Beth Hall

Beth works part-time as a lecturer within the University Centre Rotherham’s Education department. She completed her PGCE at University Centre Rotherham in the summer of 2024.

Alongside her teaching role, she also works as a Higher Education achievement coach for RNN Group. It was after starting this role four years ago that she considered taking the teaching route.

“I’d never thought about being a teacher. I did my degree in sociology and criminology and wanted to go into the probation service. But after doing some voluntary work I wasn’t sure it would be for me. I’d always liked working with people, especially underprivileged people, and starting looking at support roles within education which is how I ended up in the HE achievement coach role.”

As part of her CPD as an RNN staff member, Beth was encouraged to do a level 3 award in education and training, a 12 week course for adult learners that gave her a taste for teaching.

“As part of the course I had to do a 30 minute micro-teaching session. That was such a massive thing for me as I’d never thought of myself as a confident person. I know that I’m good one-on-one with people but I didn’t think I’d be able to stand up and teach in that way. I remember being really proud of myself afterwards.”

After finishing the level 3 award, Beth decided to enrol on the part-time PGCE course at University Centre Rotherham. As part of the course, she did a work placement within the department, teaching on the foundation degree course. As her lectures were in the evenings, she was able to continue working full-time in her role at RNN Group.

“I’m lucky to have studied somewhere where learning was so easily accessible. Studying locally made a huge difference for me. If I’d have gone elsewhere, would I have been able to get there in time after work? Or would I have had to use my annual leave to do a daytime course?”

“I also had lots of encouragement from the curriculum team at University Centre Rotherham. Maybe I’d have got there on my own but I needed someone to plant that seed and believe in my ability to become a teacher.”

To find out more about courses at University Centre Rotherham, please visit: https://ucr.rotherham.ac.uk/courses/

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