high school or primary teaching

hi, i'm currently an s5 student going into s6, and therefore needing to pick what to apply to at uni. i was really set on primary teaching as i have lots of work experience/things to write about on a personal statement however, i'm second guessing it and i don't know if i should get a degree in something first and go on to a pdge and teach at high school. my favourite subjects are english, history and geography. idk what to do with my like ahhhh

Reply 1

nicoleprimaryed

3

Original post by Hiiiinooooooo

hi, i'm currently an s5 student going into s6, and therefore needing to pick what to apply to at uni. i was really set on primary teaching as i have lots of work experience/things to write about on a personal statement however, i'm second guessing it and i don't know if i should get a degree in something first and go on to a pdge and teach at high school. my favourite subjects are english, history and geography. idk what to do with my like ahhhh

Hey! im currently in s6 and have just sent off my applications for primary education. However, I actually applied last year for primary education instead of going onto s6 and despite getting offers decided i wanted to spend more time gaining more experience by working in a primary school one full day a week in all different levels. I am similar to you where ive spent this year leading up to applications second guessing if i wanted to do primary education or secondary and through my experience, i realised i wanted the diversity of subjects etc in primary teaching. if you have a subject you are really passionate in like English or history, there's no harm in doing the pdge, my suggestion would be speaking to some of your current teachers in high school about doing some work experience within the high school classroom as it has a lot of different challenges than primary. But get your experience, speak to people and see what you prefer. if you do a degree in history etc and then decide its not for you in high school, you can always do the pgde in primary education. Just remember you do not have to decide your life all at once, you have time to change your mind!!! good luck 🙂

Reply 2

hotpud

18

Original post by Hiiiinooooooo

hi, i'm currently an s5 student going into s6, and therefore needing to pick what to apply to at uni. i was really set on primary teaching as i have lots of work experience/things to write about on a personal statement however, i'm second guessing it and i don't know if i should get a degree in something first and go on to a pdge and teach at high school. my favourite subjects are english, history and geography. idk what to do with my like ahhhh

Have you ever lived in the real world or have you only ever known education? If the later, please go out and experience what the "real" world is like and gain some experience that you can use to guide, mentor and enthuse your students. My heart sinks when I hear about people going from school to uni back to school to teach. I can't help but feel they lack worldly experience and burn out after 2 or 3 years because they don't have the work ethic / life skills / resilience to hang into teaching.

Go travelling. Work some crappy jobs. Then become a teacher and be awesome at it for that prior experience!

Original post by Hiiiinooooooo

hi, i'm currently an s5 student going into s6, and therefore needing to pick what to apply to at uni. i was really set on primary teaching as i have lots of work experience/things to write about on a personal statement however, i'm second guessing it and i don't know if i should get a degree in something first and go on to a pdge and teach at high school. my favourite subjects are english, history and geography. idk what to do with my like ahhhh

Hello @Hiiiinooooooo,

In these situations I think it's important to gain as much experience as you can in both phases of education to allow you to make informed choices. I think getting some classroom experience in a secondary school, shadowing a Humanities or English department, might be helpful when making this big decision.

If you would like to take advantage of our FREE support (from experienced former teachers) throughout this process, by all means get in touch to request an adviser for tailored one to one support click here. Or, alternatively, you can visit the government website to find schools offering taster days, yourself, here.

Best wishes,
Tom
Get Into Teaching

Reply 4

holly0123

3

Original post by Hiiiinooooooo

hi, i'm currently an s5 student going into s6, and therefore needing to pick what to apply to at uni. i was really set on primary teaching as i have lots of work experience/things to write about on a personal statement however, i'm second guessing it and i don't know if i should get a degree in something first and go on to a pdge and teach at high school. my favourite subjects are english, history and geography. idk what to do with my like ahhhh

hi! i totally agree with everything nicole said, also would add that you can totally do a degree in something other than primary teaching, and still teach primary if that's what's right for you, plenty of primary teachers do a different degree and then a PGDE in primary teaching so don't worry just do what is right for you for now and you can always change your mind!

Reply 5

masha_diana

1

Original post by Hiiiinooooooo

hi, i'm currently an s5 student going into s6, and therefore needing to pick what to apply to at uni. i was really set on primary teaching as i have lots of work experience/things to write about on a personal statement however, i'm second guessing it and i don't know if i should get a degree in something first and go on to a pdge and teach at high school. my favourite subjects are english, history and geography. idk what to do with my like ahhhh

If you're torn between applying for a primary teaching degree or pursuing a degree in one of your favorite subjects first, it might be helpful to consider your long-term goals and what truly excites you. Think about whether you envision yourself teaching younger students in a primary school setting or if you feel more drawn to teaching high school students in subjects like English, History, or Geography.

high school or primary teaching

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