studying mathematics at university and want to consider teaching as a career. When you apply for a job as a teacher, how long do you get to learn their syllabus? If so, do you independently learn it, or would it just be assumed that you are fine with the content? I'm just not sure how confident I would be with A-level topics after a long period of time not practising them. When you apply would you also be tested on your knowledge of what they teach on their syllabus?

Good for you - I hope you do. My son teaches physics and maths - it has been an interesting journey - good and bad. But you will be worth your weight in gold if you do this. Good luck

Becoming a maths teacher

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