Teaching intern/trainee Review

I had a really enjoyable experience in that it was hard work at times, but very rewarding - the definition of a crash course. It was particularly satisfying to meet and network with like-minded people, (which I thought one of the course's strengths) and the social activities alongside the main content ensured we had a chance to socialise as well. Coming out of it, I feel like I've had a very productive few days and would recommend it to a friend.

Although brief (my course was only three days long), the experience felt very personalised, and on multiple occasions I got the opportunity to receive feedback on my personal work. The management did well to include all participants evenly, although there were many of us, and as far as I could see, everyone got the same level of attention. However, it was only on the final day during one activity where I was able to make the most of a one-on-one format as opposed to a group.

As it was all online, I anticipated a lot of technical difficulties, as there usually are with these sorts of things. This expectation was defied though, and particular praise has to go to the coordinator for me, who was very attentive with her emails and seemed to have put a lot of thought into the timetabling and breakout rooms.She was the main port of call for any issues, and on the occasion that I did contact her, she was incredibly prompt. Very professional!

Since the skills I learnt were in the field of teaching, (whereas I currently study physics at University) I would not expect them to apply directly to my degree next year. However, with a career in teaching as a possibility, I fully expect the skills I was taught on this course to come in handy at some point. Furthermore, the skills were very transferable, (for example, public speaking and planning) so I am sure they would be valued in a range of industries.

The timetable was very thoroughly communicated and organised, although I found that the workload on the first day was over-ambitious. I think that the course could have benefited from being stretched over an additional day - especially considering all of the interactions were through a screen - or just generally more spaced out with regards to regular breaks. The final assessment day unfortunately suffered from timing issues and almost all of the activities running 10 minutes late. I am sympathetic to this though, considering the complexity of the timetable.

If I had to sum up the atmosphere in a few words I would say: professional, positive, and productive. The organisers and speakers were very well trained and knew exactly what their roles were - most of them were ex-teachers themselves, so we also benefited from a continuous demonstration of their effective teaching skills. A nice surprise was the lack of competitiveness during the two training days, which I had expected to see more of in the sense that we would eventually be competing with each other for limited places on a training programme.

This internship would usually be 1 to 2 weeks in length; ours was shortened to 3 days, so inevitably, there would be less training time.I felt as though they squeezed as much content as possible into that timeframe regardless, and still think I got the essential basics out of the experience. There was also a significant number of resources available online complementing the interactive material.

This category does not apply so much to my internship, since it was more on the theoretical side (of teaching) and we did not spend a huge amount of time practising ourselves. Having said that, there were plenty of opportunities within the lectures and as full activities to try leading a lesson, but of course, with the other participants having to play the role of students, it would never be realistic.

Again, being a teaching charity, it is not so much about working in the office as it is working in one of their schools, in which the atmosphere may vary considerably depending on the location. That did not stop them from communicating the charity's core philosophies and work ethics however, and I feel as though I received a good understanding of a teacher's responsibilities by the end of the course.

The content was very helpful in two distinct ways. The first way was purely in the experience I gained and the practice I was able to get in, which gave me an idea of what teaching would be like. Perhaps more directly though, they had a Q and A with a variety of experienced teachers and trainees, who painted a vivid picture of what a career in this industry would promise. This more than sufficiently answered all my questions.

I did not need to be reimbursed as it was all from home, on my laptop.

Most of the activities were group work based, so very soon I got to know a good proportion of the other interns on the course. There were a couple of social events in which I also had the opportunity to meet them in a less formal atmosphere, although technically I only got to meet a handful of the Teach First employees. Again, this question does not really apply to this charity as the employees' are simply teachers at various schools.

This is more relevant to my course; over the three days I got to meet at least 50 other interns in a similar position to me. There were also a couple of social events (a quiz and a debate), although I feel that they may have been a little short lived. What was needed was a space/time to freely chat to the other interns rather than in a structured activity.

Not so much on my course. This might vary from school to school, but the speakers did not really mention the extra-curricular side of teaching; the emphasis was firmly based in the classroom.

Yes, I would. Particularly, someone who was looking to get into teaching but was unsure about the specific techniques and tools of the trade. Having attended this course, my eyes were opened to how much thought goes into planning lessons behind-the-scenes and how demanding a job teaching really is. As mentioned, there were also plenty of opportunities to interrogate experienced teachers, and the organisers seemed very happy to go the extra mile in this direction.