COVID-19 prompts teaching as second career

Imran Mojib, Special Correspondent

The impact of COVID-19 epidemic has significantly changed the education system, with the pivot from physical teaching to complete online learning, and parents and children being thrust into an extended period of home schooling, which has also prompted a new wave of career-changing teachers.

This experience for those ‘COVID-19 home schooling parents’ has received mixed emotions.

For some, it has been an unwavering smooth transition, whilst for others it has been a challenge to navigate the complexities of supporting children with access to various learning platforms, as well as engaging with tasks set by the school, said Sanam Yaqub, School Partnerships Strategies Manager, University of Birmingham Dubai.

“Without doubt for the vast majority of parents, lockdown has increased the appreciation and gratitude for teachers, as well as their status - reaffirming for many that teachers possess remarkable resilience, tenacity and determination to ensure that children continue to achieve the best outcomes, despite challenging circumstances.

What has been a welcome surprise is that this period has also sparked interest in teaching, and indeed inspired some to embark upon the profession of teaching themselves or return to the classroom from a career break,” she said.

Changing career to become a teacher requires careful consideration but is a viable option at any stage of a career.

Many career changers have recently entered the profession of teaching and are positively impacting and making a difference to the lives of young people through the diverse range of transferable skills they bring from both their previous work and life experience.

The recent trend of career changers transitioning into teaching has pointed to a number of factors and reasons.

Some have always aspired to be a teacher, inspired by a previous teacher perhaps, but had not had the opportunity to embark upon the training.

For others, it is their unfaltering passion for their subject area and the desire to share this expertise with young people, hoping to ignite the same passion in them, which has been the motive.

“The most common reason that individuals state for a transition into teaching as a second career is the desire to make a positive impact on the lives of young people through raising aspiration and inspiring the love of learning,” Sanam added.