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Dan Wheals - Why I applied to teacher training.

I love learning and where better than at school?  Having had several areas of interest in my life I found that on applying to become a primary school teacher I had been into over 40 primary schools in 10 years.  During this time I ran courses on creative learning, social enterprises and gardening.  In addition to this, I had two part time jobs as a teaching assistant.  I loved the enthusiasm and energy that a collective noun of children bring with them and yet until last year, I had never considered working full time in a school.  Something about being ready for stability, certainty and commitment is probably what allowed me to send the application off.

 

However much I have been part of various schools activities and programs, it always felt like I was one more thing in a long list of tasks for the teachers to do. I realised that what I want to do takes continuity and I think deep down, I really wanted to be the one deciding what topics to knit together.  I wanted to be the creative teacher, engaging and good at inspiring.

 

I cherish the fact that I can bring my earlier life experience to a school and as I am still a trainee I hope that the community of my future school will cherish what I have to offer. If you hear of a group of pupils designing their school grounds, growing and cooking their own lunches and inviting parents and the community in to showcase it all, I hope it will be me ticking off the learning outcomes in stealth with a big smile on my face.

 

So far on my journey with CTTC I have really enjoyed the mix of college learning with my peers and the immersive school experience. It mixes the week up and we have had an incredible wealth of inspiring local tutors. With primary teaching you have to have a full subject range and I love the cross curricular nature of this vocational learning.  Nothing prepared me though, for being fully dropped into the school community and my respect for teachers has only increased seeing all the things that they do. I’m so glad I took that step and applied to join their ranks.

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