Sara,Although I am very keen on encouraging talented graduates into teaching, I am sceptical of both the methods used and effectiveness of Teach First. They do recruit graduates with academic backgrounds. However, according to their website, they also take people qualified in DT, Citizenship, Business Studies and ICT which are not particularly academic disciplines. It is not the largest employer of Oxford graduates according to Oxford University website: (http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/why_oxford/graduate_destinations/index.html). Although teaching is a popular graduate destination I would have thought the numbers recruited onto the Teach First scheme are far less than the number of students that went onto PGCE courses, including those run by Oxbridge and Russel Group Universities. I am glad that Teach First graduates get support, mentoring and CPD throughout their two years. However, PGCE and GTP students also get lots of CPD, INSET, mentoring and support. This carries on into their NQT year and beyond. There is also a National College for School Leadership which provides leadership training and support for senior managers, middle managers and aspirant managers. I am not sure what makes the Teach First different or better. I just spoke to a colleague who works as a supply teacher. He told me that he gets a lot of work from schools and academies with Teach First graduates. He is paid to cover their lessons (often exam groups in core subjects) whilst they ‘swan off’ (his words) to attend another course.I do not think that a 50% drop out rate is successful from the schools’ point of view. For them it sounds like an utter failure. It seems to me that a huge amount of resources are wasted on a very short-term return. I completed my PGCE course in 2001, of the 11 people on the course 10 are still in teaching. Of the six people I did my NQT year, with 5 are still practicing teachers. I also think that after two years graduates, even exceptional ones, do not have the experience or maturity necessary to take up a middle management position, particularly in the challenging inner-city school environments that Teach First places them.I think this scheme is a neat way both of reducing the figures for graduate unemployment and of masking the problems of recruitment and retention in inner-city schools. I notice most of the data on the Teach First website about the success of the scheme is anecdotal. I would be interested to see if there are any quantitative figures published. I think the money would be far better spent on funding existing routes into the profession and expanding current provision for CPD rather than recruiting unqualified teachers and promoting inexperienced ones. If your daughter is serious about joining the teaching profession I would strongly recommend she gets herself onto one of the excellent PGCE courses being run up and down the country. We desperately need talented, hardworking graduates who are passionate about their subject to join the profession as a career not as a stop gap for a few terms.
Andy Magee ● 5798d