If I was to become an Art teacher in the future, I would be interested in teaching in either College or University, so the age groups would be 16 onwards. The reason why teaching appeals to me is the idea of having an impact on a pupils future, help motivate them and pursue their goals. Also creating a bond with pupils within art, teaching them new techniques and help them understand and develop art even further.
To become an art teacher I have to obtain a bachelors degree in art, I would need at 2:2 or above. Also, potentially will need GCSE’s of grade C or above in Math’s and English. Having proficiency in various basic skills and various styles in art mediums is a must.
I will also need to obtain a teacher training course, to become a qualified teacher in England I need a QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) or a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) a PGCE is training course to allow graduates to become a teacher, it is a mix of University study and teaching practice, it can also give you the flexibility to teach internationally as well. There are also different types of PGCE, the teacher training course I would do is a PGCE Further/Adult Education which allows me to teach in colleges and universities, this course normally takes around a year or two years if I was to do it part time. A PGCE course costs around £9,2500.
The reason why I would rather teach art in College or a University instead of a school is because I believe in a school environment Art is very much forgotten about and is sidelined along with other subjects such as drama and music. I also did a year at sixth form before leaving and going to college instead and I just didn’t like the atmosphere of the school environment and only having a small room for everyone to create art in, also multiple year groups are being taught art so I feel like they didn’t really care as much. Whereas at College or University you are taught all these new techniques with new materials and it really opened my eyes. Having a lecturer with an artist background teach me inspires me more as its nice to see how engaging and enthusiastic they are with art.
Many schools in the UK are considering dropping art off the curriculum. Subjects such as art, drama, music etc. are all very one-sided, schools often tend to focus more on the core subjects such as English, Math’s, Science. Also the Government do not seem to be funding Creative Arts areas as much as they used to anymore, so if the Schools, Colleges or University’s are not getting the funding they need, then there will be a lack of materials, lack of staff and even potentially the consideration of dropping the subject. Budget deficits, this is the main problem. There has been a 6.5% decrease in creative and performing arts subjects.
Why are fewer students taking on art and design at university? | Design Week Here is an article I found interesting telling us why fewer students are choosing art based subjects at University. Looking at articles and doing research and seeing that art based subjects are under attack makes me want to pursue being a teacher even more, to help try get these figure back up and show people that art is a core subject and that it should stay on the curriculum.
The pay for teachers varies all over the UK and it also varies in which department you go into such as, primary school, secondary school, college or being a lecturer at University. On average a teacher will roughly earn between £29,915 – £45,766, these digits are not a hundred percent accurate and can go below or above the average salary. The salary also depends on the experience of each applicant as well.
- The average salary of a Primary School Art teacher in the UK: £33,229.84
- The average salary of a Secondary School Art teacher in the UK: £34,525.98
- The average salary of a Art Lecturer in the UK: £34,508.80
