Switch Subject for NQT

Hi,

I'm a PGCE student coming to half-way through the course, only a couple of weeks left in my first placement. The question I have though, is how likely would it be for me to be able to switch subject for the NQT year, from MFL which I am doing now to History?

I know you can teach any subject once qualified, but this is not like going from perhaps English or RE to History where there is a degree of similarity in teaching style.

My degree was half History and half Spanish, so I have the same qualification in both subject areas. Also, I would not be adverse to holding off on finding a job and completing the DfE History SKE after the PGCE, but only if there were some chance of this actually working.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated, as I cannot find an answer anywhere.

pgcestudent44

Reply 1

pillinois

1

It would be possible but it would be difficult because you would have to convince a school you are just as qualified as all the history candidates. This is compounded by the fact that history isn't a shortage subject (it's in many ways almost a surplus subject) whereas MFL is a shortage subject. What is it about teaching MFL which you don't like? (I'm an MFL trainee as well so I could perhaps give another perspective?)

Reply 2

myrtille

15

Original post by pgcestudent44

Hi,

I'm a PGCE student coming to half-way through the course, only a couple of weeks left in my first placement. The question I have though, is how likely would it be for me to be able to switch subject for the NQT year, from MFL which I am doing now to History?

I know you can teach any subject once qualified, but this is not like going from perhaps English or RE to History where there is a degree of similarity in teaching style.

My degree was half History and half Spanish, so I have the same qualification in both subject areas. Also, I would not be adverse to holding off on finding a job and completing the DfE History SKE after the PGCE, but only if there were some chance of this actually working.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated, as I cannot find an answer anywhere.

pgcestudent44

I agree with the previous poster - not impossible, but very difficult.

Like you, I have a joint honours degree (French and History) and I also have an MA in History. But I teach French and a little bit of Spanish (I'm now in my 3rd year of teaching).

I quite fancy trying my hand at a bit of History teaching but know it's not likely to happen. We have plenty of History teachers in my school (and they're having to teach GCSE Geography as well because the school struggled to recruit another Geographer).

I think you probably have more chance of getting into teaching History if you start out teaching MFL (but making it very clear that you're interested in having some History on your timetable) and then gradually shift into humanities that way. Or at least once you have a proven track record in teaching, a Head is more likely to take the gamble of employing you to teach History.

Switch Subject for NQT

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