Richard Cave

Why go into teaching? 

I’m a psychotherapist - I’ve been doing it for about 17 years now and I really enjoyed it. I thought at the start of the course, given it was an evening class, so I was a bit worried and concerned about my energy levels, would it be fun, would it be boring? Thankfully, it actually turned out to be quite an enjoyable experience mixing with the other colleagues. The way it was taught really modelled on me how I would go on and teach; there was a lot of interaction, discussion, interaction of theory. I can honestly say that I didn’t have one boring lesson throughout that time. 

What did you love most about teaching? 

For me, it was those moments when the theory worked. Even though I didn’t think the theory was boring, making it work and stick in a situation seemed tricky to me until I put it into practise. When it got to actually teaching and applying some of the theory, to sit back and go “that actually worked, that actually got the learners learning!”, I enjoyed that because it made it all real.  

What support did you have? 

My tutor was very active in being involved with the students quite personally. He knew you as an individual, so whenever I needed help, it was there. However, it wasn’t to the point where he handed me everything – if there was a point where he knew I needed to be stretched a bit further, he’d say “why don’t you go and read something more and come back?”, or he’d give me the answers I needed at that time. The thing I felt worked the best was that my learning experience on the PGCE course modelled me to go and teach other students. I came to understand how that worked, in terms of having a relationship that is both professional but also very personal and individualised. Now I can take that and go and repeat it with my own students, and it works! 

Why go into teaching? 

The great thing about this course that I’m teaching is that it’s a professional course, so by the end of the two years, my students have a professional qualification to go out and be a counsellor and speak to real people with real issues. To take the students from a real foundation of learning, to go from having just the basics to, within two years, sitting with someone who has quite severe and highly-demanding issues, to sit with confidence and a desire to help someone. This is the drive for me in this training and on this course: to see them become professional and to develop all those skills and abilities. It’s rewarding more than just the financial side – the ability to help change someone’s life, to then not only change their life but then potentially also the people they come into contact with. It’s hard to explain. It’s something that doesn’t just stay in the room, it goes beyond the room, it goes beyond communities, it rests in culture almost. It’s very impactful just for society as a whole