Shaping the Future: My Decision to Pursue a Career in Teaching

I was inspired to teach through my own experiences at school with one of the contributing factors being the commitment and passion I witnessed from my teachers within the classroom. I have always believed that teaching is an extremely rewarding and fulfilling career and just as my educators instilled their knowledge to me, inspired me to learn and helped me succeed, I now want to do the same and be a part of the process. This is why I chose teaching as a profession essay where I will share my story.

My passion for becoming a Primary school teacher has developed even further over the past year after I started my job role as a supply teaching assistant at Castle Hill Primary School. I have worked with year one, year two and year five, preparing activities and lessons and helping the teacher implement them, this has helped me understand the importance of planning, preparation and communication and how essential these skills are for teaching. As a teaching assistant I undertook classroom jobs such as listening to children read, delivering phonic lessons to small groups, helping children throughout the lessons and creating displays for both inside and outside the classroom.

One of my main roles in Year 2 was to support and deliver both Maths and English lessons to a group of five children daily with learning difficulties and moderate to highly challenging behaviour. For me the feeling of accomplishment when they understood something that they previously found difficult was very satisfying. My experience has taught me it is vital to remain calm and build a strong rapport with children for them to respect and listen to you in return.

Working with a low ability group showed me the difference in teaching style which included a slower pace of delivery, reduced level of challenges, group discussions and additional feedback and praise. I am empathetic and sensitive towards the countless needs of children and I have gained experience on dealing with practical and emotional issues by attending to their wellbeing and comforting them when the need arises.

Although I do not have a degree in a national curriculum subject, I believe I have a good foundation and understanding for primary school teaching. I am aware that a primary school teacher, teachers across the curriculum and the importance of being efficient in all areas. My degree in Education Studies has provided me with a good background of the education system, national curriculum and different learning theories and approaches to teaching to suit the individual needs of each child. My A level English Language has allowed me to gain various skills in literacy as it covered various amounts of sentence structure and grammar. By studying all the sciences individually at GCSE level, I have a good knowledge base in all aspects of science required for primary school level. Physics and biology required adaptable numeracy skills for various data analysis techniques which I gained throughout my education from GCSE maths.

I am a good team worker and possess great leadership qualities which I have been able to prove in my role as a TA and through previous retail sales assistant experience, where I was also a Team leader. My tasks involved recording and analysing figures, making decisions on behalf of a team, showing creativity and implying it throughout the store, building a strong relationship with both customers and colleagues by showing resilience and providing excellent communication skills. Nevertheless, these skills can most certainly be transferred to the classroom.

I possess the ability to speak a few different languages , Guajarati which is my mother tongue, Urdu and fluent spoken English, a useful quality in multicultural modern Britain. I am a confident individual with excellent interpersonal skills, someone who is organised and punctual. I am an independent thinker, a quick learner, and skilled at applying myself to the diverse facets of teaching.

I am aware that teaching requires dedication and can often be challenging however I believe that I have many skills to bring to a primary PGCE course and certainly to teaching as a profession. One of my key characteristics is when I set a goal I am fully committed to achieving that goal to the best of my abilities. I am looking forward to expanding my theoretical and practical knowledge which will be extremely valuable for me upon the completion of this course, which will enable me to help children reach their potential, both academically and personally as a primary school teacher.