Over the course of the summer I got a funny notion into my head 'I am not going to be able to be a designer, I will have to find s backup plan' and for some reason that back up plan was a design teacher. 'Oh it must be so rewarding and the kids will love all the experience I have and hang on my every word as a cool uni student'.
So I decided to try it out as a work placement- 2 weeks in Leeds City College Graphic Design class. I had previously gone to Leeds City College and knew the teachers and staff already so it was fairly easy to bag the gig. The first two weeks were induction weeks where I ran and hosted workshop sessions. I created a session on magazine covers and layouts with both first and second years, a workshop on bookbinding with the first years and a workshop on competitions with the second years getting them to look at and create designs for secret 7.
I really enjoyed planning workshops and coming up with ideas for the sessions, however I loathed the sessions themselves. No one cared, and I know this should be obvious but 16-17 year olds are incredibly annoying and difficult. It was hard to get their attention, to get them through the workshops, to get them to follow schedule or even care about the subject matter.
'This is pointless! Why the f%@* are we doing this? It doesn't even matter!' etc etc
It was very down heartening especially as I put a lot of effort into what I did, and it really put me off the idea of teaching. I can see how it could be rewarding, and there were some tasks where I saw how creative and funny certain students could be, but unfortunately I don't posses the confidence or self esteem to bash heads with stubborn teenagers.
For all that I put down the experience, it certainly was an experience. I did learn, at the very least, that teaching is something I do not want to do. I also learnt how to organise and run a session, even with stubborn 16 year olds in it and that part I enjoyed.
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