Job Descriptions: Teacher

Teachers are responsible for leading and developing knowledge and education in people of all ages and abilities.

A Teacher is responsible for building the minds of people of all ages, abilities and assisting learning for people to help them grow academically. The role of a teacher plays a vital role in the development of people. Teachers can be found working with people of all levels whether it is nursery and primary level education right up to further and higher level education.

The duties of teachers vary from academic support and education to elements of pastoral and personal care. While the majority of the work they undertake focuses on helping people learn and achieve fantastic grades and qualifications. This involves things like planning lessons, understanding the curriculum and exam formats and assisting all of those in the class whatever their level of ability.

No longer is it the case that attending Teacher Training colleges is the only way into teaching. Organisations like Teach First offer direct access to schools for teachers to learn on the "front line" of teaching. While other organisations like Explore Learning offer the opportunity for graduates to help educate children outside schools and assist with their education afterschool as well as running the outlets as a business.

Teacher Salaries

The average starting salary for a graduate Teacher is £18,786. This is a number sourced from our own job postings over the past five years and is unlikely to reflect the potential earnings of fully qualified teachers.

In terms of salary progression, as soon as they are qualified and take on extra responsibilities within schools, like becoming heads of department or extracurricular duties, teachers will begin to see their salaries increase rapidly.

The Daily Duties of a Teacher

The daily duties of a teacher typically revolve the education of pupils. This involves duties around preparing and giving lessons, homework and longer term curriculum work. Each new school year gives teachers fresh challenges to overcome.

Teachers can be found working at a range of levels with a range of different people. What a primary school teacher may do day-to-day will be different to what some who teaches English as a foreign language will do. Here are a few of the duties that Teachers will undertake:

• Exam preparation - Much of the success of teachers is measured on the success and progress students make on their exams. Teachers are required to help pupils pass their exams and this is helped by understanding the format and the requirements laid out in specifications.
• Extracurricular activities - Teachers are looked upon to help build the extracurricular strings on a pupil's bow. This could be organisation anything from orchestras to chess clubs to cultural exchanges. Often this is playing to the strengths of the teacher's passions.
• Lessons - One of the largest parts to a Teacher's remit is ensuring they are able to give lessons on specific subjects and educate pupils according to the curriculum. Lessons take time planning and constructing ensuring the pupils will get the most out of the length of time spent in the class room.
• Marking and Setting homework - Homework has become essential for pupils, especially in secondary schools, this requires Teachers to plan and mark not only the work submitted during class but also homework when and if it is returned.
• OFSTED and Assessments - Another way in which Teachers and Schools are assessed is through OFSTED inspections. This is where a Teacher's performance and a school's performance is measured to ensure national standards are maintained.
• Reports and Parents Evenings - Teachers are expected to report back on pupils during the academic year and including Parents Evenings. This taps into the involvement that teachers have with pupils pastorally.
• Understanding the curriculum - Teachers are required to be knowledgeable about the contents on the curriculum and understand any developments or updates that are made to the curriculum. Teachers must be able to transfer this knowledge to pupils, with success in exams being the end-game.

Teaching careers can be one of the most rewarding careers and although contact hours are usually between 9am and 3:30pm, teachers have to work longer around those times ensuring everything is prepared for and marked. The career progression is there for the taking, with options wide open for graduates to start out on a rewarding career.