As a teacher in further education you can pass on your industry knowledge and change lives without changing your career
SHARE
SHARE YOUR SKILLS
Many people wrongly feel they’re not up to the role of an FE teacher. Others assume they’re not qualified to teach, but FE teachers do not always need to hold a degree or a prior teaching qualification to get started.
Teacher training can be undertaken on the job, meaning many can start earning straight away. Workplace experience is often the first thing a recruiting provider will look out for.
As the people who pass on their hard-earned industry expertise, teachers in further education are invaluable
– not just to their students, but to the nation’s key industries.
Teaching in further education (FE) can help train up the next generation of learners with essential on-the-job skills to prepare them for work. FE refers to all formal learning for those aged over 16 that isn’t part of an undergraduate or graduate degree, including students studying T Levels and adult learners looking to enhance their careers, do something different or pick up a new passion.
FE has a key role to play in shaping the future of the workforce due to the sheer breadth of provision it offers and is a highly effective way of ensuring students start their careers “job ready”.
“Further education has a key role to play in shaping the future of the workforce”
8
reasons why teaching
in further education
can change your life
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1. Job satisfaction
FE teaching is hugely rewarding. You’re passing on worthwhile industry experience to another person, helping them fulfil their potential and achieve their ambitions.
3. Work in top-class facilities
Teaching is not all about classrooms, it’s about hands-on experience with equipment such as 3D printers and even industrial robots, and working in diverse locations from dental suites to to fully equipped kitchens.
5. Learn on the job
You don’t need prior teaching credentials to get started as an FE teacher. Instead, you can work towards a relevant qualification while on the job. This will often be paid for by your employer.
2. Share your skills
Real-world experience is invaluable in teaching in FE so that students can learn first-hand how to cope with everything that’s thrown at them on the job from those who have done it day in day out.
4. Teach from a variety
of courses
There’s a huge range of courses that can be taught in FE, from manual trades such as construction, to web design, law, accounting, engineering and health and social care. If you work in it, then chances are you’ll find an FE teaching role to match.
6. Shape the future
of your industry
If you’re passionate about your industry and you have high standards, then teaching gives you the chance to make sure the next generation meets those standards and is a credit to your industry.
7. Flexible working
You can teach in FE part-time or even on a flexible, ad-hoc basis, with classes taking place in the daytime, evening or at the weekend.
8. Job appreciation
By teaching in FE alongside your current job, you can stay up to date with changing work practices and the latest industry developments, while bringing new skills you’ve developed within FE back into industry. You’ll be interacting with students from all backgrounds too.
Experience counts
life lessons
Take Dave Love, for example. He ran his own electrical business before becoming a further education teacher in the construction department at Warrington & Vale Royal College in 2014.
He had no teaching qualifications at the time, so studied for his Certificate in Education while on the job, with his college contributing towards his fees. Despite the college’s belief that Dave would become a great FE teacher, he had doubts about whether he would be cut out for the role.
“My first day at college was quite frightening,” he recalls. “Suddenly I was in front of a class with 15 faces staring at me. But I’ve since learnt that students love hearing about their teachers’ real-life experiences in industry. That’s why we need people from industry in FE.”
PROUD MOMENTS
Dominic Whelan, an automotive lecturer at Sandwell College, is a former RAF technician who worked on – and flew – Hercules jets. He also worked as a Network Rail engineer. But nothing, he says, beats the satisfaction he gets from teaching in FE.
“I know my stuff, I want to share it with my students and they have made a positive choice to study engineering so they are receptive,” he says. “I had one 16-year-old lad who got his basic qualifications then got a part-time job in a garage and became a skilful mechanic. He ended up working for a sports car team – he sent me a message to tell me he was prepping a racing car at Brands Hatch. It’s such a privilege to be part of the career journey of these students’ lives.”
And if you think of teaching in FE as standing in front of a whiteboard, think again. Many colleges are equipped with facilities that replicate real-world environments for students, such as car workshops, hospital wards, working kitchens, engineering innovation labs and cutting edge IT suites.
INVALUABLE SKILLS
Sharon Mangoma, teacher of Health & Social Care at Suffolk One, is another former professional who found her real-world skills invaluable for inspiring the next generation. As a former care assistant for Westminster and Suffolk councils, she says she can “tell stories that bring the subject to life in my classes, which especially helps when teaching a vocational course”.
Sharon has now been a further education teacher for over 17 years and is delighted she made the move. “If you want a job where not every day is the same, where you get incredible job satisfaction, it is the role for you,” she says. “When you see a student understand what you’ve taught, you don’t need your manager telling you that you’ve done a good job, you see the result in practice.”
If you have real-world experience, love your current profession and want the next generation to do it as well as you, then you are almost certainly cut out to be an FE teacher.
Want to go further?
Spread the word … further education teacher Natalie Ricketts (right) shares her mechanical skills with the next generation
Practical matters … Dave Love, of Warrington & Vale Royal College
Keeping it real … much of former care assistant Sharon Mangoma’s teaching is hands-on
8 reasons why teaching IN
FURTHER EDUCATION could be
for you (and is easier TO GET
STARTED than you think)
8
reasons why teaching
in further education
can change your life
Click to read
8
reasons why teaching
in further education
can change your life
Click to read
And while you may not realise it, your experience could make you ideal for the role. You can even share your skills by teaching in FE part-time or on a flexible basis while continuing with your existing career.
FE providers deliver high-quality academic, technical and vocational education and training for young people and adults. This includes a diverse range of work-based courses and qualifications from accounting, IT and law to engineering, construction, healthcare, and digital subjects like cybersecurity or games development.
You don’t need prior teaching experience to share your skills in further education – you can study for your qualifications while on the job. You just need real world experience and a desire to pass on that knowledge to the next generation of workers in your field – you can teach subjects such as health and social care, digital and IT, engineering, manufacturing or law. You can even teach part-time or on an ad hoc basis while continuing in your existing career.
Find out more
8
Click to read
reasons why teaching
in further education
can change your life
Drive to teach ... Dominic Whelan relishes passing on his industry experience to FE students
Qualifications usually range from A-levels to higher national diplomas (HNDs), with the recently introduced T Level qualifications – equivalent to three A-levels but focusing on vocational skills and on-the-job practical experience – particularly increasing the need for FE teachers.