| Carving a career | ||
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When you've successfully completed your initial teacher training and landed the perfect job, you could be forgiven for wanting to settle in to your new career without being distracted by the years ahead. Yet with the induction period in front of you, getting into the habit of focussing on your professional and personal development is essential in ensuring that the work that you do each day becomes a rewarding and fulfilling career, rather than simply a job. Your induction period will be your first foray into a sustained look at exactly how you work, the direction you need to move in to maximise development and the career path you'd like to carve. To help you achieve this, you'll work closely with your induction tutor using your Career Entry and Development Profile (CEDP). The CEDP has been designed to help new teachers consider and plan their development at three key periods in their first few years in the profession:
Using the CEDP is essentially about the process of chatting to your induction tutor and other experienced staff at your school about the direction that your professional and personal development, and therefore your career, can take. It's about identifying strengths and development priorities through discussions, observations and personal reflection rather than ticking boxes and filling in forms! Once your induction has been successfully completed, your career in the teaching profession lays before you. There are myriad paths to take, regardless of whether your ultimate goal is to be head of a large comprehensive, or to remain as a classroom teacher doing what you love most. Just be aware that your goals and desires will necessarily change over time as you gather experience of teaching so be flexible in any you set for yourself. Your journey through your career as a teacher will be unique, too, whatever path you opt for. Making the most of any continuing professional development opportunities that come your way will help to shape your route through the profession. There are now more development opportunities for teachers than there ever have been before. From basic In Service Training (INSET) courses to award-bearing online interactive courses, from Best Practice research Scholarships to Teacher's International Professional Development, opportunities abound. It's well worth keeping an ear to the ground (or an eye on the TeacherNet website) to make sure you don't miss out on the very latest developments. If you want to climb the career ladder out of the classroom and into school leadership, the chances are you'd become a subject co-ordinator or head of department and then a faculty head (in larger schools). Alternatively there's the scenic pastoral route through head of year, school or key stage, offering responsibility for pupils rather than the curriculum. Schools differ on the exact detail of their middle management structure, but you would certainly pass through it on your way to leadership spheres. One option open to the ambitious and the excellent is the Fast Track. For those who are already qualified teachers, this offers an accelerated professional development programme. This is funded centrally by Fast Track and gives teachers the skills and knowledge needed for them to become tomorrow's school leaders. If you show the potential to work as a leader in education, the Fast Track Teaching Programme could be for you. Once your induction period is safely out of the way, Fast Track offers the following opportunities: In your second year of teaching you'd draw up a targeted professional development plan with the area co-ordinator. You would agree an additional objective that would 'contribute to the development needs of your school'. Your third year of teaching may see you accepting a position of responsibility such as head of year or team leader. You would agree a career development plan as well as working towards objectives with a 'wider school focus'. During your fourth year of teaching you may consider becoming an Advanced Skills Teacher (more on that later), or move on to middle management, and work towards the National Professional Qualification for Headship. Subsequent years of teaching will see you moving towards a leadership position such as assistant or deputy head and taking on increasing responsibilities both from within and outside your school. It's possible to remain on the Fast Track Programme for a maximum of five years. Should you decide that classroom really is the place for you and leadership leaves you cold, then you may be tempted by the role of Advanced Skills Teacher (AST). This was created to reward excellent teachers who want to remain teaching in the classroom for the bulk of their working week. ASTs spend the equivalent of one day a week working with other teachers to share best practice ideas. ASTs are assessed externally and recognised to have excellent classroom practice. In return for the additional non-contact time they are given they are expected to (among others):
Whatever career path you take, your commitment to continuing professional and personal development will be your lifeblood over the coming years. Think strategically about your career and you can make every year of experience in the profession count. Knowing your strengths and development needs as well as what truly inspires you will help you to remain enthusiastic and energetic about your chosen career. If you can recognise the opportunities for career progression and development that will undoubtedly present themselves, you're part way towards becoming the best you can be in this most vibrant and satisfying of professions.
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