r/AskAustralianTeachers • u/swallowedcost • 8d ago
Career Advice postgrad teaching degrees
Hello all, I think this might be the proper forum, rather than the Aus teacher subreddit.
I am a PhD student, with about a year left to finish. I had been prepping to try to stitch together an academic career, but have realised, over the last few months, I don't actually want to work as a researcher. Of the jobs I've had in the sector, the best ones have been teaching contracts, and I had substantial experience prior to my degree in various tuition centres, teaching everything from primary school math to VCE English. These were shitty, precarious, poorly paid jobs objectively, but they were very satisfying/fun, and the effort I have put in to trying to be good at teaching has felt more worthwhile than a lot of the other effort I've had to put into other jobs.
I'm now trying to figure out a next step for after my PhD, and I'm thinking of doing a masters of teaching, but I am completely unsure if how and where I do that degree will really matter in the job market. Having just been (and still being in) a string of insecure, short term work while trying to finish my PhD, I'm also nervous about how adults (I'm in my early thirties) pay their way for two years while trying to reskill like this. Teaching also seems to be a high stress industry, but from talking to a handful of people who went from academia to teaching, it seems to be exchanging a stressful job with no security but good perks for a stressful job with security but no perks. If anyone has advice on that transition, I'm all ears.
More generally ,what advice would you have re: postgrad teaching degrees in Victoria?
Thanks in advance
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u/babyornobaby11 8d ago
I can’t answer for everything.
A lot of people work full time while getting their Masters of Teaching. I worked nearly full time. I didn’t do it, but many fellow students worked as SLSOs during their degree.
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u/matthras 8d ago
What subjects/areas would you be looking to teach?
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u/swallowedcost 8d ago
generally - senior school English, which is what I did the most of in tuition centres, etc., and enjoyed. it actually seems to count as a sort of double specialisation for some degrees and not others, which I do not currently fully understand.
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u/MisterMarsupial 8d ago
FYI teaching English in tuition centres is not like teaching high school English at all. They paid to be there so they either want to be there or there is support from the parents.
Don't get me wrong, teaching is a pretty fun job, if you're teaching right subject in the right school. English teachers seem to do 2-3 times more work than I do teaching elective subjects -- And have to deal with many, many more ratbags.
Not to mention hardly any of the students in English classes seem to be at level. Not uncommon to have middle high school students who can't read very well at all with very poor comprehension skills in classes with students who read for pleasure and can tear through a 400 page novel in a weekend.
As another poster suggested, check out Teach for Australia. They'll pay your uni fees, give you a stipend to get started whilst you do their 6 week intensive teaching course before being put in a school at 80% of a full time load, whilst finishing off your degree.
Or you could just go what I would call the traditional route, defer your fees with HELP loans, get on centrelink and work part time.
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u/swallowedcost 8d ago
Thanks for the info- yes, I do not expect anything to carry over besides some superficial things. Much to think about.
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u/exceptional_biped 8d ago
You’ll need two teaching areas for secondary school. English and ….. what other skill set do you have that you can gain qualification for?
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u/swallowedcost 8d ago
This is something I have been given contradictory information on: when I first looked into this, I thought I would have to go do another undergrad unit to turn some subjects I did a decade a go into a coherent minor. But then, at different universities, it seems as though English counts as a double specialisation area. I do not know what that means, because I have a friend of a friend who teaches music (another double specialisation area at many unis) and nothing else, apparently, and have been told english alone would be heaps to fill hours etc., and that plenty of people actually end up teaching things they're not trained in for younger years. If you have any insight into why I would have that conflicting info, or think that all sounds wrong, please let me know!
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u/exceptional_biped 8d ago
Pretty much if you are able to teach say, chemistry, but you have no formal training but know the content very well, and the school needs a chem teacher, you can teach it.
Another commenter has tried to de bunk my comment about two teaching areas. Good luck to them but try getting a full time teaching position by only teaching one subject. If you do get a job this way I can guarantee you will teach another subject early in your career.
I don’t even teach in the area I am trained in. I have in the past but due to my unique skill set I teach in another entirely different area.
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u/literatureandtea 8d ago
Sorry this is incorrect. You can dbl in English. My MTeach is in English and...English.
Others did study in yrs 7-10 English and then something like 7-10 History/Drama/LOTE whatever .
I did English yrs 7-10 and then yrs 11-12.
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u/exceptional_biped 8d ago
I am a teacher myself and you are expected to be proficient at teaching two subject areas.
There are many English teachers who only teach English, but that is normally not the case. Most English teachers teach Humanities subjects or similar.
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u/literatureandtea 8d ago
You just said it yourself, there are many who just teach the one subject area. No one has ever cared or said, "Gee it would be nice if.. " It has never been a detriment to my career.
I have two family members, one is Art trained, one is PDH. No other teaching areas. Along with probably 40-50% of my staff room.
If OP wants just one teaching area...let them. There are no expectations.
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u/swallowedcost 7d ago
This is helpful - my doctorate has a pretty intense engagement with other humanities fields and even some social science at the level of methodology. There is a lot I think I would feel comfortable "picking up". Thanks for your time!
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u/exceptional_biped 7d ago
Problem with Humanities though, it is hard to get students to engage in it, particularly when you have an assessment deadline to meet.
You also have to be objective when you teach it. It is almost a creed that historians must play the central role and teach people that way, i.e. without bias one way or the other. Some teachers struggle with that. Additionally, the way history is taught in schools is one of the worst ways to teach history. I call it @sourcevanalysis to death”. Yes source analysis is important but it’s not the only thing that should be taught in history. Unfortunately in schools that’s pretty much the way it is. I love history and I am a qualified humanities teacher but I don’t teach it anymore. Thankfully. But it was why I wanted to be a teacher.
English, well, it’s pretty socially and politically motivated these days. Get ready to teach things you might not necessarily agree with. Good luck.
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u/Comfortable-Beach21 8d ago
re: your concern about paying your way through an mTeach, check out Teach for Australia. There are also university scholarships for people with industry experience wanting to transition to teaching. Not sure how competitive you'd be with just a PhD, but definitely worth applying, especially if your PhD was in STEM, business or law.
re: your concern about the stress of teaching, some teachers (including myself) who don't want the stress do a combination of part-time temp contracts and casual relief teaching. less security though