The Student Room Group

art teacher

hi. i have been thinking about future career options and i have found that my dream is to be an art teacher. i did do art at a-level, but now i study a business degree. how can i become an art teacher? as most pgces ask for an art-related subject or work experience. not sure how i can gain such work experience that would allow me to become an art teacher.

any advice would be appreciated. thanks

Reply 1

!!
Have you done work experiences at any schools? Shadowing? Do you have a portfolio of your work? Have you continued to do art since your A level?

Reply 3

Original post
by aspalax
Have you done work experiences at any schools? Shadowing? Do you have a portfolio of your work? Have you continued to do art since your A level?


Yes, I have some experience at a school. Not art-related though. Planning on getting more. I do have a portfolio of work, and I do regularly continue to do art since A-level.
Original post
by sleepi
Yes, I have some experience at a school. Not art-related though. Planning on getting more. I do have a portfolio of work, and I do regularly continue to do art since A-level.

I would look at the two stickies at the top of this forum (Link) for info about subject enhancement courses and getting into teaching described by people more knowledgeable than me.

I would work on getting a strong portfolio of work and trying to get some freelance art work in your spare time i.e. painting murals in a local cafe, doing commissions, etc. If possible it would be ideal to get some experience like working at an art club or art classes for children that might be hosted locally. This will help when it comes to supporting your application to a PGCE.

It's likely you will have an easier time getting a primary school teaching qualification with an unrelated degree. I think this would be my main advice. It might be worth focusing on teaching primary school - it would likely be easier to later get support to teach secondary if you had teaching experience already. (others feel free to correct me here, I am not a teacher) Primary schools rarely have dedicated art teachers but you would undoubtedly have lots of opportunities to do arts and crafts with the children. It may also give you an idea of if teaching is the right route for you.
(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 5

Original post
by aspalax
I would look at the two stickies at the top of this forum (Link) for info about subject enhancement courses and getting into teaching described by people more knowledgeable than me.
I would work on getting a strong portfolio of work and trying to get some freelance art work in your spare time i.e. painting murals in a local cafe, doing commissions, etc. If possible it would be ideal to get some experience like working at an art club or art classes for children that might be hosted locally. This will help when it comes to supporting your application to a PGCE.
It's likely you will have an easier time getting a primary school teaching qualification with an unrelated degree. I think this would be my main advice. It might be worth focusing on teaching primary school - it would likely be easier to later get support to teach secondary if you had teaching experience already. (others feel free to correct me here, I am not a teacher) Primary schools rarely have dedicated art teachers but you would undoubtedly have lots of opportunities to do arts and crafts with the children. It may also give you an idea of if teaching is the right route for you.


thank you so much, i will look into everything you have said!

Reply 6

Original post
by sleepi
hi. i have been thinking about future career options and i have found that my dream is to be an art teacher. i did do art at a-level, but now i study a business degree. how can i become an art teacher? as most pgces ask for an art-related subject or work experience. not sure how i can gain such work experience that would allow me to become an art teacher.
any advice would be appreciated. thanks

Hi,

Business degree to art teacher is quite a shift! Do you spend lots of your spare time making art? As an art teacher myself I think that to do an art pgce at secondary they usually ask for a creative/design based degree as it’s quite competitive to get into. It might be better to a primary pgce and then use your business skills to develop after school art clubs or ask to be a primary art lead. Then after you get more art experience you could try and go for secondary art teaching posts later on in your career. Hope that helps and good luck

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