Going for the status

A former colleague - a good teacher - left her school for teacher training as “tutor in charge of the practice of teaching”. It sounded great - she had her own office, sensible hours, even longer vacations, the academic life at last. Except that it turned out to be a purely administrative and very thankless task, finding schools willing to take on students, fitting students into the slots, lining up academics as supervisors, dealing with external examiners, fielding protests, complaints and cries for help from students andor schools. And getting back in to the classroom wasn’t an easy option.

What’s the right thing to do?

It is familiar advice, but it is always worth repeating: do not take any job without proper research that goes way beyond just reading what the school or college sends you. Talk to people, visit, keep your eyes and ears open, try to meet the person already doing the job. And pin down just what you will be doing and what you will be responsible for day to day.