Originally Posted by
Slunnie
Having worked in some very rough schools through to one of the most, if not the most prestigious schools in Australia, I can tell you now that you wont be rewarded any more than any other teacher in that school – just the same as if a teacher came into your current profession as a newbie they would be paid on a starting scale. Each system or each school has its own award structure and that’s what they almost always stick to unless you have something specifically that they want and they have to pay extra to get that option on you. If they're not a top end independent school, then you've got no chance of getting anything extra – I can barely think of a handful of people who have had this in my 17 years of teaching. At the end of the day, to a school, you are a first year out teacher who is unproven at the art of teaching and who is essentially an unknown – the schools don’t owe you anything because you’re retraining, and if you can get anything then you’re onto a good thing but don’t come into education expecting anything especially as there isn't money to throw around. There will be others who will apply when the school advertises a position and amongst many things, they will be looking for excellence as a educator, high energy, involvement and a commitment to the schools ethos. If there is a school that you really want to be a part of, I highly recommend that you do a practicum at that school, preferably your final one as this allows you to show the school who you are and what you’re like as a person and an educator. Based on that, the school will either short list you as a really good and cheap option (as a 1st yr teacher), or it will confirm that they don’t want you. I would also confirm that you can teach all of those subjects as the schools may see things differently. You will have needed to study the correct courses at Uni etc to teach them. I can see that you will have used a lot of maths in engineering, but that doesn’t mean that you are qualified to teach HSC or Ext2 (4unit) Maths. Similar with Woody, he may be the most awesome boiler maker in Aus, but Industrial Technology in schools is much broader than boiler making.