Do you need training to be a good teacher?

David Cameron has said he wants privilege to be shared. If that includes classes of 15 or less, I am sure many teachers will agree. His posh education obviously did not teach him the meaning of privilege.
My son's partner has just done her PGCE and the workload now in one year is horrific. Many people going into teaching from other occupations do not have the knowledge to teach the primary school curriculum. They have to learn all the basics as well as teaching literacy and numeracy, whilst doing three teaching practices, longer each term. Anyone going into primary teaching with a degree - she has a BA in Psychology and an MA in computer studies - needs a year in college to get the confidence to go into the classroom. She had also spent a year being a teaching assistant, but was still nearly overwhelmed by the workload. She is Danish, so English is her second language. I am full of admiration for her.

Frankly I am full of admiration for anyone who teaches in a primary school.

Below is a link which will show the subjects required to be taught by primary teachers. By the time a pupil is in Y6, the last year in primary school, the one teacher could be expected to deliver all these subjects, and to teach the core subjects to level 5. A year later in secondary school and at Y7 the pupil will have specialist teachers for each subject.
Some primary school now buy in specialist teachers for subjects such as PE or MFL or music, but there are Y6 teachers out there who can and do deliver all theses subjects to a high level.
absent you are correct and primary teachers deserve a far better press and much more respect from their secondary colleagues.

www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/primary

Late to this but here's my two penn'eth.

A teacher needs a certain amount of training in child development and behaviour management. That's all they need for the children because the rest comes naturally.

However a teacher needs a huge amount of training in how to keep OFSTED happy but then finds that no matter how hard they try they can't do this anyway because once you learn which hoops to jump through they move the goalposts. OFSTED and the media make teaching a nightmare.

Also teachers, particularly in Primary, have to take responsibilty for a range of subjects and areas regardless of their training. Before I finally became too ill to work I taught a group of challenging children and children who needed boosting for Lit and Num (which I loved) and all the other subjects to Year 5 in the afternoons (which I also loved). I taught French across Key Stage 2 even though I wasn't a specialist language teacher. I was also responsible for PSHCE, Sex and Relationship Education, History/Geography, Global Community, MFL, was leading the school towards it's advanced Healthy Schools Award and was a contact for children who needed to talk. All this for no extra pay. It was a small school so everyone had to take a lot of responsibilites. Apart from Lit, Num and Science there is very little training in how to be responsible for so much.

In the end, for some of us, the pressure just becomes too much. There are only so many hours in a day but to do justice to the job you have to commit most of them to working.

I trained as a teacher between 1969-1972 in Camberwell, Sth London. We had lectures on educational philosophy, child development, educational theory and then had to develop one curriculum area in depth (I did dance & drama) and two others to a lesser level (history/geography) both at an adult level and also how best to teach these areas.We also had training on the current theories on teaching reading and maths. We had to set up and run a weekly 'club' and we took a child from the local area to it once a week. I took Jason Weddell from the age of 3-6. I had to keep a diary about him and match his development and learning to the theory I was being taught.
I undertook several local school visits to observe specific subject and had three school practices: 4 weeks (in Suffolk), 6 weeks (in Clapham) & 8 weeks (in Leytonstone). I sat formal exams, wrote essays throughout the course and because i was doing a practical subject also had to perform in a piece and choreograph and direct a piece too.

I eventually became a headteacher. I ran a budget of £1m , ran a team of over 40 and developed a staff team that was superb. I did not follow government directives to the letter but did what I believed was best for our children. OFSTED said we were Outstanding!

I do not have 'o' level maths but I know how to use a calculator to work out %. I am not a great speller but I can use a dictionary.