Career Spotlight: Teacher education

Teachers are in high demand

Teaching is an old profession but one that isn’t going anywhere. Despite it’s popularity as a course, there remains strong demand for teachers, particularly if you’re willing to relocate to a rural or remote area as a graduate. This increases further for guys as there is a significant lack of male teachers, most notably in the primary sector.

There is a variety of roles

Teachers can be pigeonholed as primary or secondary educators, but the reality is that there is ample opportunity to differentiate within the profession. Specialising in areas such as chemistry, media, mathematics and physical education can make you a more attractive proposition to schools targeting someone with expertise in particular subjects and open up avenues outside of the education sector.

The ATAR requirement is feasible

There are some disciplines, such as medicine and law, that ordinarily require ATAR scores in the late 90s, which isn’t achievable for all students. However, teaching is more accessible, with the ability to deal with people and problem solve more important than absorbing entire text books.

There's plenty of variety

While teaching does involve plenty of breaks — three two-week breaks followed by a six-week spell during the summer, they also put in a lot of after hours work. Report writing, marking assessments and dealing with parents takes up a lot of their non-student-facing time.

You can teach with a double degree

There is a perception that teaching graduates are shoehorned into this role for the rest of their careers, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Students can pursue a double degree in teaching and exercise science or complete a Bachelor of Business and then complement this with a two-year Master of Teaching qualification.