Education is in fact a massive industry, with many roles which are essential for maintaining a robust apparatus. There is, of course, the teaching role, which requires a number of things to be suitable for. These requirements can change depending upon which level of education in question, but in virtually every case, being a qualified educator is necessary to work as a teacher in state-run schools.

A teaching qualification isn’t always the same as another one either. If you take the UK as an example, they have 3 different qualifications; a primary school courses, secondary school courses, and post-compulsory courses teacher qualification. In addition to these standards, it is also very beneficial to have an additional degree in a chosen subject, such as a maths or English degree if that is the goal. There are other non-compulsory teaching courses which a teacher could opt into, which could look great on a CV, such as a qualification in teaching special needs students.

This is a very important subject and one which has been endlessly examined for the answer. Results are in, and they show that the most important thing that a primary school can do to ensure the individual success of their students is to focus on making sure that their reading and writing skills are fully developed. The best primary schools in the country all know this, and work tirelessly to ensure that this happens.

While their are lots of ways to teach reading and writing, research shows that the most inclusive method, and by that I mean it is suitable for all students, whether they have a learning disability or not, is by teaching via systematic phonics. This is where you focus on teaching them the sounds of each letter, i.e phonetically, so that from there the children will be able to sound out words more effectively.

Around the world, in virtually every country and region, we see a gap between results attained by boys and girls in school, with girls getting better results on average. Irrespective of social class, gender equality in the host nation, or any other social indicator, the gap exists. There are only three regions where this is not the case; Costa Rica, Columbia, and Himachal Pradesh. All of this was found in a joint investigation by Glasgow and Missouri universities’ Psychology departments.

While in general, girls did outperform boys, there was interestingly an area where this wasn’t the case, namely at the top level of performance; when you compare the results of the best performers of both genders, boys did outperform girls.

The individual who led the study, Dr Gijsbert Stoet, of the Univserity of Glasgow is quoted as saying “At the moment we see that, with the exception of high-achievers, boys have poorer educational outcomes than girls around the world, independent of social equality indicators.” “What’s more is that this gap in not reducing.” “If policy makers are seriously concerned about gender equality in education, this ought to be their top priority.” “That it is not, is probably fuelled by a lack of public understanding of the distribution of skills, which we have highlighted in this and previous studies.” “For example, listening to many news stories in the media, one can easily get the idea that girls around the world are falling behind boys, in particular in countries with known gender inequality.” “The reality is quite different in the many countries participating in Pisa, which many may find surprising.”

It is clear that the issue of male under-performance in education is a serious one, which is affecting their economic outlook around the world. Whether or not we’ll be able to deal with the issue is another matter, as whether or not governments around the world are likely to prioritise it is as well.

When you’re a new teacher, nerves can get the better of you, but it’s important to make sure you start your career strongly, and we’re providing novice teachers with a selection of tips.

Speaking at the Right Moment

You should only speak when the classroom is ready, and if you wait for a short period of time, the students will soon quieten down because they want to hear what you have to say. Patience can certainly be important in this situation.

Address Behaviour Issues Quickly

When a child is being ‘naughty’ it should be dealt with quickly. If they keep interrupting you could say ‘it looks like you have a question’ or ‘have you got something to say to the entire class’. This will then put the spotlight on them, and the majority of students will ‘zip-up’ to divert the attention.

Make your Lesson Engaging

When students are not engaging with you and the work, they’ll begin engaging with each other, and that’s why classes should have different engaging activties. Remember it’s better to run out of time than to run out of run short in a lesson.