We are grateful to John Howson and Routledge for the opportunity to publish a series of excerpts from the book. 

Taking Control of Your Teaching Career
John Howson
Routledge
£15.99

Purchase this book via the TES bookshop

Based upon John Howson’s popular column in The TES, the book outlines the possible career options open to teachers who:


* have just finished their Induction Year;
* are considering taking on a leadership role;
* are looking to take time out of the classroom; or
* want to come back to teaching. 

Alternative career routes

A teaching qualification can be a passport to many other jobs. There are those associated with education, but beyond the normal classroom experience, such as working with children and young people with special or individual needs.

There are also many other posts that are ancillary to schools, whether in educational administration, publishing, museums, field centres, inspection, or in training the next generation of teachers and classroom assistants. Some of these alternative posts can provide a new career path with opportunities for promotion; others allow the development of particular interests, but do not provide a career structure.

I want to work with children with special educational needs. How do I go about retraining?

There are many different types of special needs. Some can be catered for within mainstream schools, but others still need separate schools, occasionally within a residential setting. Staffing these ‘special’ schools with trained professionals is often a somewhat haphazard affair. Much like initial teacher training, you can either undertake a course of professional training before looking for a teaching post or you can apply for a post and train part-time while working. As budgets
have been devolved down to schools, the funds for full-time training courses have often disappeared. This has caused some courses to fold through a lack of applicants.

I have been teaching history for some years but am fed up with all the clerical work. However, I still enjoy teaching my subject. Are there any other career possibilities you can suggest?

These days there are a number of opportunities outside of the classroom that someone in your position can consider. The growth in the heritage industry in recent years has been accompanied by the creation of many education officer posts working at specific locations ranging from prehistoric sites to re-creations of Victorian villages. Many of these reflect the industrial and social heritage of the country and require a degree of interest and enthusiasm for the period. There are also posts attached to the more conventional museums; these may have a range of different galleries, although there may also be a specific focus.

The advantage of working with a whole range of different pupils, whom you will often see only for a very short period of time, has to be balanced by the loss of any chance to see a group of pupils develop their knowledge and understanding in your subject.

Finally, I am puzzled about your reference to ‘clerical work’. Are you still doing tasks outlawed under the Workload Agreement? I know that as
the signing of the agreement slips into history, it is possible for some teachers to forget what it covered. Perhaps you need a copy displayed prominently in your staffroom?

I’m looking to further my career in education, but I don’t want to follow the deputy/head route. Rather, I would prefer to work in supporting schools and teachers. How do I go about finding vacancies for this type of work?

Most local authority posts are advertised in the TES, after the teaching vacancies. Often these posts are linked to specific funding and may be time-limited in nature. There is no specific career preparation, but several years of successful teaching, some leadership experience and a record of professional development are probably prerequisites.

Many of these posts are recruited from local teachers through informal networks, so knowing who are the local movers and shakers is helpful. With the role of local authorities possibly diminishing further, more of these types of posts may find their way into the private sector, just as inspections were privatised a decade ago.

Do remember that once you are out of the classroom you will lose the day-to-day contact with pupils and will be working mainly with adults. Some teachers enjoy the change, others don’t. So, before making the switch out of the classroom, ask yourself why you find this type of work attractive. You will also find yourself on a different set of pay and conditions, and you may no longer be eligible to remain in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

John Howson is Director of Education Data Surveys; Visiting Professor at Oxford Brookes University; Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University; and former Deputy Head, School of Education at Oxford Brookes University.

Resources

Overseas teaching