Does Teaching Add Up? Teaching Mathematics

Demand for mathematics teachers is increasing. Courses & Careers looks at what it takes to be a good mathematics teacher and review what the profession has to offer mathematicians.

Teaching is a career that guides the thoughts of the next generation, training them to think clearly where others would only founder. It calls for a combination of skills demanded by few other professions - and brings rewards like no other, too. It is a career respected by the whole community - and it also pays pretty well.

Work it out
If mathematics teaching isn't the career you were thinking of, perhaps it should be. Chances are the idea of teaching paying well comes as a particular surprise: even a newly qualified graduate teacher earns over £14,000 a year - which compares very well with the typical graduate salary of just £12,500 - and some schools will pay more still to get the best and the brightest. With experience, pay rises to over £33,000, and headteachers can earn in excess of £55,000. And at a time when many professions are feeling the drastic effects of "downsizing" of staffing levels, the demand for mathematics teaching shows no signs of collapsing. To meet the projected demand for mathematics teachers over the next few years, the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) estimates that it will need about a third of all mathematics graduates to go into teaching over the coming years: around 2,000 a year.

Add something to the world
"It is important for us to attract newly-graduated mathematicians into teaching", says Anthea Millett, Chief Executive of the TTA. "There is a real problem in the declining numbers of people who are being trained in mathematics, which in turn could lead us into a shortfall in the numbers of mathematics teachers for the future. We're looking to break this vicious cycle."

The daily experience of most mathematics teachers is very positive. Knowing that a good performance in core subjects like mathematics is now vital to their future, pupils are keen to do well - and they look to their teachers to give them both the knowledge and motivation they need.

Teachers themselves are given a degree of responsibility and autonomy unimaginable in many professions - and at an earlier stage in their careers. Within broad limits, you can achieve your teaching goals however you think best suits your pupils. And if your pupils do well, there is no vast hierarchy of management to steal the credit from you.

Prime importance
The importance of teaching the next generation the skills they will need in the 21st century is recognised far beyond schools. An NOP Consumer Market Research survey was recently commissioned to gauge the relative standing of different professions in society, from the armed forces to the media. It revealed that a majority of people - 59 per cent - rate teachers as being of value to the community, a figure second only to doctors. In contrast, journalists and accountants came in at just 3 per cent.

That same NOP survey also revealed that more than 1 in 5 people have thought about going into teaching. If you are a mathematics graduate, there has never been a better time to turn that thought into action.

Training and Development Agency for Schools: www.tda.gov.uk/