TRAIN TO TEACH WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, FACULTY OF EDUCATION
Why consider a career in education?
One of my key reasons for teaching is cultivating the unique abilities of each individual child and seeing them flourish.
We strive for academic progress for our students but having an impact on the social development of a child is also hugely motivating – seeing a child hold their head up that little bit higher, having a little more confidence and resilience in themselves and their own ability, and knowing that you were the one who inspired it through your teaching.
Aliabbas, Primary PGCE
During my time in sixth form and while I attended my local Mosque, I found that I loved teaching and mentoring students. My biggest motivator for getting into the profession was the lack of South Asian female teachers in my area, Cambridgeshire. From a young age, I often found myself asking the question – why aren’t there teachers who are like me? For me, representation is vital.
Currently, as an English teacher and Bangladeshi British and Muslim woman, I am able to discuss and teach my students things that they might not know. Together we can also erase any misconceptions that they might have. I love that!
Rashida, English PGCE
What was your experience of training to teach at the University of Cambridge?
Choosing to do my PGCE at Cambridge is probably the best decision I have ever made. It is intense, but you are supported every step of the way. What made it special for me was the constant support I got from the Faculty. You spend most of your time on placement, but the Faculty remains very involved every step of the way.
Shola, History PGCE
Every point of view was always regarded with respect and value, and everyone was made to feel equal and valid regardless of their background. I really think this enriched the entire PGCE experience, making all of us feel, as individuals, that we really had something valid and significant that we could bring forward into the teaching profession.
Aliabbas, Primary PGCE
The Cambridge PGCE is more than just a course but a platform for professional and educational change, based on vision, support and trust. I believe that those behind the Cambridge PGCE truly care about the profession and the professionals they are training. I will always remember my partnership tutor visiting me and asking if I have asked for a space to pray in. This may seem small to someone else, but it meant the world to me.
Zara, Primary PGCE
Do you have a message for BAME people considering training to teach?
Go for it! You’re such a valuable resource as you bring a different life experience. Do not be afraid or think that you won’t fit in. This profession is about learning as well as teaching. Be willing to take risks and firmly take hold of every opportunity given to you.
Zara, Primary PGCE
To my BAME future teachers – we need more of us in this great profession. Representation matters and for those students who are of the same background as you, they will feel a sense of comfort and understanding that ‘Ah Miss/Sir, she/he gets me’. I’ve experienced this in my first year of teaching, especially during the month of Ramadan. Aim high, look after yourself and always remind yourself that you can and will do this.
Rashida, English PGCE
As a male teacher from a minority ethnic and disadvantaged background, I experience first-hand the significance it can have for children to see a diverse collection of people make up the team of staff at their school; people who they feel they can relate to. Schools are so diverse now and it is incredibly important for children to see that diversity reflected within the staffing and power structure of the school, as an insight into the wider society that they will be integrating into as they continue to grow.
Aliabbas, Primary PGCE
A message from our Head of Faculty and previous trainees
The University of Cambridge teaches Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ PGCE courses in a long-established and fully integrated partnership with a broad range of schools. We have thought a great deal about the PGCE programme itself, from Open Days that enable prospective students to explore options to the development of a highly supportive approach to training.
The Cambridge PGCE has an exceptional reputation and leads to both QTS and an internationally recognised PGCE Masters level qualification.
We all have our own stories of a teacher who has made a positive difference to our lives. For me, it was an enthusiastic young teacher of social studies who pushed me to ask different kinds of questions about institutional power and inequalities in societies. Without doubt, his passionate approach to teaching us was instrumental in paving an education road that took me on to university, and a successful career in education as a female academic, and now professor.
As the Head of the Faculty of Education here in Cambridge, I am proud to say we are committed to encouraging BAME students into our teaching programmes and we are looking at how we can best support them so that they become inspirational teachers.
As a sociologist of education, I know one thing that can make a difference to what we think is possible is that we recognise others like us who can act as an inspiring role model. In their comments, we can see that this insight has not been lost on newly qualified teachers coming through our PGCE programme here in Cambridge.
At our Faculty, we recognise that it is critical for education providers to actively tackle the lack of representation of particular social groups.
Head of Faculty, Professor Susan Robertson