World Health Day: Canterbury healthcare assistant turned FE teacher on how she unlocks healthcare talent in South East

Healthcare is one of the largest industries in the South East, providing almost 13% of jobs. There is a number of opportunities for local health and social care professionals, their skills and experiences are in demand and highly valued in further education teaching.

Katrina Firth, aged 32, from Canterbury, worked in the Health and Social Care sector for 5 years, before deciding to embark on a career teaching in FE. She started her healthcare career as a residential childcare officer working nights in a residential school for young people with autism. She then went on to work as a health care assistant in a small hospital in a rural area, before enrolling into a Master’s programme in social work, where she completed two placements – a recovery centre for drug and alcohol treatment, and with an adoption and fostering team. Katrina now shares her skills and real-world industry experiences with FE learners at East Kent Colleges Group.

She shares: “I was working at a residential home when I spotted a Further Education (FE) Health and Social Care teaching job at East Kent Colleges Group. I’d always liked the idea of sharing my skills and experience through teaching and when I found out you didn’t need prior teaching experience to get started, I decided to apply.

I found the transition from working in industry to teaching in FE straight forward and I completed my teacher training on the job, which meant I could learn and begin earning straight away. Pivoting my career to teach in FE has been a great way to stay connected to the healthcare industry while using my existing skills in a new way. From communication, teamwork, and safeguarding, through to understanding individual needs and celebrating diversity and inclusion, there are so many transferable skills I’ve brought from industry which help me in my role today.

As a former healthcare professional, I can bring real life examples from industry to my teaching and there is flexibility within the job with some part time and flexible contracts available. I’d encourage others to consider whether teaching in FE could be a good career for them.”

The Department for Education’s Teach in Further Education campaign is calling on those with industry experience to teach in FE by sharing their skills and training the next generation of workers in their field.

FE teachers are needed across many subject areas but there is particular demand for workers from the following sectors: Health and Social Care, Construction, Engineering and Manufacturing, Legal, Finance, Accounting and Digital and IT.

Practical experience gained from industry is highly sought after, and teaching and other academic qualifications are not always a pre-requisite for employment as FE teachers can start earning straight away and do funded training on-the-job. There are full-time, part-time and flexible contracts available, allowing FE teachers to balance their hours alongside other professional or personal responsibilities.