Being a Teacher

Teaching is the only profession that every person has been exposed to at some stage in their life, as everyone has been a student. But do you really know what teachers do, where teachers work, and what kind of teachers there are?
What teachers do
Teachers have wide and varied responsibilities including:

• teaching students of different ages and abilities
• preparing lessons and teaching materials
• marking and assessing work
• organising displays in the classroom
• liaising with non-teaching staff such as teacher aides and therapists
• discussing student progress with parents and guardians
• working with colleagues and in professional teams
• organising excursions, school performances and sporting events
• supervising extra curricula activities
• attending meetings and professional development activities.

Where teachers work

Teachers work in many different types of schools and educational settings including:

• primary schools (Prep to Year 7)
• secondary schools (Year 8 to 12)
• P10/12 schools (Prep to Year 10/12)
• schools of excellence
• special schools
• hospital schools
• schools of distance education and school of the air
• centres for continuing secondary education
• outdoor and environmental education centres
• youth training and education centres.

What kind of teacher can I be?

There are many different types of teachers. Most teachers choose a specialist area because they like working with children of that age group or because they have a love of a specific subject area. For example:

If you like	You could become a
spending time with young children	Early childhood teacher or primary teacher
mathematics, reasoning or problem solving	Secondary mathematics teacher
physics, chemistry, biology, or marine science	Secondary science teacher
woodwork, metalwork or graphic design	Secondary industrial technology and design teacher
helping people who have special needs	Special education or learning Support teacher
dance, drama, music or visual arts	Secondary teacher of creative arts subjects
literature, language, communications, media or writing	Secondary english teacher or english as a second language teacher
languages	Languages Other Than English (LOTE) teacher in primary or secondary schools
sport, physical activity and promoting a healthy lifestyle	Health and Physical Education teacher in primary or secondary schools