We’re delighted to announce the launch of a new pathway in Economics with Business Education, to run from September 2016.

Research [Smithers et al, 2013] suggests that from 2006/07 to 2011/12 only 38 economics graduates came into teaching, compared to 3, 246 in Business Studies.

A look at the latest jobs advertised through http://www.teachvac.co.uk/ and    http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/jobs tells us that economics remains a hard to recruit subject. Research by John Howson at the University of Oxford [https://johnohowson.wordpress.com/ ] suggests the national teacher shortage is likely to continue- spending on supply teachers by UK schools reached a record £1.3bn in 2013/14.

Teaching economics gives you a window onto the world of public policy and how young people critically engage with issues such as Keynesian economics and the setting of interest rates.  From September 2015, a new syllabus is in place for both AS and A level which has been redesigned to incorporate new topics such as financial markets and behavioural economics which economics students will no doubt enjoy.

At the University of Manchester, the PGCE course includes a subject knowledge update and sessions run by experienced teachers of economics, as well as academic staff such as Dave Hall and Carlo Raffo. Recent debates in teaching economics include whether the Great Recession of 2008 means our courses should offer alternatives to neo-liberal ways of thinking [Coyle, 2012], and whether how we teach economics should be based more around student experience than theory [Brant, 2012].  School and College placements are at a range of ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ providers in terms of latest Ofsted grades, in the state and independent sector. You will have the opportunity to teach economics at A/AS level and business in Key Stages 4 and 5.

The economics teacher community is well supported by Geoff Riley and team at www.tutor2u.net, with an active Twitter group who exchange ideas and articles supported by conferences and resources. Further useful websites include http://whystudyeconomics.ac.uk/ and http://www.studyingeconomics.ac.uk/

Economics is a great subject to teach, one I have been doing so for over 20 years.  The best bit is engaging students in class in the subject you love.

Related