Teach First Taster Review

This was a two day program, mainly looking at Teach First's vision. There was a lot of breakout room discussion time and activities on self-evaluation, as well as some guidance on basic teaching skills.

My experience of the taster was that it was overly simplistic in the skills that were taught, especially as I would think uni students would already know much of what was taught. However, there were some opportunities to grow, especially on the second day, as they provided feedback on an 8 minute lesson, which we were expected to plan. This was done well and felt like an experience that was unique to the taster (less able to gain experience of independently). If you already feel confident with your ability to showcase their competency skills, then the taster might not be that helpful.

There was a lot of information on this, including a Q&A with current teach first teachers, which was helpful. However, a lot of the information could be found online.

It was a friendly atmosphere with lots of opportunities to participate and positive feedback.

A lot of the skills and discussions were things I was already aware of and had practiced at university, so giving up two full days to review them did not feel necessary for me. This was a bit frustrating at times, for example, when we were told how to give a presentation, which we already had to do for the application. However, it was a friendly atmosphere and there were opportunities to meet new people, which was nice.

No

Think about what you will achieve at the taster, as if you are already confident in their competencies and can demonstrate experience in them then this might not be useful to you. If you feel like there are areas you could improve, then this will be a safe and positive environment for you to do so and reflect on your experiences.