I'm sure so many a school teacher has heard the joke countless times: "He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches", but ironically any educator will tell you that teaching (even at elementary level) is extremely hard! Yet, despite how tiring, emotional, challenging and sometimes draining the instructional job is day in, day out, most teachers will still love their job and wouldn't change their teaching career for the world, so why is that? And wouldn't you love to be in a profession that you love to hate that much?! So, why is pedagogy such a rewarding profession to be in and what can you expect from being a newly-qualified drama teacher at an educational institution?
What Do You Need To Be A Drama Teacher?
If you've not yet completed your certification to become a teacher, then your goal first and foremost should be completing your accreditation to obtain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Ideally, you should be educated to at least secondary school level in the principal content area you wish to teach, as a passion for the subject is key. Not only that, it will also make your own learning curve that bit easier if you already know about your subject. All of this will help facilitate your professional development and make you better equipped to earn more too. You could enroll for an undergraduate degree (offered by numerous universities) like a BA in Education, which automatically makes you QTS accredited, or you can return as a learner to study for a teaching qualification after your first Bachelor's degree. Join the conversation: why would anyone choose to be a drama teacher?
If, like many, you have aspirations to find employment in schools in other countries, you may find that your PGCE is not classed as a valid teaching qualification. International teachers should consider the 'on the job' Graduate Training Programme (GTP) if they want to teach abroad, which is recognised internationally. Different establishments may have their own prerequisites (like certification requirements and guidelines on the amount of experience you must have) to qualify for a particular teacher job or other vacancies, so be sure to check your eligibility for the opportunity.
What To Expect As A New Drama Teacher?
Ways To Teach A Drama Class
The Overall Planning Of Lessons Reading, writing and analysing texts will almost always come into play at some point during the term for a drama class. But that doesn't mean to say that 50% of your lessons need to be boring and uninspiring, you can still make research and analysis work fun and uplifting for all and encourage your class to be an aspiring school year. Remember to make use of all of the facilities at your disposal on campus. So, for example, if your head teacher has a budget for drama trips, use it (albeit wisely). If there is an assembly hall on the premises, book it out for relevant practical lessons. Keeping your lessons varied throughout the term will definitely work in your favour. Many employed teachers are forced to prepare lessons within the confines of a classroom space week after week whereas, as a drama teacher, you should have a number of tools and spaces to work with, including costumes, puppets, picture books, art supplies, props and stages. If you have come to a dead end and are feeling a little uninspired by your instructional material, here is some information on teaching a class about drama and tips on what to prepare. Find out more ways you can make teaching drama exciting and fun! Delivering Drama Lessons One of the most important lessons you will learn about being a drama teacher is that you have to be able to adapt. So, if something happens that means that you need alter the way your planned class was due to run, you need to accept it and move forward. In some ways, it can be very hard to plan a drama lesson, because of how free the lessons are designed to be. For instance, how can you predict how a class will respond to an activity? If they are absolutely loving an exercise and really getting stuck in, then you might want to let them carry on and the lesson could take an entirely different turn to what you had expected and planned for. Yet, that can be one of the best things about teaching drama! No two lessons are the same, because no two years are the same in secondary school or elementary education. You can go from one lesson laughing at and being entertained by an enthusiastic eleven-year-old to the next, being moved almost to tears by a performance from a gifted fifteen-year-old. Discover which schools you might teach drama in!
One of the biggest challenges in the everyday life of a drama teacher is keeping each and every activity linked to theatre and the national board curriculum. As such, it is important for a drama teacher to keep up to date with what is happening in the industry, what plays are out, what films are being shown, etc... Without this knowledge, it can be hard to really convey a true passion and commitment to your craft to your pupils. While it can be easy to over-plan for a lesson and pack too much into it, making you seem like a bit of a try-hard, the fact is that you only get back what you put in, so it's best to be prepared with more than you need, and play it by ear on the day. With any luck, if you deliver your lesson just right with enough serious content balanced nicely with a fun activity or two, then you will come out of the lesson feeling confident and happy and your pupils will gain a lot more from the experience too. Now discover more ways to become a drama teacher...
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