Teaching in Continuing Education

Do you want to teach archaeology in Continuing Education or in another part-time capacity?

Unlike many avenues in education, there is no set pattern for teaching archaeology in part-time or Continuing Education. Regardless of whether you are currently a student, or perhaps a former student with a strong knowledge of a specific subject, or an archaeologist interested in teaching your specialised area, or indeed anyone else with a burning passion to teach within the remit of archaeology, the standard approach is simply to contact the part-time studies institution you would like to teach for and ask to become involved in their teaching programme. You will probably be invited to an interview, sometimes just an informal chat, about what qualifies you to teach your subject and if you have any prior experience of teaching. The fact that you may not have any prior teaching experience is not a barrier to you becoming involved in teaching. The department that you have contacted will most probably be very pleased to hear from you and appreciative of your contribution.

Continuing Education is usually taught to an adult group and does not require you to have a PGCE or other teaching qualification. It will require you to have a demonstrable knowledge, perhaps a BA, or experience of the area in which you would like to teach, regardless of whether that is Roman Britain, New Kingdom Egypt, Landscape and GIS Surveying, the Funerary Practices of Celtic Britain, Medieval Building Practices or Underwater Archaeology. You will be expected to produce some form of teaching plan or course outline to give an outline of what you propose to teach. If you are not sure whether your ideas for a course/module will be popular then suggest it to the organisation anyway; they will soon tell you whether it is a viable option or not.