Whether you’re at the point in your career where you’re considering how you can pass on your industry knowledge to the next generation, or you’re looking to upskill and prepare for your next career move, studying a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment is the first step to helping you secure a rewarding role as a TAFE, RTO, Enterprise or VET trainer.
With good salaries as well as flexible working hours, for many it’s the perfect match. If you’re still locked into your current role, you might consider becoming a trainer to teach short courses, which are often held outside of nine to five work hours. The options are extremely flexible around your lifestyle and around what you really want to teach.
So why not use your skills to help others, while helping to shape the future of your industry?
If you’re wondering how to become a trainer in Victoria, the answer may be easier than you think. Unlike school or secondary teachers, you don’t need a Bachelor’s degree from a university. In fact, the training time is between six months and a year, with strong employment prospects awaiting you once you graduate. Choose a TAFE course like a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment to qualify you for this role.
Of course, it makes sense that you should learn in the environment that you hope to eventually teach in. By first being a student before becoming a trainer, you’ll be able to better understand your students’ experience and help them to improve.
As a trainer, you’re in charge of translating the curriculum to your students through each class or workshop. How you achieve that is largely up to you, and you might employ a range of strategies like presenting with multimedia aids, roaming and delivering one-on-one demos, or even showing by doing when leading laboratory classes.
Whichever method of instruction you choose, you’ll need to be able to command the attention of your students and engage with them. Make sure your delivery is relevant to the audience in front of you, and that you’re changing it up enough so people don’t get bored. Draw in what you know about each student individually and incorporate it into your teaching method. Even if you’re teaching short courses and don’t yet know your students, make an effort to tailor your workshops to them in any way you can.
Increasingly, higher education study is moving out of the classroom and into the e-classroom. Some students might choose to complete their entire TAFE course this way, and almost any modern TAFE course will incorporate at least some element of e-learning. Far from being the ‘easy’ option, online learning is largely self-directed and takes a significant amount of discipline.
If it has been some time since you completed your studies, then it is certainly worth taking a TAFE course—or even one of the many short courses available—as a refresher, to understand the online dynamic between trainers and students.
Good feedback is more than just grading papers and maintaining records. Just like any other teacher or trainer, you’re responsible for taking charge of your students’ success. So as well as delivering the content they need to know, you’ll also need to take an active role in providing feedback, nurturing any weak points, and helping them to improve. What works as a teaching tactic for one student, might not for the next. You’ll need to be ready to adapt your style to best cater to the individuals in your classroom.
Trainers and assessors are set to be in high demand as the changing nature of work, forces many employees to consider brushing up or adding to their existing skills. Unlike the challenging task of school teachers to enthuse often disinterested students, you’ll be placed in a classroom of eager students ready to learn.
What’s more, trainers are becoming increasingly valued outside of traditional Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) like TAFE and private providers. More and more, workplaces are seeking to bring their training in-house, upskilling whole teams of employees at a time through short courses. Your TAFE course qualification, plus your on-the-job experience as a trainer, will set you up well for any future opportunities like these.
Want to study Teacher Training & Assessment at Kangan Institute? You can find out about the course on our website, call us on 138 233, or apply online now.
