University tutors, working with professional teachers from schools in East & West Sussex and Brighton & Hove, have defined the characteristics they most desire and seek in GTP trainees at the interview stage. Three 'ideal' profiles are detailed below, along with case study descriptions.

1. The Teaching Assistant GTP Trainee
The following characteristics should be demonstrated in the work and training of a teaching assistant wanting to train to be a teacher via the GTP:

• Personality, dress and attitude, ie. general presentation 
• A commitment to formal training for the duration of a year
• An awareness of the different roles fulfilled by a teacher and the need for their 'persona' in school to reflect this
• The intellectual ability to understand and act on new information
• An appreciation of the school ethos and how it determines the operation of the school as a public institution
• A proven awareness of a range of teaching styles and the different roles played by the teacher within them
• Knowledge of the current state of the English education system and latest educational initiatives
• A desire and willingness to take advantage of training opportunities
• An appreciation of the role played by parents, carers and support staff in the education of each pupil and the ability to work constructively and in tandem with them
• A vision of how things could be!

Profile - Glenys Beda (39)
Glenys has five children and a love for applied languages in which she has a degree. Married to an anglophile, she speaks fluent French and a little Spanish. After working for several years helping students with special needs in a mainstream school, she applied for an administrative job at a secondary school. The role turned into a part time learning support job in modern foreign languages and it was this experience that convinced her that she wanted to teach. She loved being in the class environment and felt that she was finally 'grounding' her degree and theory into something practical and worthwhile. After a year, and her fifth child, she became clerk to the Governors and heard about the GTP course from another mum in the playground.

The course was challenging and required long hours to be spent on preparation - along with some careful juggling needed of her children, husband 'and a host of other things'. Glenys says: "There were lots of peaks - and some troughs - but the support I got from staff at the school was excellent and helped enormously." Her grant just covered the cost of child care, so Glenys made a significant financial commitment. But she looked on it as investing in her future and in something that would enable her to enthuse children about learning languages and the cultures they support.

2. Career Changers
The following characteristics should be demonstrated in the work and training of professionals who, at a point in their lives, have decided to follow an alternative career path to the one previously taken: that of a teacher via the GTP:

• A positive disposition, attitude and awareness to becoming a teacher
• Good communication and interpersonal skills
• Evidence of professional values (from previous career)
• Proven ability to work as part of a team
• A capacity for reflection and an awareness that teaching has a different culture associated to it than anything that may have been experienced previously
• An acknowledgement and capacity to potentially de-skill in order to work effectively in such a different and people-orientated culture
• The capacity and a passion for lifelong learning
• Awareness of the workload demanded of teachers and a willingness to work long and anti-social hours
• Willingness to prepare for a teaching post through experience with children of the relevant age and through observation of classes in school or on taster courses
• A realistic view of the role of teachers in schools gained by shadowing teachers
• Credible/legitimate reasons for career change, particularly if redundancy has been a contributing factor

Profile - Lisa Fisher (33)
Lisa gained degrees in English and French and subsequently qualified as a chartered accountant where she worked in industry for eight years. When asked to edit a newsletter for her company, she re-discovered her 'creative side' and went on to run training courses which she enjoyed immensely. However, she found that she was becoming increasingly bored by her core job and, when her company merged with another, took the opportunity to apply for redundancy.  She spent her redundancy payout on becoming a project leader for Raleigh International in Ghana. The experience taught her many skills, the most important, perhaps, being that she didn't have to be a perfect role model all the time and to learn to "go with the flow". A visit to the University of Sussex on her return to the UK revealed training opportunities that she had never previously considered. But, after talking to a Headmaster friend, she decided that teaching was her preference. The Headmaster friend offered her a training placement at his school which she happily accepted.

Lisa says: "The course was mentally draining because it wasn't just about subject knowledge, but all the things that make teaching and learning such a complex mix of enthusiasm, control, differentiation, stamina and a whole load more!" Lisa was immediately accepted as a teacher by the class which she was hugely thankful for and believes helped her build a close relationship with a particular group of pupils allowing her to quickly understand their individual strengths and weaknesses. Lisa says: "The school staff were brilliant and very supportive and, although the course was intense, it has been absolutely worth it".

3. Previous Teachers
The following characteristics should be demonstrated in the work and training of those who have worked in a range of teaching situations previously and wish to join the GDP in order to secure a full time position within the education industry: 

• The capacity to transfer appropriate skills from one educational environment to another, and to continuously develop new skills
• A practical understanding of the differences between what they may have done previously and that of a full time teacher - plus an understanding of the core processes involved in full time teaching
• A desire and willingness to observe classes, undertake 'taster' courses and/or shadow a teacher to better understand their role 
• A commitment to working in another sector of teaching (apart from greater financial reward)
• A positive attitude towards a change in educational environment, and an understanding of the new role they will play - particularly in relation to the childrens' needs
• Exemplar case studies of successful projects they have led that have involved students

Profile - Dr Joanna Hawke (39)
Joanna gained her doctorate in theology and became a part time lecturer at Oxford Brookes between 1994 and 1998. She also trained as a generalist advisor with the Citizens Advice Bureau. Three children and a move to East Sussex led to a personal crossroads in terms of remaining within higher education or moving into secondary education. While still an external examiner at Oxford Brookes, Joanna decided to get into teaching. She subsequently found that there was such a demand for RE teachers that she was quickly juggling three jobs at three schools. She discovered a love of teaching at this level, and the need for formal qualification. She was reluctant to follow a post-graduate course, though, and wanted rather to train 'on the job', earning while learning. Joanna researched various different routes into teaching and was delighted to come across the GTP course. She immediately contacted her local school to find out if they would be prepared to offer her a placement as an RE teacher and support her application to the GTP course. How could they refuse?!

Due to her previous experience and evidence of competence in certain key areas, Joanna was granted a two term placement. Joanna says: "My mentor was second to none and treated me like a member of staff from Day One. The monitoring was rigorous and, although I was initially surprised at the level of independence I was given, I quickly felt empowered and went from strength to strength." The course proved to be extremely hard work, but the reward of living and teaching within the same community - something Joanna valued highly - made it particularly worthwhile.