Job satisfaction, rapid career progression, opportunity to earn high salaries and long holidays are all good reasons to explore a career in teaching, but is it the right career for you? Here we look at some important character attributes and skills needed to be a teacher.
Communication and Interpersonal Skills
Becoming a teacher is a good way to share your knowledge and passion for your subject but being knowledgeable is only useful to your students if it is communicated effectively. In addition to delivering compelling lessons, teachers require strong interpersonal skills with students, colleagues and parents alike. The stronger the relationship a teacher builds with individual pupils, the better the learning environment. Students are more engaged in class, more open to learning and more likely to contribute to the lesson. The best teachers are also good listeners, empathetic to the challenges faced in school and have a genuine desire to help young people reach their potential. A good sense of humour will also help in building those important relationships!
Creativity and Innovation Skills Needed to be a Teacher!
A big attraction for a career in teaching is the variety of work. Each day teachers are faced with diverse student cohorts from varying backgrounds with differing abilities and attitudes to learning. Preparing fun and engaging lessons to reach all the students in the class will require creativity. Successful teachers have inquisitive minds, a genuine interest in young people and have the ability to discover what motivates them to learn through creative and innovative lessons.
Patience is required to be a Teacher
Young people are all unique in the way they learn and will grasp concepts at a different pace. Some are more motivated than others and some don’t want to learn at all. Managing the behaviour in the class can be a challenging part of the profession and will require a lot of patience.
Resilience and Determination Needed to be a Teacher
Teaching is an incredibly satisfying job but it will take determination to become the outstanding teacher you set out to be. Willingness to adapt and commitment to continual improvement are important character attributes to bring to the profession. It will be important for you to self-assess where you think individual lessons might have gone better and to analyse how you will improve moving forward. A genuine desire to motivate young people to fulfil their potential will help you to succeed.
Organisational Skills
Being well organised and managing your time effectively will make your job as a teacher a lot less challenging and help you to keep a good work-life balance. As in many professions, you will need to be capable of staying on top of a demanding workload. On top of preparing and delivering lessons, you will be marking work, assessing pupil progress, taking on pastoral duties as a form tutor and attending meetings. This is all manageable if you use your time effectively and have the organisational skills needed to be a teacher.
So is teaching a good career for you? The best way to find out is to get some experience as a teaching assistant. As a London based recruitment agency, we are always recruiting for graduate teaching assistant jobs for primary and secondary schools across London and the Home Counties. Get in contact find out how we can help you
