Navigating Initial Teacher Training: Becoming a Teacher

Are you considering or already training to become a teacher?
Do you want to know more about the variety of types of training on offer?
Do you need reassurance that you are on the right path?
Or would you just like to see how others cope with their teacher training?

If so, this lively book, built on the experience of thousands of people just like you, is exactly what you need. Written by experts with backgrounds in teaching, supporting teacher learning and researching teacher training, and based on a major study of nearly 5,000 beginner teachers, it provides an authentic insight into what lies ahead when becoming a teacher.

The book, which incorporates extensive conversations with large numbers of student and newly qualified teachers, will also serve as the ideal course companion when undertaking your Initial Teacher Training programme. It includes practical ideas and strategies for coping with various aspects of life as a student teacher, for example, dealing with pupil behaviour, building and managing relationships with mentors and other teachers in schools, and finding and obtaining a first teaching post.

Andrew J. Hobson is Associate Professor in the Teacher and Leadership Research Centre (TLRC) in the School of Education at the University of Nottingham. He has previously worked as a teacher and as a Senior Research Officer at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).
Angi Malderez is an Education Consultant, prior to which she was Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Leeds. She has worked as a teacher, a teacher of teachers (ToT) and a teacher of ToTs in the UK, Asia, South America, Africa and Europe.
Louise Tracey is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Effective Education at the University of York. Prior to this she has worked as a researcher at the University of Nottingham and the University of Liverpool.

1. "I just fancied the challenge." Is teaching for you? 2. "It was the easiest and the quickest!" Choosing an ITT route and provider 3. "You build teachers up into these god-like people who are fantastic and amazing and how will you ever be that perfect?" Preparing to make the most of your ITT 4. "It’s all a bit overwhelming at first!" Dealing with the emotional roller-coaster of beginning a teacher training course 5. "It wears you down emotionally." Dealing with issues of pupil behaviour 6. "All the theory goes out of the window"? The relevance and value of theory in ITT 7. "I’m glad I’ve built up such good relationships." Building and maintaining productive relationships in ITT 8. "I can’t be doing with it." Are you thinking of quitting ITT? 9. "I just got this feeling when I walked in; I felt that I would fit there." Finding and securing your first teaching post