Preparing to teach in the lifelong learning sector
I decided I wanted to teach in further education, in a previous blog post I mentioned my sister sent a link to a PTLLS course at Bournville College, Birmingham. I have no idea when this happened but apparently Bournville College is now part of the South and City College group.
The PTLLS course was for individuals who strive to teach adults in colleges or adult education centres. I was still working at Hays Education Recruitment and would travel to Bournville to attend classes once a week in the evenings. At the time the PTTLS was a requisite for certification in education and training (CTLLS) and the diploma in education and training (DTLLS). I chose the PTLLS because I wasn’t completely convinced that I wanted to be teacher.
I thought the teacher Susan was an experienced teacher trainer; her lessons were mostly discussion based. One of the most interesting things about the class was the background of the of other students on the class. One individual was wanted to teach first aid, another wanted to teach colleagues how to take blood samples. So, it was mix of people wanting to teach mainstream versus within jobs they were currently employed.
One of the memorable assessments was a micro-teach. The idea is to take it in turn to teach your peers a subject of your choice in 15 mins. During my journey of trying to figure out whether I wanted to teach, I decided to teach a subject which wasn’t my discipline. At the time I was taking introduction to speaking mandarin classes, so I chose that as the subject for the micro-teach.
From what I remember it went well, I remember giving fortune cookies out to the class after I’d finished. But it solidified that I had the confidence to stand in front of group of people and talk about anything if I felt prepared.
So, what did I learn on the PTTLS?
*The PTLLS is now known as the award in education (AET).
The teacher for my class Susan was an experience teacher trainer
Melissa Education 