A desk job was never my calling: why I trained as a primary school teacher

A desk job was never Niall’s calling. A freelance musician, he found he was most in his comfort zone teaching music 1-1, often in different locations across the country. Of course, there is an allure to the idea of more secure work, but how to balance that security with flexibility and, crucially, meaning?

The answer: teaching.

Niall is training to be a primary school teacher with the National Institute of Teaching. He teaches four days a week at an inner-city primary school in Tottenham, and every Thursday is spent with his tutors, learning and honing his craft.

You never sit still too long in a classroom

Niall says: “I'm an active soul; a desk job was never my calling. I love that you never sit still for too long in the classroom.

“It's nice to be in a reliable profession. Something like Covid really stopped many jobs. And just knowing that you're in a safe job, a bit like working in the health sector, you're one of the pillars of society. You're in a fairly stable and safe place.”

But it’s not just about the security. It’s also about community – both in school and the community of trainees he’s working with every week. His previous role -  as a music teacher with a charity – would see him travel to different schools on different days of the week, working with children in early years. While that kind of work had its advantages, Niall is enjoying the stability and familiarity of being in the same place every day.

He said: “You're not just someone that comes one day a week that people see and say hello to, and they're not really talking to you that much. You're ingrained in the kind of community of a school.

“I enjoy knowing I have a better relationship with the children because of that. You see them four days a week, and I think you are able to build stronger positive relationships with children for that reason.”

Supportive culture

Even so, changing career can be scary and disconcerting, even for someone who has previously worked in schools.

Niall said: “Even though I’ve been in that environment where I am teaching students, it's still daunting, isn't it, embarking on something new, especially when you become a bit more of an adult.”

He has found support through his community of fellow trainees, who he sees every Thursday.  He says: “It’s like joining up with a community. We’re with the same group of trainees most of the time, so that’s really nice – we get to know them as a community of support as well as having the tutors.

“I absolutely love our training days. I just think they're wonderful and they're really supportive. We have the same challenges that we can share and support each other.

“My school's fantastic, as well as the support from NIoT, and I’m learning so many different strategies for managing the classroom and supporting my pupils.”

The support started back in July, with NIoT’s dedicated Flying Start week, which gives trainees a welcome and overview of the course before they formally start later in the summer.

Niall said: “I found it really useful. With such a high amount of information that we need to process, it’s definitely good to get a head start with that. It is almost a version of a soft start for the year.”

Working in schools is not easy. Tottenham, where Niall is on placement, experiences deprivation and disadvantage, and that creates challenges, but also motivations.

Niall said: “It’s really important for me to try to tackle social inequalities and injustices. Before going into teaching you have quite grand ambitions of really trying to change children’s lives.”

But it’s often the small things that keep you going.

He added: “Those kind of light bulb moments are really wonderful. Those moments when you probably have been challenged for so long and then all of a sudden like you see a change or a shift in behaviour, that's really rewarding.”

Positive male role model

In a world where only 15% of state primary school teachers are men, Niall is pretty unusual as a male teacher in an inner-city primary school. But to men thinking about embarking on a similar journey, Niall has a simple message: being a man has not had any negative impact on his training. In fact, there are times when he feels he can act as a positive male role model in the lives of the children he teaches.

He adds: “I’ve built positive relationships with children who might see me as a role model. When I was teaching music, I worked in a school where all the primary school teachers were female. It made me wonder if I was one of the only male role models that a child might have, other than their dad. And some of them didn't have a dad around.”

So what’s next for Niall? His short-term goal is to become a competent, skilled teacher.

He adds: “I feel lucky that I am building a career that offers job security and I know my profession can take me anywhere in the world, if I want it to.”