Teach First Taster Session Review

The experience was very enjoyable. Sessions were informative, relevant and engaging; they allowed insights into future opportunities. The two day taster session was extremely well organised, ensuring it was very easy to follow. The timetable and resources were also made very accessible and easy to find. The guides were very approachable and helpful, always answering anybody's queries. They also encouraged networking with other participants, which was nice, and often then made tasks easier to complete.

As it was only a two day taster session, I feel like it is hard to establish how valued participants were. However, I believe I felt as valued as can be in a two day experience. The leaders and guest speakers made everyone feel welcome and comfortable and often thanked us for our participation. There was a very positive atmosphere throughout the two days, which ensured all participants could gain substantial knowledge and experience. In addition to this, when the taster was in person, they highlighted how they would pay/ contribute to travel costs to the location. This highlights how valued participants time is to the organisation.

The leaders were always giving clear instructions alongside clear resources. They gave us contact details to ensure that if anyone had any technical difficulties, that they could work together to resolve the issues. They answered every and all questions in a useful and positive manner, making everyone feel welcome. Not only did they give us guidance for there sessions and activities, but alongside guest speakers, they gave us guidance and support for the future and potential careers.

The information received from the taster experience will last for life. This is particularly true to the sessions discussing the inequalities in education. We developed skills which allowed us to view these inequalities and consider outcomes which could ease the inequalities - this was very beneficial. Although they gave us information and highlighted opportunities that participants could pressure after their degree, I have already found my preferred pathway after education, so I found these highlighted opportunities a little less relevant. The program I have found in teaching is similar to the Teach First training, however, it is independent to my location, which personally seems a better fit for me.

The experience was amazingly structured, ensuring it ran seamlessly throughout the two days. The timetable was made very clear, allowing participants to know what session was when. Each session ran to a strict time, which enabled participants to have quick break times to refresh for the next sessions. The leaders knew exactly what sessions were running and when, which allowed efficiency in every activity. They notified us of time breakdowns in tasks, which also helped a lot. The leaders also managed to keep all guest speakers to run on time, which allowed the whole taster experience to be amazingly structured.

The leaders were so welcoming and friendly. They really thought about every single element on how to create a positive atmosphere. They included a pre taster session to ensure participants understood the program being used, allowing a seamless start into the experience. In addition, they made a quiz to allow for networking and friendships to be made and built. This made it nice to see familiar faces in breakout rooms. All participants and guests were also friendly, cooperative and welcoming.

They invested everything they could virtually. They gave us opportunities through the activities, such as running mini lessons and getting feedback on them. They also constantly reiterated their key competencies, which encouraged self reflection throughout, of individuals development. They gave us well thought out resources, pre reading and guest speakers to share their experiences honestly, and allowed them to answer questions. If you didn't understand anything, they would ensure you felt comfortable enough to raise the query.

They highlighted the key competencies in which their company stands by in any and every role. Not only did they highlight them, they offered opportunities to reflect upon them and what were your strengths and weaknesses surrounding them. They picked a variety of guests, who had completed their courses which was extremely insightful. They picked ambassadors who had positive and negative experiences, which allowed less unbiased judgements to be formed. I think this element was extremely important.

Again, with the help of ambassadors they were able to highlight the company's culture. The ambassadors spoke truthfully about their experiences, which is obviously very helpful. They expressed how supportive Teach First was to them, even during the hard times. Obviously, as we only heard from ambassadors, we did not gain insights into every element of the company and their culture. However, I can assume and am sure it would be reflective of the snippets that we were given in two days.

The content was very helpful, motivating and inspiring. As they discussed inequalities in education, it inspired me to do further research on this topic, especially following the government's algorithm of A Level results. The experience encouraged me to attempt to put the wrongs to rights, therefore inspiring my career path into teaching even more. As I am not 100% sure that I want to be a teacher for my whole career, one speaker did highlight how this qualification is for life and that anyone can always have a break and come back to it, which I felt was really reassuring and helped me want to pursue this pathway.

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There were plenty of opportunities to network, mainly with peers, but also some of the speakers. Networking with our peers was extremely encouraged and plenty of opportunities to do so were given to us. For example, there was a pre live session where we could get to know other peers. There were ice breakers at the start of each day, they created a quiz that allowed us to get to know peers in an informal environment. In addition, you were able to chat to peers in lunch and break times. In addition, you were often put into lost of different breakout rooms, which allowed you to network with a while host of people.

They were as good as it could have been. They ran a quiz, which allowed you to network in an informal environment and have a chat and get to know each other. Similarly, in the pre taster session, they allowed you to get to know some people in a more informal setting. The social opportunities were always there. Networking opportunities were also good, especially with guests who came in to speak, there were often times where questions could be asked.

There were opportunities highlighted, but they were mainly they were to do with teaching.

I would recommend this experience for several reasons. To start, they provided lots of knowledge regarding teaching. From the inequalities faced by students to what makes a good learning objective. There were plenty of activities to keep everyone engaged and developing. Their key competencies were always made clear too. They allowed a variety of guests, which allowed a spectrum of experiences, making is less biased. They also invited guests, who informed us of current opportunities that we could consider for now. Everyone was welcoming and it was extremely well structured.