What would i need to start teaching KS1 history?

[Moonstone6]

Hi,

Ive always wanted to have a career in history (primarily in a museum or something) but lately the idea of teaching young children about history has quite appealed to me.

I was wondering how i would go about looking into this, and where i would need to start with qualifications etc?

Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you

[Mosaic]

You are lookng at two things: the love of history and teaching history, and a career as a primary school teacher specialising in KS1.
Starting with the teaching route, you can qualify as a teacher through several diferent routes such as postgraduate certificate (full time) or graduate teaching programme (on the job). It is a presupposition that you are a graduate. You can work in a school as a teaching asistant without having a degree, but good levels of literacy and numeacy are expected. Consider the work pattern and workload implications before you decide on teaching - if you want to see the downside, browse some of the issues that get raised on the TES online forums. The work involved in primary teaching is huge, and a worst case scenario could see you moved out of your key stage and subject specialism because school decides to deploy you in a different way. In addition, while you might be the 'hisory specialist' you will have to deliver all other subjects as well, including at KS1 a lot of issues more related to childcare than education (cont'd)

[Mosaic]

I'm not at all advising that you don't choose teaching. The pay and progression is still good despite everything. But be aware that it will be very demanding.
As a teaching assistant, you get to work with smaller groups of children and do work such as displays. The pay is much less than for teaching and some are exploited, but many enjoy the work. You can progress to HLTA which pays more and gives more responsibilty.
However, History in primary and secondary schools is now a low priority subject and in going into schools be aware that your love may not be shared by those who plan the curriculum.
You can find occasional jobs advertisd for education workers in museums, the national trust etc - these can be very rewarding jobs but they are generally quite low pay. They tend to get snaffled up by posh kids who don't need to work for a living. A degree is generally a minimum qualification.
You could also look at doing guiding and interpretation at historic sites / museums - often seasonal, usually part time, definitely poorly paid, but again rewarding and adds to your portfolio of experience.
You could look for universities that do education qualifications, and also at those that do museum / heritage courses. There are not as many of the latter as the former.
Hope this helps.

[sophie_1003]

How about working in a living museum; there's the Black Country museum and one at Iron Bridge and I know of someone who gained a History degree and is now working at Warwick Castle, looks like a fab job! These would all allow you to focus on the teaching history to children without, as Mosaic explains, having to teach all the other subjects as well.

[saxy_jag]

My husband manages a museum and although it's not his background, he does work alongside curatorial and education staff.

The education team are almost all qualified/experienced teachers with a thorough knowledge of the national curriculum. Their work is mainly at KS1 and 2 level, although they do cater for secondary school and adult education groups too. Some of them are employed directly by the local authority that owns the museum, others are externally funded through a body called Renaissance.

On the curatorial side, he has a couple of permanent, full-time Museum Assistants and a number of part-time and casual staff. They all get involved in museum tours, renactments and various other events, often alongside the learning team. They don't have to be specialist qualified - an interest in history and museums and a flair for customer service is more important.

However, one of the full-time assistants aspires to be a curator at some point in the future. She's in her twenties, has a Bachelor's degree in Ancient History and a Master's degree in Museum Studies. Although she is far more qualified and experienced than my husband (her boss), she earns far less. But this is the route people are expected to take if they have similar aspirations, partly because curatorial jobs are so few and far between.