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Graduate case studies

Graduate case studies
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Olivia - 
Professeur des écoles (Primary school teacher)

Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

About the job

Main responsibilities

Teaching French children the primary school curriculum (in French!).

Typical day

I teach a class of Year 4 and Year 6 children. I teach all subjects in the curriculum: French, Math, Geography, History etc. in the children's native language of French.

What do I enjoy about my job?

The different range of subjects I get to teach, and the ability to inspire children who have had a bad experience with school before, or who have great difficulties with learning.

Challenging aspects

Dealing with children who have very different levels of ability in the same class, and ensuring that disruptive children do not stop other children in the class from learning.

Why did this area of work appeal to me?

I loved teaching when I went to France during my year abroad (which was part of my degree) and I was an English Language Assistant. I felt that it was a career that I was incredibly passionate about, however I didn't want to solely teach one subject, and I wanted to continue using my language skills I acquired during my degree.

Skills/qualifications I use in my job?

My degree in languages; Master MEEF (Masters in teaching); language skills learnt at university and developed during time living in France.


Career information

Brief history since leaving University

English language assistant 2015-2016
Master MEEF (Masters in teaching) (France) 2016-2018
Teacher training year (France) 2017-2018

Where do I see myself in the future?

Specialising in the training of future teachers / in teaching children with SEND.


Advice to students

My piece of advice to students

It is possible to use your degree in languages on a daily basis: it's a lot of work, but you can move to another country and be completely integrated, having enough knowledge of the language to teach it to the next generation of children.


Last updated: 06 Dec 2018