Dance and Drama Teacher

Name: Victoria Cockerton
Age: 24
Role: Secondary school teacher, dance and drama, Glenfield College
Working hours: 45 hours plus extracurricular time
Average pay: $41,000
Qualifications: Bachelor of Education (Auckland College of Education); Diploma of Education specialising in dance and drama

Q. Describe how you got this job?

A. I got this job as I was teaching part-time at Avondale College. My head of department there recommended me to the his counterpart here. I had an interview and it worked out really well. That was three years ago.

Q. Describe what you do?

A. I am teacher in charge of dance, teaching dance to years 9-11 and I have set up the programmes. I am taking it through to year 12 and 13 as it develops and strengthens in the school. In my role as a drama teacher, I teach year 9-12 drama.

Both roles involve a lot of extracurricular work because of productions, stage challenge, theatre sports and cheerleading, on top of teaching duties and managerial type things for the subject.

Q. What have you had to do to succeed at this job?

A. It is important to have a good qualification and the right kind of qualification so you are specialising in the subjects that you want and that you have the knowledge. Every year I do professional development and make sure I keep up to date.

Be really dedicated and flexible to work long hours and take on tasks that are challenging. The more you put in to something like teaching, the more you get out of it.

Q. What sort of training or experience do you need?

A. I did it the wrong way I think, as most people for secondary education get a BA or AUT dance course, the subject qualification first, and then get a teaching qualification through one year at teachers' college. I wanted the flexibility of being able to teach primary or secondary, so I did a Bachelor of Education and then specialist training. But that way, I am held back quite a bit on the pay scale.

Q. What skills and qualities do you need?

A. A good listener, to be able to build up trust with students to get good work out of them, to be firm and know how to set the boundaries, especially as a young teacher, to be tough but fair. Patience. You need to enjoy young people and what they bring to a school and a subject. And be positive and enthusiastic and show it is a subject you are passionate about.

Q. Best part of the job?

A. I think never knowing what is going to happen in a day. Watching the students achieve and develop and be successful in a subject I enjoy. And seeing them develop from year 9 to young adults.

Q. Most challenging part?

A. Finding a balance between how much work you do and your personal life. It can be so consuming. There is always more preparation and more resources to organise and you have to stop and have your own interests as well.

Q. How do you define success in this job?

A. Getting respect and trust with the students and gaining a rapport with them so you have a relationship to help them achieve their potential.

Q. What are your career hopes for future?

A. I would like to be a head of department one day and a dean.

Q. If I wanted a job like yours how would I go about it, and what qualifications would I need?

A. Go to university or AUT for the dance and drama qualification and then go to teachers college for a year. When you are training, practicums are a really big thing. You get to meet people doing the same as you want to do and you build up a network. It is really important for people to see what you are like with kids, then you can send your CV around and people know what you are about.

Q. What advice would you have for someone contemplating a career like yours?

A. If you enjoy working with young people, then teaching is extremely rewarding. If you are hard working, positive, flexible and enjoy a challenging day, you would love it. There are so many skills you gain by being a teacher. If you want to move on, there are so many things you can do after that.