Cape Town educator René Fahrenfort is a content partner on Times Education Supplement (TES), the world’s largest online network of teachers, and is the only female and person of colour to have received the Fellowship of the College of Teachers (FCoT) and Chartered London Teacher Status. René says there are several business opportunities in education post Covid-19, especially in online teaching, that women could explore.
René, who has been a teacher for 33 years, started sharing resources that she created for children in her class on TES while teaching in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013.
She is one of three South Africans, of which she is the only female and person of colour, who received the Fellowship of the College of Teachers (FCoT) and Chartered London Teacher Status. She is also a member of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children.
René’s work on TES covers a few curriculum areas, namely English, mathematics, humanities and human rights, and has been well received around the world. To date, her resources have been downloaded in 27 countries and have been mostly received four and five-star ratings. Collectively, her teaching resources have been viewed, downloaded and reviewed 900 428 times.
These are René’s recommendations:
Training
The skills a person develops as a teacher are needed across a broad spectrum of industries, so the training opportunities are not limited to education. There are many women who have a broad range of transferable skills. Women could make it their business to offer training to in-service teachers, final-year teaching students and newly-qualified teachers.
Resource development
Teaching requires a multi-agency approach. The resources we use are so much wider than worksheets. An experienced or insightful teacher will be able to read a situation and make recommendations to parents, other teachers as well as anyone else linked to the child in a developmental way.
Curriculum development
The time has arrived for us to own what we share with our children. We should not be straight-jacketed into delivering admin laden curricula that doesn’t develop and nurture critically thinking global citizens.
Mentoring and tutoring
Mentoring is a crucial aspect of a career path and needs to happen a regular intervals. Tutoring students is always an option as it can cover a range of skills and curriculum areas.
Home schooling services
The opportunities in home schooling are ever increasing and are worth exploring.
Educational toys
There will be a shift in the post Covid-19 world in terms of what parents will buy their children. Hopefully, there will be a gravitation towards eco-friendly toys that are not powered by batteries and where there is more to the interaction with the toy than scrolling or swiping.
Selling lesson plans
Selling lesson plans can be limited by a rigid curriculum. This is why I sell some of my work outside of South Africa. The success of my resources is indicative of the need around the world for relevant resources.
Online English teaching
There is always a demand for online English teaching. Lessons could be aimed at adults, teens and children.
Online courses
More and more institutions that offer teacher training are offering courses remotely. The diet that trainee teachers are receiving needs to be bolstered and enriched. This area is a wide open.
Test preparation coach
As much as I am not an advocate of ‘teaching to the tests’, there are opportunities galore to help students of different ages get ready for various tests and exams.
Get in touch with René via email: renefahrenfort@gmail.com