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What it’s like to train as a teacher – Lauren Coleman

What it’s like to train as a teacher – Lauren Coleman

29 July 2024

Read time: 2mins

‘My biggest piece of advice for anyone considering beginning a career in teaching is if you’re unsure on anything, ask questions!’

Lauren Coleman

Geography is such a powerful subject and one that I fell in love with at the beginning of my GCSEs.

Since then I have continued my geography journey through studying at A level, an undergraduate degree of BSc Human Geography at Cardiff University, PGCE Secondary Geography at the University of Oxford and I’m now moving on to teach geography at secondary and Post-16 level.

Teaching geography enables young people to understand so much about the world in whatever disciplines they are interested in. From a young age I have always wanted to go into teaching and be able to open up opportunities to young people which they may not otherwise have.

One of the biggest takeaways from my ITT year is the importance of building relationships with staff within and beyond your department in school and external professionals, but most importantly with the students themselves.

Having a good relationship with each student fundamentally forms the basis of a successful lesson. Being able to understand how young people learn best and how to support them enables you to deliver lessons that will be beneficial and enjoyable.

My biggest piece of advice for anyone considering beginning a career in teaching is if you’re unsure on anything, ask questions!

Your university mentors, school-based mentors, senior leadership teams in school, other teachers, and the list goes on, will all have endless advice and will support you throughout your training year and beyond, they want you to succeed!

Michael Palin (2011) has once referred to geography as “a great adventure with purpose”. To be able to create this sense of adventure in my classroom, while providing a strong education to young people that will show them the beauty of the world, is one of the many things I am looking forward to in my teaching career as I begin my ECT years this September.