Those that can, do; those that can’t teach. 

Before teaching

I’d been working in drawing offices for 15 years before technology re-invented my job. I was a draughts(man) producing drawings for the construction industry. I stood all day leaning over and A0 sized drawing board drawing buildings and construction details to the constant swishing of my slide-rule and set square.

For those that don't know, this is how it works. The architect has a vision, creates outline sketches then later, detailed drawings to realise that vision. An engineer checks the vision works, by designing the structural elements that hold it in place. A series of columns and beams above ground and a foundation to suit ground conditions below.  

My job was to draw those structural elements that held up the vision of the architect, highlight problems, attend meetings and issue revised drawings.

If we ignore the whole sexist environment of an all male profession in the 70/80s, it was a good job. The banter, the site visits, getting involved in technical details of how things fit together but then it went digital.

CAD changed the job completely. Don't get me wrong, CAD was a game changer for construction, just not for me personally. Now I was tied to my desk as a highly paid line processor, and I hated it. It was boring. I could draw all day without speaking to anyone. My value was now the output of lines, any conversations with the design team were done by the engineers, who would return from said meetings and tell me the amendments to perform. If there was a problem on site I might be able to have a phone conversation and discuss it but all site visits were undertaken by engineers.

Anyway, teaching.

As I became more micro-managed, I did notice an opportunity to encourage more women into the industry. My job now included a lot of repetitive tasks that required no technical input, just knowledge of the software and. after having 2 children, I was very aware that the part-time job market for women was very limited, so I had an idea.

Training

I created a training course that would teach women how to use the software and provide a work placement, in the hope of securing a part time job supporting the technicians by completing the mundane non-technical alterations. This would create a part time job for women trying to juggle school runs and work.

After an article in the MEN, the first course ran at Stockport college with some success and I was given the opportunity to deliver it with my own course material, after I complained about the City & Guilds training manual. (It was dry and un-necessarily complex)

That was my first step into teaching and I loved it. I realised I could simplify things that were difficult and I was intuitive with the learners. Two years later, seconded to offer something similar at Salford university, I continued teaching for another year and when the funding ran out, I took the plunge and registered for a Certificate in education at Sheffield Hallam.

Sheffield Hallam

I started in 2008. It was my first experience at university and my classmates were very welcoming. There were 6 of us who had followed the same route: a government 9K bursary, to encourage people from industry to start teaching.

I qualified in 2009 with a maths specialism, and started work at The Manchester College as a functional maths tutor.

Since then I have delivered functional skills English, ICT (as it was known), ESOL and many ancillary courses revolving around employability. I've worked with adults and 16-19 as well as adults with learning difficulties. I've worked in FE, HE and private training. I was also lucky enough to be involved with an overseas teaching project in Italy, living with a host family, teaching in teams at a local school for 2 weeks.