Debating on doing an education degree, any advice?

If you're looking at BA Education courses then you should be aware that this is not a course designed to prepare you for the classroom. It will help, and there's plenty of learning theory going in there, as well as pedagogical ideas. But ultimately it's a course looking at a whole range of aspects of education and doing so academically. It isn't always focused on schools, and it's usually not focused on actually teaching anything.

Primary Education courses tend to be a bit different, and something worth considering if you're absolutely sure that that's the career path you want to follow. If you'd prefer to leave a few more doors open then doing a more general subject will still allow you to follow that with a postgrad teacher training course (the traditional route to teaching) after your main degree, and if you change your mind in that time you'll graduate with something more applicable to other career sectors. However, if you are sure, then Primary Ed is definitely one to have a good think about as often these courses are really well delivered from what I've seen. :smile:

I'm more than happy to help with questions about Keele, I've just finished my degree there. :tongue:

Original post by Sophie00123

I think that I may become a primary school teacher, which you apparently need QTS to become. Does anyone have any advice or recommendations for degrees and unis for this? My grades are kind of hard to predict right now for obvious reasons lol but I think I will get between ABB and BBC maybe BCC because of lost study time. I have been looking at Edge Hill and Keele mostly. What are people's opinions of them and is it worth doing an Education degree or doing English (For example) and doing QTS or a top up year after? :smile:

Hello there! I am really glad to see that you are considering Keele as an option for your studies! To be completely honest with you, I am a Physics with Astrophysics second year at Keele so I don't know much about the Education course or the pathway to teaching. I agree with the previous post on things you might want to consider before you make your decision.

However, I did some research on Education at Keele and the entry requirements for the Education course at Keele is BBC-BCC, so your predicted grades definitely meet the requirements! The following link will give you an idea of the career prospects of a BA Education graduate from Keele:
https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduatecourses/education/#career-prospects

Furthermore, if you would like to keep your options open after you graduate you can always do a dual honours course with Education at Keele. I have a colleague in my class who does Astrophysics with Education! So Keele has quite a few options! You can read more about the dual honours programmes through this link: https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduatecourses/education/

I hope this helps you get a better idea on studying at Keele. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask! :smile:

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 5

Sophie00123

OP

5

Thank you

I hear a lot of great things about Keele so it's definitely worth considering. People who I know that have gone to Keele have said that they are very supportive with careers.
I would prefer it if I could find a degree that has everything required to become a primary teacher, but if I find a degree and uni that I love it's alright with me to do a post grad teaching course.

Original post by Sophie00123

Thank you

I hear a lot of great things about Keele so it's definitely worth considering. People who I know that have gone to Keele have said that they are very supportive with careers.
I would prefer it if I could find a degree that has everything required to become a primary teacher, but if I find a degree and uni that I love it's alright with me to do a post grad teaching course.

I am really glad to hear that! Keele are indeed really supportive with careers. Careers and employability at Keele host careers sessions where students get to meet and have conversations with various employers. Furthermore, they also organise workshops which will help students greatly when they are applying for jobs, such as CV writing workshops. You will also have the opportunity to have one on one conversations with a careers consultant!

I have also noticed that some of the schools help their students out with internship opportunities. For example, the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences have advertised a teaching internship for students interested in teaching Physics for two years now, where they get the chance to help teach Physics at a local school. Our lecturers also helped students with their applications for this internship. This is something that you could look into if you do decide to do a BA at university! :smile:

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 7

Original post by Sophie00123

Thank you

I hear a lot of great things about Keele so it's definitely worth considering. People who I know that have gone to Keele have said that they are very supportive with careers.
I would prefer it if I could find a degree that has everything required to become a primary teacher, but if I find a degree and uni that I love it's alright with me to do a post grad teaching course.

Yep, so just for clarity, the Education course at Keele is not tailored for teachers-to-be and 50% of graduates don't go into teaching afterwards.

There are modules about learning theory, and a specific module called Play, Power and Pedagogy which you might like. Other modules include education's relationship with Race, with theoretical ideas of Childhood , eith Poverty etc. There are modules about Education Policy, the study of professions and professionalism, Higher Education, the History of Education in Britain as well as the rest of the world. There are also opportunities for social research in your second year and your dissertation.

