Teaching

If you do a different degree (not a teaching degree) and then do the last year of the teaching degree do you still need nat 5 (GSCE) maths even if you’ve done a different degree? As I heard that doing a different degree is a different way to get around having to sit exam level maths. Is this correct?

I am not sure what the current regulations are but to be honest I can't see how you would make a good teacher of anything if you can't get a 5 in GCSE maths and English. Every subject has literacy and numeracy components and data analysis is a part of the teacher tasks you need to perform. But equally, as a teacher, you are a teacher of everything and shying away from maths in front of your students because you found it hard is not the best role model to play.

Suck it up. Get good at maths and become a maths advocate.

I get your point, however there’s more to teaching than just English and maths. It’s about being good with kids, caring about them etc and I’ve always worked with kids so I know it’s a job I’d do well and enjoy, national 5 level maths is nothing like primary maths. National 5 maths is high school level so I don’t even think it’s relevant, I get that you need to have it but national 5 is well above primary level so that doesn’t decide if your smart enough or not smart enough as most people struggle with national 5 maths as it’s really hard, so if you struggle with maths it doesn’t make you stupid or not smart enough. There is teachers with dyscalculia and dyslexic so I don’t think it’s a bad role model I think it’s teaching kids to not be ashamed of having difficulties and embracing who they are but cheers.

I get your point, however there’s more to teaching than just English and maths. It’s about being good with kids, caring about them etc and I’ve always worked with kids so I know it’s a job I’d do well and enjoy, national 5 level maths is nothing like primary maths. National 5 maths is high school level so I don’t even think it’s relevant, I get that you need to have it but national 5 is well above primary level so that doesn’t decide if your smart enough or not smart enough as most people struggle with national 5 maths as it’s really hard, so if you struggle with maths it doesn’t make you stupid or not smart enough. There is teachers with dyscalculia and dyslexic so I don’t think it’s a bad role model I think it’s teaching kids to not be ashamed of having difficulties and embracing who they are but cheers.

Agreed, there is indeed more to teaching than maths. But teaching maths to primary kids isn't about it being less difficult than level 5. It is about being fluent in the subject. One of my very good friends is head of science for a primary school and speaks sadly about how little confidence so many of the teachers there have in their subject knowledge when teaching primary science. And the outcome - poor results. In order to teach at a level, you must be very much better than the level you are teaching. It isn't about muddling through. Level 5 at GCSE is a pretty low bar. Suck it up. Retake and do things properly.

Ask yourself the question - would you want your kids taught maths by someone who didn't achieve a 5 at GCSE?

Just do your NAT 5 instead of all this faffing about. A teacher should have at the very least a GCSE or NAT5.

I asked a question considering it’s called the student room, I’m allowed to talk about my anxiety with maths and ask questions about it so dont think there’s a need for the rudeness.

You need to face this sort of adversity, not avoid it. The NAT 5 is a minimum requirement, and it is so for a reason.

I've not been rude at all, simpy direct. But thin skins amongst young people are the order of the day.

Obviously if I decided that’s what I wanted to do I’d need to sit the National 5 maths, I think if I had kids at high school I’d definitely think what the hell if they weren’t National 5 maths there as that’s higher education but for primary I think National 4 is good enough, it’s stupid rules.

Not stupid rules. Just a reasonable bar over which we expect teachers to have in terms of minimum education. If we aspire to providing the best education surely the questions should be "Why isn't it higher?" rather than the usual race to the bottom because some don't make the grade. How can we inspire the youngsters of today to reach for the sky if we as teachers don't share that life view?

Everybody I have spoken to who is training to become a teacher also believe National 5 maths is not necessary, considering you don’t do National 5 maths until 15/16 years old in high school. I do believe children should reach for the sky and get the best, that is not what I meant by my comment whatsoever.

With respect, you are all looking at this the wrong way. This isn't about the skills or knowledge you learn. It is about what it says about your overall competence.

You never asked my question. Given the choice, would you prefer your hypothetical child to be taught by a well qualified teacher who had good national results, a-levels and a degree and aspired to being the best teacher they could with a life long attitude to learning, or would you prefer your children to be taught by someone who got a 4 but hey ho - that'll do and anyway we are only doing primary maths so it doesn't matter.

I get that you need it, I just don’t believe it’s necessary as national 5 maths is complex and complicated, hardly anyone manages to pass it and cope with it and it’s not relevant to anything primary kids learn but anyway, that’s my opinion. For a high school teacher absolutely, national 5 level isn’t until 15/16 years of age.

Everybody I have spoken to who is training to become a teacher also believe National 5 maths is not necessary, considering you don’t do National 5 maths until 15/16 years old in high school. I do believe children should reach for the sky and get the best, that is not what I meant by my comment whatsoever.

You will be teaching the very basics of Maths to young children - it's essential you have NAT 5 as a minimum. Sadly I've heard Primary teachers saying things like 'multiplication makes things bigger', the word number when they mean digit, and not understanding that decimal points don't move.

My son was told by a reception teacher that rectangles have two long sides and two short sides - nothing about the need for the equal sides to be opposite each other or parallel to each other.

It's crucial that children understand number completely so they can build on that knowledge later. Misconceptions formed at a young age are very difficult to put right.

I get that you need it, I just don’t believe it’s necessary as national 5 maths is complex and complicated, hardly anyone manages to pass it and cope with it and it’s not relevant to anything primary kids learn but anyway, that’s my opinion. For a high school teacher absolutely, national 5 level isn’t until 15/16 years of age.

BTW - are you English? Or are National exams something done elsewhere in the world. Most people in the UK take GCSEs? Level 5 at GCSE is a pretty low bar. I assume a National 5 is similar.

I am not sure what the current regulations are but to be honest I can't see how you would make a good teacher of anything if you can't get a 5 in GCSE maths and English. Every subject has literacy and numeracy components and data analysis is a part of the teacher tasks you need to perform. But equally, as a teacher, you are a teacher of everything and shying away from maths in front of your students because you found it hard is not the best role model to play.

Suck it up. Get good at maths and become a maths advocate. I teach a subject for which there is a big maths component. I am not a maths specialist but practice makes perfect and even I can look like a maths teacher if I need to.