According to a story on the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8550506.stm), the number of men applying for teacher training has risen sharply because of the recession, says the body responsible for training teachers. There was a 52% rise in the number of men wanting to be primary school teachers - more than 4,700 in 2009/10, up about 1,500 compared with 2008/09.

Not sure that this news should fill me with confidence. It is obvious that many people see teaching as an alternative but one has to wonder whether it’s the second or third choice alternative. I truly believe that teaching is a vocation and a person must be committed to it to be a good teacher. How many of these applicants will stay when the ‘credit crunch’ is over? How committed are these new teachers to teaching?

A related article can be found here.

[First published on my NotTheNews blog on specified date]