There were some interesting ideas in the chat this morning, as well as a number of tangents as we chatted about the difficulties of curriculum design and hiring practice during a pandemic, amongst other things.
Benefits
One huge benefit which ws mentioned was the flexibility to choose working days and hours, although we noted that this can also depend on the type of course you’re working on. For example, initial teacher training courses might require you to be available for full weeks of work, whereas other tutoring gigs give you the freedom to work a couple of days a week.
It was also highlighted that the move to online training has often given trainers more flexibility too and the option to deliver sessions they feel more comfortable with or specialise in.
There was a feeling that being a freelancer as well gives you the chance to ‘dabble’ in more things – to give something a go to see if it suits you as opposed to being tied into something once you start.
Another benefit was the experience which comes with working in different centres and an appreciation for and openness to different approaches.
Challenges
Working in different centres was also higlighted as a challenge though, as it can take time to adjust to a different centre’s policies. This can be particularly tricky if you’re joining mid-course, and unfamiliar with what has happened previously for the dynamics of the course (both for staff and participants) to be what they are.
Another challenge, though less of an issue in the online environment, was that freelancing work might be last-minute, with centres suddenly needing someone to fill a position.
One further challenge which was mentioned was the difficulties of development. Though there may be some standardisation training for accredited courses, it’s likely that centres run development programmes for their staff which you might not be available during the period when you’re working for that centre.
Linked to the point above about development, one participant mentioned how useful it is to watch other trainers in practice, but noted that there’s sometimes a reticence to be observed in a training capacity, perhaps with a sense of imposter sydrome about being observed by our peers. Someone else mentioned that they felt working in DOS positions had set them up well for teacher training as these roles often involve managing teachers and giving feedback on their teaching. One other aspect we chatted about was how much time teacher trainers spend teaching and how easy it is to be out-of-touch with what happens in the classroom when talking about the theory of what happens in the classroom.
We also touched on the feeling that a lot more experienced teachers are taking initial teacher training qualifications these days, often as a stepping stone to better-paid jobs. We chatted briefly about some of the challenges for these teachers and the people on courses with them. One challenge can be encouraging experienced teachers to try new things, another challenge for them can be receiving feedback on the teaching style which they have developed over the years and a further challenge can often be in reminding trainees who are completely new to teaching that they should compare their development over the five weeks from where they started in week one and not to the perceived development of someone who has many years’ experience.
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