Why great teachers are so much more than you think…
World Teachers’ Day
Each year on the 5th of October, World Teachers’ Day is held. It’s an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the challenging and diverse role teachers do, and to say thank you for the difference they make to so many lives.
When we think of teachers some of the first things that come to mind are school holidays, free weekends and short working hours. Either that, or we picture the sweet Miss Honey or stern Miss Trunchbull from Matilda. Not only are these stereotypes damaging, they’re also way off the mark.
Of course teachers do all the things you’d expect; they plan classes, they mark work, they deliver lessons, they monitor progress, they hold parents evenings. This list goes on, but they also do so much more which often goes unnoticed and unseen.
Great teachers listen to their students and adapt in response to their needs, they remain positive and energetic even on days when they’d rather go back to bed, and they create a supportive and encouraging environment where all pupils can flourish.
Great teachers reflect on their practice and make changes when its required, they’re creative and innovative, they communicate well with students, parents and other staff members (even the difficult ones) and they provide emotional as well as academic support to their class.
Most of all great teachers never stop learning and developing.
Teacher Training at Sheffield Hallam
At Sheffield Hallam University we’ve been training great teachers (and other amazing education professionals) for many years. In 1905 our predecessor, the City of Sheffield Training College, admitted its first 90 teacher training students. Now, more than 100 years later Sheffield Hallam is home to the Sheffield Institute of Education which brought several education, childhood and teaching courses and a range of research areas under one roof. Currently we have more than 700 trainee teachers graduating each year.
In 2017 the Sheffield Institute of Education was awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating for both Early Years and Primary teacher training, something the University is incredibly proud of. In reference to our students the report said:
“Trainees, NQTs and former trainees are overwhelmingly positive about the support and training provided by university tutors. This aspect of the partnership’s work is of consistently high quality. Training to develop trainees’ knowledge and expertise relevant to their subject or phase is very effective.”
The full report is available here.
Opportunities for Students
As well as being passionate about training future education professionals, at Sheffield Hallam we also highlight teacher training and education as a career option to pre and post 16 students through our outreach work. We hold a number of engagement activities and opportunities throughout the year including course talks, workshops and taster days.
The next Sheffield Institute of Education Taster Day is being hosted at City Campus on Thursday 15th November. This full day event will showcase our teacher training, education and childhood studies courses through a number of interactive sessions led by our expert academic staff, and supported by current students. The day is suitable for Y10-Y13 students and there are still places available.
For a copy of the programme or to book students onto the Taster Day please email k.l.deakin@shu.ac.uk or call 0114 225 6803.
And to all the teachers out there – Happy World Teachers’ Day!
