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Leave the Armed Forces with a new career as a physics teacher
For the large number of Service personnel with a technical background, the Open University (OU) now offers an undergraduate route into teaching physics in secondary schools when they leave.
The Bachelor of Science (Honours) Secondary Education in Physics was developed in collaboration with the Gatsby Foundation, the Institute of Physics and the MoD. It’s a flexible, distance learning route to a BSc, which carries a recommendation for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Part of the study can be completed around Service duties, using resources such as books, DVDs, online tutorials and forums.
Existing higherlevel qualifications and experience can be used to reduce study time.
The course involves four school placements across two schools, arranged by the OU, interspersed with distance learning study of educational research and theory. The student is supported by a mentor in school and a university tutor, who visits them in school and marks their work.
The Initial Teacher Education course is the final degree component and helps students become reflective, autonomous teachers. They develop through small, sheltered experiences of teaching, gradually moving towards taking responsibility for teaching extended sequences of lessons to whole classes.
This innovative way of providing a valuable career opportunity to Service leavers is another example of the way the OU pioneers developments in elearning.
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