One thing that is clear to everyone is that teaching is not the career for everyone. The position requires people who are prepared to work in a pretty stressful environment and remain completely reasonable, which is a smaller portion of the public than you might expect. Typically teachers will work long hours too, as they try to work to manage classrooms, which takes up the school day, and then spend a couple of hours in the evening or early morning planning out lessons.

Because of all of these potential reasons not to become a teacher, if you’re thinking about becoming one you will benefit greatly by gaining experience before you start getting your teaching qualifications. You can do this by contacting schools or classroom aide schemes, where you will get to experience teaching as an aide alongside qualified, working teachers. This can be a great way for you to experience the education system from the perspective of teachers.

While working in schools, as a volunteer or otherwise, is one way to gain experience in teaching, there is the second option of tutoring students privately. Tutoring can be a great way to put into practice your teaching skills, although the one-to-one style of it may not be a perfect representation of what teaching a classroom can be like.

It is important that you try to experience education first-hand before you continue with your teacher training qualifications. Depending upon where you work and what other qualifications you have, learning to be a teacher can take anywhere from 1-3 years, which is a lot of time to spend doing something you may not be suited for. Experience can tell you whether or not the profession is right for you.