Personal Statement For An Nqt Primary Pool

– Show how the knowledge acquired through your degree, other education and work experience is relevant to secondary school teaching.

Teachers open the door, but you enter by yourself. – Anonymous

The main reason I want to become a teacher is to have an influence on people’s lives. By being a teacher you are directly connected to people everyday throughout the school year, by being a good role model and through positive reinforcement I could have a direct effect on people.

I must be honest I have not always wanted to be a teacher. I first became interested in secondary teaching through working with an independent college where I prepared students for foundation, diploma and higher diploma Institute of Management Information system exams. I realized teachers play a significant role in the life of students. Teachers are like the foundation or building blocks in the educational development of a child in life.

My Secondary school math Teacher was a massive inspiration to me.

He made math classes simple and interesting. He made me think and use my creative talents and take them to a whole new level. He helped us keep our spirits up and our minds focused. His interest in my work and constant criticism (positive and negative) made me want to continue with my studies, hoping that I would find more inspirational mentors like him.

After Secondary school I went to University where I did a degree in Computer science and Engineering, which I loved doing. I graduated with a B. Tech in Computer Engineering on February 1999 and a Master degree in Electrical Electronic on December 2005.

During the 5 years I spent as undergraduate at University I met the other person who made me believe in my studies and myself. She helped me developed my skills. She was a lovely woman. Her classes were so relaxed. I felt as if I was listening to music when she spoke and lectured us. Her open mind, self-belief and teaching techniques (relaxed but equally as stern) made me want to attend my lectures and I actually enjoyed them. This gave me a new sense of belonging with the studies I undertook, and like my secondary school teacher, she gave me a direction, made me believe in myself and ultimately made me want to learn more and explore everyday.

The experiences I had in my aforementioned schools and Universities led me to think. If I were to become a Teacher, what type of a teacher would I be? The type of teaching philosophy that I agreed with the most was practicality, so the type of classroom environment that I would use would be a type of class participation and openly discussing the topic amongst themselves. The students would have a role in the learning instead of just me teaching on the subject matter. The lesson plans

would be designed to give the students something that is practical and they would be able to use later in life, which is something that I have tried to do with my own life. They (The students) would still be working directly with me and at the same time interacting with each other. The classroom management would not be as strict as most

classrooms, there would still be rules to abide by but the students would have a more active role in the class. The activities that the class did or participated in would be used to get them to think practically and work as a group or work with me as a whole class. They would not always be working in a group because sometimes the class

would call for individual work and individual learning. I am a firm believer in individuality, and in today’s society it is far too easy for people to become followers not leaders.

If you always put students in groups, there will be some students that will take advantage of your teaching methods. The teacher’s role in the class would be to do all the classroom management, providing the assignments, evaluating the grades, and being a person who is an authority figure. I would also try to share my experiences in life, talk to the students, and try to get them to interact with each other more. This was something that I felt many teachers in my schooling career did not focus on.

I currently work as a Referral Assessment officer/support coordinator after I lost my job due to cut in my previous college. I secured the job through my transfer skills. Initially, I started as a support coordinator and after two years on the job I was signposted to work with Islington Children’s Social Care Services (referral & Advice) team under the joint working scheme. According to my Line Manager, I was chosen for this new position because of my skills. She stated that the role requires someone that can work very well under pressure, highly focus & organized and able to keep to tight deadlines which the management team believes I have.

My day to day job involves visiting families to do assessment based on report from the police, teachers, GP, health visitor and other agencies. In some case I need to interview children to hear their own view about what happened. I usually start from what they are familiar with or what they enjoy doing to relax them before going to main interview. I have acquired various skills on how to interview children to gather information on past incidents. Most children education developments are affected by what is going on at home and their environment. A child from a trouble home or poor background hardly concentrates during classes. For some children going to school is seen as a safe place where they are free to express themselves in a relax atmosphere.

The teacher is in a role of responsibility that gives them the opportunity to reach out and help mold some children’s lives. They have the power to help people understand the importance of school and learning to enjoy coming to school. My foundation is the fact that I have a good education that enables me to be the best teacher I can be.

Every person in life has to have professionalism regardless of what kind of job he or she is involved with and without a professional attitude there cannot be success in life.

In my various past roles, I have learned that people are differ and I need to relate with different people at different levels, so I have learned to communicate in simple languages using terminologies that are ease to understand by different people. I believe this skill is very essential in teaching because pupils are differs and level of understanding also differs.

I am highly focus, organised in my work, keep to tight deadlines and flexible with my time and approach to duty, I have a ‘CAN DO’ attitude; I believe I can do whatever I set my mind to do. I also believe one stop learn when one is dead. I have good active listening skills, which is very important because it helps to see the underline problem of what is going on, that is not visible initially. I believe these skills and philosophies are good transferable skills to have as a teacher. I find it easy to adapt to a challenging and dynamic environment like teaching.

Working on weekend as a private math and ICT tutor, I learned that my approach to a task has a direct effect on how the children respond to me. For example some children needs practical examples like using coins to explain the concept of money to them or really clock to explain how the clock works.

I speak English and my community language Yoruba fluently. I love to research many things in ICT. I have acquired skills of how to work and manage people from different background and culture. People have different believe and they see things differently. This experience opens my eyes to the fact that no question or answer is stupid.