Placement Puts Students At The Top of the Class
The Applied Linguistics Department offers several employability opportunities.
One such placement is working with local schools as teaching assistants, with a focus on language and literacy at an after- school group.
The eight-week placement allows students the chance to design and deliver activities, see real-world teaching and learning in action, work with a range of educators (including university staff and school teachers) and act as role-models for those who may not have ordinarily aspired to undertake further or higher education.
Below, some of the students explain how the placement has helped them gain valuable workplace experience.
A Perfect Opportunity to Gain Valuable Experience!
Suzanne Baker
Hello, I’m Suzanne Baker, a Year 3 student on a BA(Hons) in English Language and TESOL. I was interested in this placement as I hope to become a future teacher. I had the opportunity to practice creating materials and presenting content dynamically as part of a team of fellow placement buddies. I’m very glad to have taken part; meeting the students and engaging with them brightened up my week!
Katy Williams
Hello! My name is Katy Williams and I recently completed a placement at Dylan Thomas Community School. I am a student at Swansea University, currently studying English Language. I have hopes of one day becoming an English teacher at secondary school, so this placement allowed me to gain valuable experience. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the staff and pupils alike, and was pleasantly surprised by the level of enthusiasm the pupils had for learning and their participation in the sessions. I would strongly recommend this placement to those thinking about going into a career of teaching, or those who just want to build their confidence and skills.
Finn Basketfield
I had previously gained some teaching experience in a primary school and I decided that I wanted some experience in a secondary school to extend my knowledge, whilst also using the opportunities given to me by Swansea University. I have particularly enjoyed coming in every week and seeing the same students who are just as enthusiastic for all activities in the ninth week as they were in the first. I was surprised to see how well the students have took to the topics on discussion – they showed far more interest than I would have at that age, especially when considering some of the topics that have been discussed are at a level of A-Levels or beyond. The general positive atmosphere that I have felt from the students and Miss Green have meant that I have greatly enjoyed my time teaching at Dylan Thomas Community School, as well as giving me a completely new perspective on the possibility of teaching. Thank you!
Maslin Costiniano
Hello! I am Maslin Costiniano and I study English Language and Literature at Swansea University. I recently took part in a volunteer programme organised between Dylan Thomas Community School and Swansea University, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I was initially attracted to the programme because I wanted to gain experience in teaching at a secondary school level; I thought this was the perfect opportunity. I enjoyed interacting with the students, especially as they kept exceeding my expectations in terms of their comprehension and knowledge of the university level topics we delivered. I was also very impressed at their level of creativity when it came to the more creative writing tasks – I particularly enjoyed reading their short stories and the plays they wrote using idioms. I would definitely recommend this experience to others as it gave me a new perspective on teaching. It showed me that teaching can be done in a more interactive and fun way whilst still being educational.
