Why Have I Chosen Secondary School Teaching As A Career Pathway?

Becoming a secondary school drama teacher has always appealed to me, because it allows me to still maintain my passion for the arts, while inspiring the all-important future generation into having the same passion as I do. Once I started university and learned about what the performing arts industry entails, I knew then, that my other passion to teach and work with young people would be where my future would lie in the hands of. I also wanted to be able to work with young people who come from various backgrounds and socio-economic statuses to educate them in the light of the arts and prove that performing is not just for those who are from upper middle and upper class backgrounds, fighting the fight against the constant stereotypes set by the media etc. in performing arts. I found an example of this in the work of (Cochrane, 2012). This has encouraged me to apply for a secondary school teacher training degree before the end of my final year at university.

Week 1 Research Schedule

Day/Date	What I Plan To Have Done On This Day:
Monday 25th of September	Module launch meeting at 10.30am with module leader Jonathan Millican.
Tuesday 26th of September	‘Why have I chosen secondary school teaching as a career pathway?
Wednesday 27th of September	Start and complete the planning for my project proposal plan.
Thursday 28th of September	Create the general outline of my website for my project. Start researching into teaching standards.
Friday 29th of September	Research into where I can do a teaching degree locally (Newcastle/North East).
Saturday 30th of September	Write first 500 words of my project proposal plan.
Sunday 1st of October	Write final 500 words of my project proposal plan and re-read through work.

Project Proposal Plan

Title of Project: “An Investigation Into My Life After University”

For my project, I have decided to research into the career path of a secondary school performing arts teacher. I intend to look into the ins-and-outs of how to become a teacher, exploring what it takes to gain my QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) and also complete a two-week work experience course in the performing arts department of a school. The focus of my project is to discover if I would be happy in the career and if it would allow me to live the life after university, which I desire (i.e. financial stability, career stability etc.). I also want to focus on how to become a teacher for a particular subject (performing arts) and I believe that this module particularly, will allow me the time to do so. I find the idea of becoming a secondary school teacher interesting, as I would like to still be able to work within the arts, but in a more financially secure career, also the opportunity to inspire children to have the same passion about drama, dance and musical theatre as I posses, is very appealing to me.

I believe my project is of a professional level, not only because of the content involved, but also due to the skills and techniques, which I will demonstrate throughout to assist me in completing my project, such as; computing and media skills. I will use these to design the website I intend on building to display my project on. I’ll also use creativity to make the website professional yet aesthetically pleasing. I’ll use communicational skills and confidence to allow me to converse with various pupils and staff members and to assert myself through work experience. Finally I shall use organisation and punctuality skills to allow me to stick to my carefully designed plan of action, which is as follows:

Task	Start	Finish	Extra Information
Module Launch	25th September	25th September	Explanation of what is required during this module. (Start work on my project immediately after the launch.)
Research	25th September	27th September	Looking into what books and other resources I can use as a base for my research into my project. To also have completed my Project Proposal Plan, following the suggested format.
Create Website	28th September	29th September	Using ‘Blogger’, I can create an easy to use website as a professional and creative way to present my project.
Project Proposal Due Date	X	2nd October	Hand in my Project Proposal Plan onto Blackboard before the deadline.
Work Experience (I chose to do my work experience at the beginning of my project, to allow me time to record my findings and continue researching before the deadline date of the project overall.)	2nd October	13th October	Complete work experience to gather information about getting into a teaching career, as well as how to perform in a class room, how to lesson plan, how to deal with varying array of students as well as how to successfully and efficiently educate students.
Research	5th October	20th October (with the exclusion of the 6th due to an audition)	(I will complete this alongside my work experience) I’ll be researching into information which I need to find for myself, such as; where I can complete a teaching degree, what I need to become a teacher, what lifestyle I can expect to have on the income of a teacher, as well as any other extra research I can find to educate myself on the topic of my chosen career.
Conclusion & Bibliography	21st October	23rd October	Complete my project with a conclusion on how successful/unsuccessful my project was overall, as well as a bibliography of resources I used throughout the project.
Project Due Date	X	27th October, 4pm	Send link of my completed project/website into Black Board to be assessed.

I consider my project to be very feasible, due to teaching being such a common career path. For my work experience, I have already been accepted by my old secondary school (Heworth Grange Comprehensive School), which will give me access to information and knowledge into my desired career path, from people who have already gone through the process. Also I believe that with the use of appropriate skills, I will be able to find a varying range of sources to provide me with the information I require to gather, to allow me to successfully complete my project.

I believe that the outcome at the end of my project will be positive. I’m hoping to find that I can complete a teaching degree at a university/college/school at home. I would also like to find that teaching jobs at home are plentiful and that there is an abundance of job vacancies, particularly for a (performing arts) secondary school teacher. To know whether my project was a success, will be determined by the check list I created, made up of a simple list of criteria which is important to me but will also allow me to see if I’ll be completely happy in life as well as my career, the criteria are as follows; 

Question	Yes	No
1. Is there a teaching degree locally at home?
2. Does the job offer good yearly income?
3. Does the job offer a good amount of paid holidays per year?
4. Are there a sufficient amount of job vacancies for my desired career locally at home?
5. Are there a sufficient amount of job vacancies for performing arts secondary school teachers locally?
6. Is there possibilities of promotion within the job?
7. Does the job open up possibilities for the future?

On the subject of teaching in secondary schools, (including teaching the subject drama/theatre) there are a lot of books and resources offering aid into how to teach most effectively. Authors of ‘Learning to Teach Drama 11-18’, Andy Kemp and Helen Nicholson, offer a modern look into teaching the arts for students in a contemporary era. Geoff Petty offers advice and techniques on secondary school teaching in general, in his book ‘Teaching Today – A Practical Guide’. Finally, author Martin Lewis, (similarly to Andy Kemp and Helen Nicholson) has written his book – ‘Teaching Classroom Drama and Theatre’ – to be the guidebook for any new teacher, looking to educate on the subject of the arts. Lewis has also included a section within his book on how to incorporate the transition between primary to secondary school education for the first years of secondary school. Using the three books listed above, I will begin my research into my project, looking for additional varying resources to allow myself to complete my project.