careernav.

General Description

This is an ideal career for intuitive thinkers. School teachers work in Government, Catholic and independent schools and are responsible for the education of students from the time they begin school, aged four or five, to when they graduate in Year 12. Each day as a primary/infant school teacher you will teach children about many different subjects. Secondary school teachers teach one or more subjects within the curriculum. You also prepare exams, supervise sport and provide one to one tuition student advice and support.

You can specialise in subjects such as drama, music, physical education (PE), performing arts or teaching students with special needs. The career path of teacher-librarian is also available.

Music Teacher

You teach students music theory, history, harmony, form and analysis. You also introduce students to particular instruments and determine their needs in terms of training, while also conducting school bands or orchestras and organising public performances. 

Art Teacher

Art teachers deal in the education of art practice, theory and history. You may teach aspects such as drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture and photography.

Drama Teacher

As a drama teacher, you teach students different acting styles and techniques, while including components about the history and theory of drama. You encourage students to direct, analyse and write about performances.

Special Education Teacher

You focus on the education of students with learning difficulties or impairments, such as physical, sensory, emotional or intellectual. You may also specialise in teaching gifted children. This may require adapting your teaching methods to make the curriculum relevant to your students.

What you do every day

Specialist teachers are usually in charge of maintaining your own classroom and keeping materials stocked.

Music Teacher

You may teach students how to read music, help them improve their practical music skills, assess their knowledge or arrange public performances.

Art Teacher

Your day may include demonstrating different art forms or techniques as well as teaching the purpose of various art materials and implements, such as brushes, oils, watercolours, palettes, dyes, clay, fabric, canvas, and paper.

Drama Teacher

In drama class, you may supervise rehearsals for short pieces on any given performance, style or technique, including mime, gibberish, exaggeration or theatre of the absurd.

Special Education Teacher

You generally use different teaching methods and aids and at times teach your students independent living skills. You often work in conjunction with other professionals such as teacher aides and speech therapists. Taking the students on an excursion may be the order of your day. You work closely with parents, school staff and students to program and plan the student’s educational progress. Completing a communication diary usually forms part of your day.  You might also be helping students with toileting, eating, or other personal matters if necessary. 

School hours are generally from 9am to 3.30 or 4pm. During term time, you may work up to 50 hours a week when taking into account the time spent preparing lessons, marking, training and in meetings with other staff or parents. The good news is you receive about 10 weeks of holiday per year.

Personality that best fits this occupation

Becoming a high quality teacher is a calling. Some say you will not succeed in teaching if you’re not passionate about it. Your entire heart is attached to the job; you must have enthusiasm and a high level of interest in the progress and welfare of your students. Endless patience, a sense of humour, being highly organised and well planned with excellent time management skills are also required. You will also need dedication, patience, compassion, and the ability to relate to children. A flexible teaching approach, the ability to communicate and motivate students to learn are also necessary. You are an intuitive thinker.

To shine in music, art and drama teaching, you will need to have artistic talent, enthusiasm, patience and tact. It takes a special type of person to teach in schools for special needs students. Most importantly, you will need to enjoy working with young people.

Best things about this career

The very best aspect of being a teacher are the priceless moments of knowing you have helped young people out in ways they won’t even know until one day in the future. Watching a student get excited about reading, observing a child grow in confidence and self-esteem, and seeing a student finally grasp a difficult concept are what makes being a teacher special.

In terms of being a specialised teacher, you get to spend each day sharing and experiencing your subject of interest with others, like making music, or designing sculptures. Not many high-demand jobs would have you working in an area you love on a daily basis. You can also make an impact on young minds, not to mention that the holidays are great. 

Worst thing about this career

Some students are not well behaved and do not show enough respect for teachers. Parents sometimes want to blame you for the poor results of their child and occasionally it can feel like you are not getting the support that you need.

Perhaps the worst thing is seeing a student leaving your class not having improved. you feel like all the effort and energy you put into their education was hardly worth the average pay.