Meet the Teach First grads making the world a better place
One of them was promoted to Head of Department in his first year
We all know that teachers are inherently good people, dealing with difficult kids day in, day out, only to go home to nothing but a pile of marking and a selection of coloured pens.
It’s not all lonely nights in and painful parents’ evenings though, there’s also being able to inspire and motivate hundreds of young people to pursue better lives than they would have had without education.
We spoke to three grads who are 18 months into their training schemes to see how it feels to be doing something this great in your first two years out of uni.
Develop your skills and change pupils’ lives
Applications are now open for the Teach First 2018 Leadership Development Programme. Apply now
Michael Kolawole II
Based in King’s Milton, Birmingham, Teaches Computer Science to Years 7-11
Studied Information Management for Business at UCL
“It’s easy to trivialise the impact of teachers, but often pupils see their teachers more than they see their own parents. We’re responsible for shaping their view of the world and influencing where they’ll be able to go after they leave here.
“There are some challenging pupils in my class who will hopefully look back and see these years as a turning point for them. Instead of being in prison they’re in college, instead of being a dropout they’re on a great apprenticeship.
“I see it as a massive privilege so I don’t really mind working till late at night to do it. I’m exhausted after every day but I really don’t mind – I look back and know I spent my time wisely and for a good cause. I do it because I really enjoy empowering young people to do well in the future.”
“I was promoted to Head of Department after my first year of training.
“Before I did Teach First I knew Computer Science teachers are really hard to come by – we’re like gold dust. Out of 2,000 teachers this year there’s only 11 of us, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to teach something I’m really passionate about that would also allow me to progress quickly.
“On the programme there are loads of chances to grow and develop through weekend conferences, summer projects and access to ambassadors who have been on the scheme in the past. There are so many resources you can tap into improve professionally to prepare us for whatever jobs we want to do after the two years.
“It’s very clear it’s a leadership programme, teaching people how to take things on themselves and help them find their own path to address education inequality.”
Want to be part of a challenging and rewarding leadership programme like Michael?
Apply for the Teach First Leadership Development Programme now
Elizabeth Canny
Based in Kettering, East Midlands, Teaching Year 5
Studied History at the University of Bangor
“I really agree with Teach First’s vision that no matter what your background, you should always be allowed to have the opportunities to succeed.
“We encourage the children to go down certain paths depending on their strengths. As a school we do a lot about higher education to try and get them to see what’s out there and what they can achieve, to get the idea of success and ambition embedded in them as early as possible.
“When they’re young you can see what their passions are and where they shine, so it’s about trying to capture that and make sure it isn’t lost when they get older and move on to other schools.”
“It takes up a lot of my spare time, but if I really believe something’s going to benefit the kids I’m happy to give up those extra hours to make sure that it happens. As long as the outcome and the input are balanced in terms of how much you put in and how much the children get out of it, then for me that’s ok.
“Being part of Teach First has massively improved my confidence. We have conference weekends and personal coaching geared towards skills like communication and resilience.
“They invest in you as an individual, not in a “we want you to succeed so you can do this for us” but in a “we want you to succeed so you can succeed” way. It just so happens the outcome of you improving as an individual will benefit the outcome of the charity.
Are you passionate about making a difference to children’s lives like Liz?
Apply for the Teach First Leadership Development Programme now
Max Scott
Based in Bournemouth, Teaching Religion, Philosophy and Ethics to Years 7-11
Studied Theology at University of Chester
“This year I’m the Head of Year 8, which is a pastoral role.
“The pastoral roles in schools are difficult and challenging in a unique way because they’re completely reactive, but they’re incredibly rewarding because you have a direct influence on these children’s lives. It takes more investment time-wise and emotionally, but it’s totally worth it when there’s that breakthrough moment with a kid who’s struggling at school or home.
“It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done so I’ll happily get up at 6 in the morning to go in. Even though I work really long days, I feel that I’ve never done anything as valuable or enriching – in a selfish way because when you’re having a tiring day mentoring 300 children and they make you laugh, it’s absolutely brilliant.”
“Teach First lets you progress faster than a lot of other jobs. There’s a strong relationship between the schools and Teach First because the calibre of grads coming through are very hard working so schools trust them.
“They’re really dedicated to investing in young leaders. They know retention rates in teaching aren’t great, so they invest in people like me and give us responsibility so we can make more of an impact and are more likely to stay in the job.
“I’ve come straight out of uni into teaching, so after a few years I may travel for a bit or try something else as I don’t want to dedicate my entire life to one profession. I want to try other things – whether that’s working for the Civil Service or volunteering teaching abroad – but I’ll always come back to teaching.”