| Personal details |
|---|
| Degree: | BSc Hons Maths |
|
| School(s): | School of Mathematics and Statistics |
| Year of Graduation: | Jul-2002 |
| LinkedIn: | |
| National of: | United Kingdom |
| Employment details |
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| Organisation: | Dunbar Grammar School |
| Job title: | Teacher of Mathematics |
| Occupational Sector: | Teaching |
| What has been your route to getting your current position? |
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After leaving St Andrews in 2002 I completed the PGCE course in secondary Education at Moray House, Edinburgh.
I was given a probationary post at Dunbar, where I then applied for a permanent contract. I have been at the same job since!
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| What does your job involve ? |
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I am a secondary maths teacher. Along with the usual classroom
demands, I have responsibility for the development of numeracy in the
school. I also run the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at the school,
organised our S1 residential trips and have run 2 cultural trips to
California.
|
| What are the best bits of your job ? |
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I love teaching! It is the best job in the world. I enjoy the fact
that every day is different and no matter how much planning you do, you
can not predict the way learners react to the lesson. I particularly
enjoy watching students have the ‘penny dropping’ moment when their work
suddenly makes sense to them.
|
| Why were you successful? |
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Hard work, and interest in my job.
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| What skills/ knowledge from your degree have you found particularly helpful in this role? |
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| To be a maths teacher you need a degree in maths, although the content
of the degree is very rarely used, as the highest maths we teach is
Advanced Higher. |
| What advice would you give to students wishing to follow the same path? |
|---|
Teaching is a gift of a job - if you enjoy it. You can’t make
yourself be a teacher if you have no interest in students or your
subject.
I have found that the most positive members of the staff room are
actually those who put in the longest hours, but get the biggest rewards
from their students.
I have also enjoyed getting very involved in the extra-curricular life
of the school and have run many trips, including some abroad, and feel
that this has had a real positive effect on my relationships with
students in the classroom too.
People who say that teaching is only 35 hours a week (our contractual
obligation) and have long holidays do not take into account the fact
that a good teacher works much longer hours but doesn’t begrudge it!
Teaching is a vocation – and if you want to teach, the work load, the
pay or the holidays will not influence your choices.
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