How to become a school worker

 A career in schools can be a very rewarding one, especially if you enjoy helping young people. The most obvious path would be to train as a teacher, but there are plenty of fulfilling non-teaching roles within schools. A school worker might be a teachers assistant, or a specialist brought in to teach a specific subject. Whatever it is you do, you will also act as an adviser, a listener, and a counsellor to those children in your care.

 As a school worker, you would need to form relationships with not only your students, but also their friends and family. You would also have to work closely with other teachers and school workers.

 In order to become a teacher, you will need a BA from a university. If you want to teach above elementary school (ie middle school or secondary school) your degree should be in the subject you want to teach. Kindergarten and primary teachers must instead take a BA in education.

If you choose to work as a teachers assistant, you will work alongside a professional teacher in a classroom, helping kids with specific projects and devoting attention to members of the class who are struggling in their studies.

A degree typically takes around three years to achieve as part of a full time course, or longer if you opt for a part time course. If you already have a related degree, such as a bachelors in sociology, you may be able to gain a postgraduate qualification in education which will be a much quicker route into the profession.

You can apply for an education degree no matter what age you are. You can findschool jobs  in newspapers, employment centres, and on internet sites such as the Guardian jobs site (click the above link for more information).