ABSTRACT

Men and women, young or 'mature', stable or neurotic, can train to be teachers. They are a voluntary, self-selected population of people for whom neither ability, nor even a real wish to teach, are required qualifications. University graduates take a Post-Graduate Certificate of Education course, which in the space of one academic year prepares a graduate for teaching. Normally, the course consists of methods of teaching the specialist subject, theoretical educational psychology and teaching-practice under supervision. Teachers are particularly responsible for the emotional development of their pupils in primary schools. Although teachers are as variable as any other people, the composition of the profession is partly defined by the routes taken to reach it, namely: motivation and training. The personal qualities of those who become teachers are of prime importance in carrying out the full teaching role, including its psychological aspects, and ultimately in maintaining general educational standards. Teachers bring their own amalgam of beliefs and experiences to school.