MEMBERS’ CORNER
MY LIFE IN TEACHING
How did you firstt get into teaching? g? My journey into teaching wasn’t a traditional one. After fter leaving school with th a pretty poor set of A Level results, I worked in a variety of industries ies from lending to recruitment. ment. I settled in the finance ance sector because I found a company I liked. They recognised my potential and I was a director of multiple international na companies beforee the age of 30. On the surface, everything looked great. I was earning a high salary and drove a convertible, which seemed important at the time. But I wasn’t happy at work. I just didn’t see the point of providing “tax-efficient corporate property ownership structures for international developer clients”. See what I mean? Dull. I lacked purpose. Why did you feel teaching was the career for you? At every stage of my career, I trained staff, not because it was in my job description, but because it was something I did well and loved. When I finally admitted it was time to leave my finance role, I became aware of a one-year maternity cover position, teaching office administration, at my local FE college. I applied, was successful and never left! What is your currentposition? I work at the Guernsey College of Further Education as its professional development and scholarly activity lead. I am also head of teacher and assessor education. Can you run me through a typical day? There’s rarely a typical day. I could be teaching and assessing our initial trainees or TAQA students. Or dealing with professional development funding applications or collaborating on projects,
of their initial teacher training. Most recently, a student asked if she could bring her tortoises in and set up a tortoise race as a starter activity, so her students could become comfortable handling the animals. Of course, I said “Absolutely!”
SECOND CHANCE After initially embarking on a lucrative but unrewarding career, Martine Ellis is loving her decision to move into teaching such as our professional development library initiative. How has the Advanced Teacher Status (ATS) qualification helped you? I’ve always struggled with ‘impostor syndrome’ as a teacher, most likely because I never went to university to do a degree or subsequent PGCE. Instead, I completed my FE teaching qualification ‘on the job’. Achieving ATS gave me an enormous confidence boost, so much so that I am just completing my first year of part-time study for a master’s in education with the Open University. I feel far less of an impostor these days. What’s the strangest request you’ve had from a student? Most of the strange requests relate to the subjects they wish to teach as part
How would you like your career to develop? Sometimes I feel the only available career path for an ambitious teacher is moving into senior management. But often, the higher up you go, the less you teach. The thing I love most about my job is teaching. So I am focused on developing my teaching practice and supporting others to do the same. That’s why working with colleagues doing Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) and ATS is such an important part of my role. It’s also one of the reasons I did ATS – becoming an advanced teacher felt like a significant career development. That’s not to say I’d rule out a senior leadership role in the future, but it would need to have a specific teaching and learning focus. What characteristics make a goodteacher? A good teacher is always learning. We need to be obsessed with learning because when we aren’t, it shows. A good teacher also needs to prioritise self-care. Looking after yourself will enable you to give your best to your students. My version of self-care involves dog walks, knitting and not accessing work emails on my phone. And wine, occasionally. What do you most love about teaching? The variety. From the students I meet to the weird things I end up learning how to do through being a teacher educator – shooting, weaving, making cocktails, surfing – it’s fantastic. Guernsey College of Further Education is a SET corporate partner. If you would like to be featured in My Life in Teaching, email intuition@redactive.co.uk
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