I didn’t know that I was meant to be a teacher.

Julie at ALTCJulie Hughes, teacher educator & head of Post Compulsory Education Department at the University of Wolverhampton:

I didn’t know that I was meant to be a teacher.

But the wonderful FE teacher who interviewed me for a place on a childcare course saw something in me that I couldn’t see myself. I was a mature student and mom of two. I loved being a mom and thought that I’d enjoy studying children. She said, “I’d love you on this course, but it’s not the right one for you. Go and study on an Access Course, go to university and be a teacher.”

So, I did apply for an Access Course. The interview was terrifying and exhilarating. The part-time Access Course was a revelation. I’d found a missing part of me. I fell in love with studying and I started to believe that maybe I could go to university – still not really believing I could ever be a teacher. Baby number 3 came along half way through my course and my wonderful tutors and fellow students encouraged and supported me through my application to universities, motivated me when I had interviews that questioned my ability to study with 3 children and my college provided the child support I so desperately needed to get through that year. FE changed my life.

I went to university and I studied English and American Studies. I did well. I lost the husband on the way and gained a First Class degree. I went on to post-graduate study and I was asked to teach undergraduates. Catapulted into seminar rooms I felt so inadequate and ill-prepared. I asked for institutional training, but there was none available.

So where did I turn? A prospectus landed on the doormat and it offered me a part time evening FE course which was an introduction to teaching. The City and Guilds 7307 Stage 1, on dark Thursday nights from 6-9, was quite simply world-changing for me. And it became my most favourite course to teach as I went on to become a Teacher Educator.

I am who I am, doing the job I do because passionate, committed FE teachers who believed in social justice and putting their students first guided and encouraged me. Thank you. #LoveFE.

I didn’t know that I was meant to be a teacher.

But the wonderful FE teacher who interviewed me for a place on a childcare course saw something in me that I couldn’t see myself. I was a mature student and mom of two. I loved being a mom and thought that I’d enjoy studying children. She said, “I’d love you on this course, but it’s not the right one for you. Go and study on an Access Course, go to university and be a teacher.”

So, I did apply for an Access Course. The interview was terrifying and exhilarating. The part-time Access Course was a revelation. I’d found a missing part of me. I fell in love with studying and I started to believe that maybe I could go to university – still not really believing I could ever be a teacher. Baby number 3 came along half way through my course and my wonderful tutors and fellow students encouraged and supported me through my application to universities, motivated me when I had interviews that questioned my ability to study with 3 children and my college provided the child support I so desperately needed to get through that year. FE changed my life.

I went to university and I studied English and American Studies. I did well. I lost the husband on the way and gained a First Class degree. I went on to post-graduate study and I was asked to teach undergraduates. Catapulted into seminar rooms I felt so inadequate and ill-prepared. I asked for institutional training, but there was none available.

So where did I turn? A prospectus landed on the doormat and it offered me a part time evening FE course which was an introduction to teaching. The City and Guilds 7307 Stage 1, on dark Thursday nights from 6-9, was quite simply world-changing for me. And it became my most favourite course to teach as I went on to become a Teacher Educator.

I am who I am, doing the job I do because passionate, committed FE teachers who believed in social justice and putting their students first guided and encouraged me. Thank you. #LoveFE.

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