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Hi all, This is such an interesting discussion, our learning team were all talking about it last night and we wanted to highlight the different pathways people have taken to join our team. We have in our learning team members who are volunteers, young volunteers, freelancers, young freelancers (new to sector), apprentices, as well as learning officers and managers from a range of backgrounds and disciplines, including youth work, teaching and the arts. Some have degrees, some don’t. Very few have post graduate qualifications of any sort. What we all have in an enthusiasm for learning and helping other to learn from our collections. To attract a diverse range of visitors and participants to our Museum we believe that diversity needs to be reflected in our workforce. Liz Elizabeth Power Head of Live Programmes 020 7565 7290 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> London Tarsnport Museum 39 Wellington Street London WC2E 7BB From: List for discussion of issues in museum education in the UK. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jane Bird Sent: 22 July 2015 09:48 To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: Ways to get into a career in education Dear All Just wanted to add to what others have said. Heritage education is so much broader than a formal schools teaching role. Although I have been a consultant for many years now when I was working in museums recruiting education officers, learning assistants I was always looking for the someone who had qualities that showed they were able to engage with a diverse range of people. Yes a PGCE would give you a number of useful skills but I echo what others would say that having a qualification is no guarantee of getting a job. Jane Sent from Windows Mail From: Lucy-Ann Pickering<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, 21 July 2015 17:05 To: gem list<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Hi Lexi, I thought I’d add my two-pence worth as I’ve come into museum education in a round-about way. I have a degree in religious studies and archaeology, and went on to do my PGCE in RE, so I’m technically a qualified secondary RE teacher. I really enjoyed my teaching practice but found the school environment wasn’t for me, so that was when I had to start to look for other options. I had enjoyed the archaeology part of my degree so I then did a 2 year distance learning post grad diploma in archaeology and heritage management. I was working part time throughout as a supply teacher and TA through agencies, working with children age 18 months-18 years, in SEN schools and in mainstream. On days when I didn’t have paid work available I also used to volunteer at a museum. My original intention was to go into visitor services, in built heritage rather than in museums (historic houses, churches etc.), but by luck of the draw my current post came up. I was lucky enough to be successful and I’m now the education manager for my museum. So, what advice would I give having gone down my route? Personally I love having a PGCE for this particular job, as I feel it’s given me all the skills I need for session development and planning (and long-term development planning because that’s a bit like writing a topic/curriculum plan), session delivery, behaviour management, objective setting etc. which are key parts of my current role. It gave me time in the classroom to get to know how schools and teachers work, and I feel I am able to understand teachers’ motivations and priorities because they would be my motivations and priorities if our roles were reversed. Having said that would I advise you do a PGCE just to go into heritage? The answer would be no, as it is a difficult course and very difficult to ‘get out’ once you have qualified. After I decided on a side-step of career I had the problem of people continually asking me why I didn’t want to work in a school when I went for other jobs. This was not in the usual ‘why do you want to leave your current post?’ way, but ‘why would you leave your current post?’ – very few people would accept that I didn’t want to work in a school and hence why I did my post grad diploma, to ‘prove’ that I wanted ‘out’ of mainstream teaching (not great really!). I think you do also have to consider the moral standpoint of taking a course (particularly a funded one) if you know you’re not going to stay afterwards from the outset. The other thing to say is that which has been raised in other responses – that heritage education is a very broad field! I work specifically with schools and colleges at the moment because that is where my experience lies, but adult education, family education, early years education, community engagement etc. all require different skills and different interests, which can be gained in numerous different ways. And of course you don’t need to have ever worked in a school to work with school children. Showing commitment, gaining experience and developing your skills through volunteering, internships, short contracts if you can take them etc. will count most towards your professional practice and CV. Your potential employer will be looking for you to be able to communicate what you will bring to a role based on whatever experience you have, and your ability to do that will weight far more than letters on a piece of paper. On a personal note the one thing starting out as a teacher did for me was make me an educational professional ‘first’ and a museum professional ‘second’. That may sound a little odd, but really I’m saying that I’m a person who would be happy teaching/helping anyone to learn anywhere, in any given field, and I now happen to work in a museum and a sector that I love and enjoy. However other people start the other way around - they choose to be heritage sector specific/museum sector specific first, and what you may find is a reflection of this in what qualifications people hold. This response it just the path I ended up following and the decisions/considerations/impacts so far. I hope what you take from this is that there are many ways up the same tree, and that so long as you have your end goal in mind, the path that’s right for you is yours to choose. Lucy-Ann Pickering Education and Learning Manager + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + GEM list: Contact the list owner for assistance at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> For information about joining, leaving and suspending mail (eg during a holiday) see the list website at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=GEM + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + GEM list: Contact the list owner for assistance at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> For information about joining, leaving and suspending mail (eg during a holiday) see the list website at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=GEM + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + GEM list: Contact the list owner for assistance at [log in to unmask] For information about joining, leaving and suspending mail (eg during a holiday) see the list website at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=GEM + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +