Becoming a teacher

Welcome to teaching and more specifically to physical education teaching. As a trainee or newly qualified teacher (NQT), you are embarking on a stimulating, rewarding but challenging career. As exemplified by the following quote, you are also embarking on a very important career which carries with it great responsibility: ‘Teaching is the most important job in our society. Every other occupation relies on the skills, expertise and enthusiasm of teachers.’ (General Teaching Council, 2003) Indeed, Armour (2006, p. 203) illustrates the potential influence teachers have when she notes how ‘over a 35-year career, a single teacher could teach approximately 30,000 lessons to anything up to 100,000 pupils.’ In addition, some of the publicity messages that have been employed by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) in England in recent years highlight the responsibility, yet also the rewards of teaching.