Education: Case studies

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Tracy, learning support assistant

I gained a degree in Psychology in 2004 and planned to follow this with a PGCE. Since I had no teaching experience at the time, I instead took a post with British Gas.

I worked for British Gas for five years, though eventually decided to take the plunge and go back into developing my career within teaching. This was a big decision, as it involved leaving a solid, well-paid career and moving back to my parents.

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Before I left, I got involved in various volunteer schemes the company offered, such as Right to Read, Young Enterprise and student mentoring. These projects involved reading with children at a local primary school and teaching a class of Year 5 children about how businesses work. These schemes gave me much-needed experience and underlined my wish to pursue teaching.

I got a job as a learning support assistant the job earlier this year. At present, my main role is to attend lessons and help students to understand the work they are set, focus them on tasks, and help them with any problems they have.

I also help to maintain behaviour and to try and minimise disruptions by stopping problems before they start. Next year, I will be assigned a tutor group, so I will shortly be given mentoring responsibilities for them.

Working within a school means that you have the opportunity to get involved in many activities the school is running. You decide the level of involvement, but the more you participate, the more experience you will gain.

I’m looking to continue developing my teaching career by gaining more experience as an LSA firstly and then some time in the future I will apply for a PGCE and hopefully train to become a teacher. The experiences I have gained so far can only have a positive effect on my future and I look forward to gaining many more.

Daisy, learning officer

I graduated from Loughborough University in 2004, with a degree in sculpture. During my time at university, I worked at various places including the city gallery as an education assistant. I was promoted to education/workshop leader, and made contact with other organisations that needed help running and organising workshops. When I finished my degree, I decided that I needed more time to concentrate on my art practice and to do further research. I therefore decided to follow an MA in Art and Design.

I continued to work at the gallery during my MA and became very proficient at organising and leading workshops. I also undertook a two-week sculpture residency with a local primary school, which I really enjoyed, and taught me a lot about working with smaller children and their abilities.

In my current post as learning officer for contemporary visual art, I research, plan and develop the education programme for the gallery. This involves working closely with community groups to plan public workshops, giving talks and tours of the gallery as well as visiting schools. Within the gallery I am responsible for designing the education space for each exhibition and providing interpretative materials. There is also a reasonable amount of administration attached to the post, such as report writing, marketing and finance.

I have learned so much from this position, from my experiences and from the training that I have received, and am considering gaining a teaching qualification to improve the level of what I can offer. In the future, I hope to start my own artist education business, sending artists into schools and community groups to provide both formal and informal art education to all ages and abilities.

Sam, trainee primary school teacher

I originally trained in performing arts, having always had an interest in dance, though it was whilst I was working as a therapist at a special school that I trained as a drama and movement therapist. From this position, I moved on to be a youth and community officer, with a specialism for the arts. I then achieved a Postgraduate Diploma in Youth and Community Work from Brunel University.

My postgraduate courses and my career have all centred around children and my love of dance. My continuous dance training has given me lots of transferable skills, such as determination, time management and dedication, which have been useful for my career development. Teaching children how to dance has given me great experience for teaching in a school and was what inspired me to become a teacher.

I went on to do a degree in dance and education studies. Whilst studying for my degree, I gained extra experience by running an after-school dance project in a North London primary school. This gave me excellent experience of working with young children and confirmed that I really wanted to teach primary-age children. I gained further experience by running a summer scheme for 5-11 year olds.

Following my degree, I first worked as an arts development officer for two local authorities. I then took up a post as an NQT (newly qualified teacher) at a large primary school in Leicester. I have just completed my GTP (graduate teacher programme) year as a trainee primary school teacher.