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Teaching and Classroom Support
“Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself”. (Chinese proverb)
 Teaching is a very rewarding career. It’s hard work – most careers are – but at least you know you are in a position to develop and enhance the lives of children and young people. Even if your pupils don’t seem to want to learn, your enthusiasm will sow seeds which can grow right through life!
- Around 95% of Scottish schools are state schools, run by the 32 Scottish local authorities.
- There are 2,151 primary and nursery schools for 3-12 year olds.
- There are 375 secondary schools for over 12s. 90% of senior pupils go to their local secondary school.
- There are 182 special schools for children who need extra learning or behavioural support.
- There are 43 further education colleges and 20 universities.
The number of teachers and support staff in Scotland varies from year to year, based on school population changes and the budgets of individual local authorities. The Scottish Government's Workforce Planning Strategy is trying to address the issue of making more accurate forecasts of the number of teachers needed by local authorities across the country.
Demand for primary and secondary teachers had been expected to rise, due to Government plans to reduce class sizes and the large number of teachers approaching retirement age.
But, the economic downturn has had a major impact on many sectors in the labour market, including teaching.
Local authorities have not been able to increase teacher numbers. In fact the pupil teacher ratio in schools increased from 12.9 in 2008 to 13.2 in 2009. Many teachers who might have considered early retirement have decided to stay on in their jobs. Unemployment figures for teachers have risen and current job prospects are not good. In 2009 teaching vacancies amounted to 0.7% of the number of teachers in post in Scotland, down from 1.2% in 2008. Classroom assistant posts have also been cut back in many areas.
The situation in further and higher education is similar with new entrants finding it difficult to get permanent posts in lecturing.
The situation is unlikely to improve in the coming year. However, the demand for primary teachers is expected to rise again from 2012, and for secondary teachers from 2014.
- In September 2009 there were 52,993 teachers in Scotland (592 less than in 2008).
- There were 23,255 primary teachers, 25,371 secondary teachers, 1,638 teachers working with pre-5s, 1,985 teaching in special schools as well as visiting specialist teachers.
- 92% of primary teachers and 60% of secondary teachers are female.
- There are currently 5,530 classroom assistants providing support in schools: 4,294 in primary schools, 818 in secondary schools and 418 in special schools.
In 2008/09 there were 117,465 full time lecturers in UK further and higher education.
There is work for teachers of English as a Foreign Language, in Scotland, elsewhere in the UK and abroad, as more people want to learn to speak English.
Working with children and young people can be both demanding and stimulating. To be a good teacher or classroom assistant you should be:
- enthusiastic and patient
- imaginative
- energetic and able to get on well with children and young people
- adaptable to teach children and young people with different abilities and different ways of learning
- firm, to maintain discipline.
To get a job as a classroom assistant you do not need qualifications. You might start through the new Modern Apprenticeship for Classroom Assistants. Or you might be able to get a job without qualifications. You can then study part time to get qualifications while you are working. A lot of classroom assistants are mums who return to work as their children grow up.
To be a teacher you must have a teaching qualification and also Higher English. For primary teaching you also need Standard grade Maths at Credit level.
All teachers and most lecturers have a degree, but some further education lecturers have a Higher National Diploma in the vocational subject they teach.
The jobs in this career area are divided into 5 sectors:
- Primary school teaching and classroom support
- Secondary school teaching
- Learning support teaching and classroom support
- Teaching – other
- College or university lecturing.
Sources
The Scottish Executive Education Department website Teaching in Scotland (http://www.teachinginscotland.com/)
Teachers in Scotland 2009: Scottish Government Report (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/11/27091141/0)
Teacher Workforce Planning Statistics (2009): Scottish Government Statistics (http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/TrendTeacherWorkforce)
General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS); 2008-2009 Employment Follow-up Survey
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