If this is something that sounds cool, go for it. But a lot of students realise it's not Teacher Training several weeks after they start and don't end up continuing. Make sure to read up and decide what you want from a degree!

Reply 8

Sophie00123

OP

5

Original post by 04MR17

Yep, so just for clarity, the Education course at Keele is not tailored for teachers-to-be and 50% of graduates don't go into teaching afterwards.

There are modules about learning theory, and a specific module called Play, Power and Pedagogy which you might like. Other modules include education's relationship with Race, with theoretical ideas of Childhood , eith Poverty etc. There are modules about Education Policy, the study of professions and professionalism, Higher Education, the History of Education in Britain as well as the rest of the world. There are also opportunities for social research in your second year and your dissertation.

If this is something that sounds cool, go for it. But a lot of students realise it's not Teacher Training several weeks after they start and don't end up continuing. Make sure to read up and decide what you want from a degree!

I've already done a lot of research on this but not many education degrees do teacher training or have QTS but they do prepare you very well to teach which interests me and when I become a teacher I want to be able to know how to different methods to teach etc. which is what I liked about Keele's course but Edge Hill has a few degrees with QTS. I just wanted opinions on the unis as they are quite similar.

Reply 9

Original post by Sophie00123

I've already done a lot of research on this but not many education degrees do teacher training or have QTS but they do prepare you very well to teach which interests me and when I become a teacher I want to be able to know how to different methods to teach etc. which is what I liked about Keele's course but Edge Hill has a few degrees with QTS. I just wanted opinions on the unis as they are quite similar.

Having done Keele's course, I can tell you that it is not to learn how to teach. There is a very dense opening module called Understanding Learning that gets you acquainted with key thinkers like Piaget and Bernstein and Willis etc. there is a 2nd year module called Play, Power and Pedagogy that looks at the role of play within EYFS and the developmental side of that. Those two modules are the closest that you get to thinking about actual teaching and learning.

All the other modules that I took were heavily theoretical (which U.Learning was anyway) and were not about things happening inside the classroom. They range from Education Matters (an overview of contemporary political education policies), the History of British Education (says on the tin), the impact of Poverty on Education, the politics of what is a profession, the role of race within Education, the concept of Childhood (which focused on Rousseau et al.); there is a placement module where you observe things in the classroom and then write about them.

If you want a 3 year course on all the academic debates about everything to do with education, this is for you.
If you want to learn about things that you can apply directly in a classroom, BA Education is not that.

If you want to be a primary teacher and are sure about that then look at BA Primary Education (with QTS) at various unis. That course involves more placements in schools and you're provided with more content about teaching and learning.
A huge amount of students Keele's Education course (and many other Education courses nationally) drop out in the first 6 weeks because they thought they'd be learning how to teach.

To be clear, I'm not trying to put you off, I just don't want you to join a course thinking it's something else. :redface:

Reply 10

bwilliams

13

If you want to become a teacher then the BA Education isn't really what you will be looking for. It can help, of course, but it is much more theory related and mainly looks at perspectives - this is why it is usually called education studies. As the posters above have also made clear, you will need a degree with QTS if you would like to become a teacher. If you are interested in learning different ways of teaching and methods - referred to as 'pedagogy' in the academic world - then I'd suggest doing a BEd or BA with QTS (BEds are more common) in Primary Education. This would mean you are studying teaching for three years. There isn't normally any compulsory placement on BA Education course it is more common for it to be optional due to the fact that the design of the degree isn't preparing you to teach. I'll put some links to courses you have mentioned below so it is more clear.

Edge Hill
Course for people wanting to become a teacher (BA with QTS) -> https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/courses/primary-education-with-qts/
Course for people who wish you study perspectives on education (education studies) -> https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/courses/education-ba/

Keele
Course for people who wish you study perspectives on education (education studies) -> https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/undergraduatecourses/education/
The QTS course isn't offered at Keele for undergraduates

Reply 11