3 ms·

Anecdotal experience: my mom used to teach some adult classes in a UK college and while she loved the work she ultimately left because for every hour of teachin

by gbuk2013 3y ago

Anecdotal experience: my mom used to teach some adult classes in a UK college and while she loved the work she ultimately left because for every hour of teaching she had to do 4+ hours unpaid work (lesson plans etc) and prepare for endless inspections by people who knew a lot less about teaching than she did (she has 20+ years teaching experience).

2b3a51 3y ago
The formal lesson planning has been cut back a bit these days (last 3 years or so). One of my employers went over to the 'five minute lesson plan' [1]. With a solid scheme of work (plan of the whole course) that works OK. I taught maths (basic level) and we had a team of something like 20 tutors so materials got produced and a common scheme of work got adapted as needed. All that cuts the work down, along with some amazing Web sites [2]. If you are the only teacher of a specialist subject, yes I admit the planning could be heavy the first time you run the course. Local management can be a factor sadly. Recent sad events in the UK news [3] I think will result in a change in approach from OFSTED. This will I think happen when the new OFSTED head is in post. [1] https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/5minplan/ https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/5minplan/ [ I don't think we paid anything! And the differentiation bit is different for adult education] [3] e.g. https://www.skillsworkshop.org/ https://www.skillsworkshop.org/ and https://corbettmaths.com/ https://corbettmaths.com/ [3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-65207784 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-65207784
- gbuk2013 3y ago
  She used to teach a foreign language, so there was only one other teacher and yes management really was a problem. :( Good to hear that things have improved - it’s been about 10 years since she moved on to teaching privately.
  - 2b3a51 3y ago
    The moment I saw foreign language I thought: better off in business sector Management can be abysmal. I've been lucky. Hope Mrs gbuk Senior is doing OK now.
james-revisoai 3y ago
Can I speak to your mom? Apologies for the directness but I work with tech for UK colleges and would love to hear her view (and see if there has been change since).
- gbuk2013 3y ago
  She left the college about 10 years ago. At the time all she used was a smart whiteboard - the 2 different colleges she worked at had different brands with different software interfaces on her PC and this was a real pain she said - just as she got used to one she had to change to another one. Apart from that she just made her lesson plans in Word based on a basic template that the college provided.
  - james-revisoai 3y ago
    Thanks for the info! Seems like besides iPads in the classroom, little has changed.

2b3a51 3y ago

The formal lesson planning has been cut back a bit these days (last 3 years or so). One of my employers went over to the 'five minute lesson plan' [1]. With a solid scheme of work (plan of the whole course) that works OK. I taught maths (basic level) and we had a team of something like 20 tutors so materials got produced and a common scheme of work got adapted as needed. All that cuts the work down, along with some amazing Web sites [2]. If you are the only teacher of a specialist subject, yes I admit the planning could be heavy the first time you run the course. Local management can be a factor sadly. Recent sad events in the UK news [3] I think will result in a change in approach from OFSTED. This will I think happen when the new OFSTED head is in post. [1] https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/5minplan/ https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/5minplan/ [ I don't think we paid anything! And the differentiation bit is different for adult education] [3] e.g. https://www.skillsworkshop.org/ https://www.skillsworkshop.org/ and https://corbettmaths.com/ https://corbettmaths.com/ [3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-65207784 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-65207784

gbuk2013 3y ago
She used to teach a foreign language, so there was only one other teacher and yes management really was a problem. :( Good to hear that things have improved - it’s been about 10 years since she moved on to teaching privately.
- 2b3a51 3y ago
  The moment I saw foreign language I thought: better off in business sector Management can be abysmal. I've been lucky. Hope Mrs gbuk Senior is doing OK now.

james-revisoai 3y ago

Can I speak to your mom? Apologies for the directness but I work with tech for UK colleges and would love to hear her view (and see if there has been change since).

gbuk2013 3y ago
She left the college about 10 years ago. At the time all she used was a smart whiteboard - the 2 different colleges she worked at had different brands with different software interfaces on her PC and this was a real pain she said - just as she got used to one she had to change to another one. Apart from that she just made her lesson plans in Word based on a basic template that the college provided.
- james-revisoai 3y ago
  Thanks for the info! Seems like besides iPads in the classroom, little has changed.