Teaching is always a popular career choice. The hours are stable, the salary is good and a great satisfaction is given to most when they feel they have achieved something by teaching a class. The issue with this though, is that due to music technology being a specialist subject, not all schools teach it.
For example, Chenderit School in Middleton Cheney, Banbury (the school I went to) only has a very small music facility due to the school being a visual arts college. With no teachers who specialise in music technology either, the course was extremely small.
From past experience, college teaching tends to have a bigger audience. Less people do music tech at A-Level than BTEC. Due to this, it may be more fortuitous to look into college education.
The general description for a teacher is to show aptitude in the subject being taught. An extensive knowledge base and experience needs to be achieved to be able to effectively teach the field. Obviously certain things may need brushing up before each lesson using the same text books that the students will use, but without the general knowledge or experience, if students have problems or questions, it will be harder to answer them.
With the experience of the industry, it is much easier to teach in a unique style as well. The actual content you are teaching may not need much thought, as it will all be second nature. This means you can concentrate on the learning styles, helping the whole class learn - all students will have different learning styles.
One other major thing that a teacher needs is a qualification in teaching. When studying to become a teacher, the first process that is undertaken is the Initial Teacher Training (ITT). This is the basic training required in order to teach. The overall outcome of this is to have a Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), meaning that teaching is now a viable career path. ITT is usually a post graduate study, as many teaching roles require an undergraduate degree in the subject.
There are a few transferable skills that are extremely important in teaching as well. The main one being organisation. It is vital to be at work on time, with everything from lesson plans and independent study ready to present. If students' work isn't marked in time, it will adversely affect their grades and learning. Similarly if a lesson isn't prepared thoroughly, or if the teacher is late, that could also affect the events of the whole day.
Presentation skills are also key. As a teacher, if the class cannot be controlled, then no one will learn anything. Also, if the presentation is sloppy or nervously delivered, the same outcome takes place. Nearly every lesson will include a presentation of some kind, so this skill is extremely important in order to effectively teach a class of any size.
To summarise:
- Good knowledge, preferably a degree, within the subject area
- Aptitude and enthusiasm to teach the subject
- Presentation skills
- Organisation and time keeping
- ITT and QTS
- Ability to adapt to different learning styles
- Adaptable to changes in scheduling or other unforeseen circumstances
The salary of a teacher can also vary depending on the experience, as well as performance on the job. For a basic teacher, a minimum of around £22,000 per annum, whereas leading practitioners can earn up to £65,000. Head teachers can then earn a salary of between £43,000 and £113,000 per year. However as a teacher specialised to music technology, head teacher may not be a viable option, whereas 'head of music', or 'head of music technology' if the department is big enough, can be achieved. As already mentioned, high performance can lead to higher salaries too (Department of Education, 2013).
Hours are relatively steady, with holidays being the same as school holidays. Most teachers are given full time hours, which would usually be five days a week, roughly 40-50 hours per week. However if the music technology department is small, there may only be a few lessons a week, meaning that not all of that time would be used teaching. This could also lead to less hours.
Overall, teaching could be a good road to take, as there is always need for education.
References
Department of Education (2013) Teacher Salaries - Get Into Teaching. [online] Available from <http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/salary> [6th December 2013]
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