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English is a truly global language. There are around 1.8 billion people across the world who can speak at least a little English. The British empire spread it far and wide and the emergence of the USA as a superpower after the second world war meant that English fast became the international language of business, commerce, science and medicine.
On top of this, “culture has also proved crucial to the dominance of the English language”. It is the language of Shakespeare, the Beatles and blockbuster films by their thousands. It is clear that a grasp of the language can only be a benefit students when deciding on a career post-studies. A report by Capital Economics for English UK found that “around 650,000 students studied English as a foreign language in the United Kingdom at more than 550 accredited institutions in 2014”.
Teaching English at college will give you the tools to help young people improve their employability skills before they enter the workplace. The role enables you to make a tangible change in people’s language ability. Students will benefit from increasing their chances of getting a good job in a multinational company within their home country or of finding work abroad. In addition, more than half the content on the internet is written in English, making good English skills hugely significant.
English is so special in that it gives students a voice. Words have power and enabling students to explore this power presents them with the opportunity to gain extraordinary insights into “how humanity has shared ideas and thinking over time”. This is how English teacher Katie Ashford describes the subject.
“For me, it's the most fascinating subject you can teach,” she states. “Every time we study a text that I used to think I knew inside out, students will pick something that I haven't noticed or considered before – that's amazing.”
Barry Jacques, ESOL/English teacher at Central Beds College, explains that persistence is a key element to getting the most from lessons for both teacher and student. “You need lots of patience and perseverance, plus a sense of humour – there’s a lot of frustration in language learning for both teacher and student. Always stay positive and supportive with language learners as they can develop at very different speeds.”
The answer isn’t rocket science, according to Robert Broome, professional cookery lecturer at North Hertfordshire College. He explains that even in a vocational subject like cookery, students benefit from improving their English skills. He explains how he put up posters entitled ‘commonly misspelt words in the industry’ in his cookery classroom, and recounts one student testing himself how to spell ‘tagliatelle’ while peeling 10 kilos of potatoes. Inspiration can come in the most unexpected places.
The element of Jacques’ job that he feels is most rewarding is witnessing the improvement of students in real time. It is about “seeing real tangible progress in just a few months – people moving on from very few words and little communication to worrying about commas being in the right place!”
Neil Goodwin, English teacher at City of Bristol College, explains that marked improvement can be seen by students in a short space of time. “I have to differentiate my teaching far more in functional skills lessons,” he says. “Lower level classes are more challenging, as they are larger, students’ entry levels of understanding are more mixed, and more have mental health issues.”
“However, although I can teach level 1 functional skills in a year, I can get some students through both level 1 and 2 in 12 months, depending on their entry-level. I have 9-10 students who did that this year – all of them good attenders with a good entry-level of understanding and who applied themselves well.”
You will need a GCSE (or equivalent qualification) in maths and English at grade C or above when you apply as a general rule. If you do not hold these qualifications, further education (FE) providers may wish to assess your skills and request that you complete these during the probationary period.
Candidates should not be put off by thinking that lack of qualifications will block their career path towards being an English teacher. The Department for Education is keen to stress that “Your skills are more valuable than you realise”. It emphasises that candidates will need:
The full teaching qualification for the FE sector is the level 5 Diploma in Education and Training (DET). If this is taken at a university (or some FE colleges) it may be called a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) or a Certificate in Education (Cert Ed).
Those who do not hold a full teaching qualification and/or are new to teaching may wish to take Level 5 specialist diplomas in conjunction with a DET, which is the full teaching qualification. This can be taken either as an integrated part of the course, or alongside as an additional qualification. These are:
Knowledge and understanding of excellent teaching, learning and assessment practices and quality assurance within the teaching English industry will help you get noticed by assessors.
A qualified FE English teacher can expect to earn anything between £25,454 and £38,387 in the UK. This can increase to £44,997 for the most experienced English teachers. The median English teacher salary is £34,455 in the UK, which is higher than the UK’s median annual pay for full-time employees (£31,461) for the tax year ending April 2020.
The government currently offers initial teacher education (ITE) bursaries to those wishing to teach English at College. The bursary is worth £12,000 and is described by the Department for Education as “a package of support to help further education (FE) providers attract high-quality individuals into the teaching profession in the FE sector in certain defined subject areas”.
The main points of the bursary eligibility are that you must:
Sources/further reading:
https://word-connection.com/how-did-english-become-a-global-language/
https://www.englishuk.com/uploads/assets/news/2016/Economic_impact_report_v2_WEB.pdf
https://www.british-study.com/en/importance-of-english-language
https://www.aocjobs.com/career-advice/day-in-the-life-of-an-esolenglish-teacher
https://www.aoc.co.uk/equivalent-qualifications
https://www.feadvice.org.uk/i-want-work-fe-skills-sector/teaching-literacy-numeracy-esol-or-sen
https://www.aocjobs.com/news-detail/my-favourite-lecturer-neil-goodwin-gcse-english
https://www.ucu.org.uk/fescales_england#ql
https://www.findcourses.co.uk/inspiration/average-salaries-uk/average-uk-salary-2020-2021-19759
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