Job Description
Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of War Studies
The Department of War Studies (DWS) is seeking to hire Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) for the 2025/26 academic year. Applications are welcome from research students in any KCL Department/School/Institute.
To aid the selection and allocation process, we ask all prospective GTAs to fill out our Expression of Interest Form, where module outlines can be found, and you can indicate your module preferences. This has no impact on the hiring process itself and is used to organise allocations of work for GTAs hired by the Department. Please fill out the Expression of Interest form https://forms.office.com/e/xPPduxrY4j.
We have openings in many fields related to war/armed conflict, international politics, security studies, international history, and military history. As an interdisciplinary department, we are open to GTAs from across KCL whose research expertise intersects with our teaching. If you have not done GTA work before, it is a good opportunity to get experience at teaching in a university environment.
DWS GTA teaching is an in-person role, based on/around the Strand Campus, therefore if you are a distance learning student it may not be suitable unless you are planning to spend a term based in London. That said, we have plenty of 1-term modules available, and we are more than happy to work out a way to enable you to teach if it is possible.
We will be hiring research students at any stage in their PhD studies, so long as they have consent to teach from their supervisor. Therefore, you are free to apply for GTA work even if you have not passed your mini viva. This is a change from previous years.
For any questions about the GTA role in DWS, please contact the DWS GTA Lead, Dr Eitan Oren: eitan.oren@kcl.ac.uk
Role Details:
Responsibilities:
- Delivery of agreed package of teaching activities to a high standard, under the direct supervision of a member of academic staff. These activities may include seminars, classes, tutorials, lab sessions, other small group work to develop student skills, demonstration for experiments/techniques in lab-based science and computing, and/or mentoring support for UG or PGT project work. Students will not normally be involved in lecturing, but in some cases may be asked to lead lectures if the topic falls within their specialist field. GTAs must attend lectures for modules they teach on.
- Participation in appropriate training including mandatory courses/sessions (e.g. courses, induction sessions).
- Careful and proportionate preparation for teaching activities. In some instances, materials will be provided by departments/ faculties.
- Marking and assessment (formative and summative) under supervision of module leaders or other appropriate academic staff.
- Provision of timely and useful formative and summative feedback to students, holding weekly office hours or similar to provide students with opportunities for face-to-face meetings, and providing feedback and guidance via e-mail where needed.
- Maintenance of information and resources on KEATS and interaction with students via the VLE.
- Attendance at lectures where needed/requested to ensure consistency of module delivery.
- Routine administration and correspondence associated with teaching delivery.
- Liaison with senior colleagues regarding contributions to module development (e.g. course material, content development), planning of teaching and monitoring student progress.
All work is allocated and paid according to the GTA framework tariff of activities (https://internal.kcl.ac.uk/hr/gtas/principles-gta-framework) Per teaching week you will be paid for lecture attendance, 2 hours seminar preparation per seminar group, seminar delivery (1 hour), for one advice and support hour per seminar group. In addition you will be paid for marking and feedback, and exam marking (where necessary) on a per-student basis. Variation exists across academic departments and disciplines in relation to specific requirements of GTAs. In DWS GTAs are typically required to run seminar teaching sessions independently (no lab work, or similar). Roles and responsibilities may also be subject to change. If you are required to complete additional marking, these hours will be added to your assignment and your hours and contract length will be changed accordingly with your agreement after you have started.
GTAs will not be expected to:
- Lead lectures, unless they have accepted to do so on a very occasional basis, in their specialist field - Provide pastoral support to students or act as a personal tutor
- Be involved in Open Days or admissions activities
- Provide students with references
- Set assessments
- Be available to students at all times
- Carry out unremunerated additional work on an ad hoc basis
Mandatory training
All mandatory training (specific to the delivery of teaching, rather than generic training which all PhD students should already be undertaking as part of their studies) will be remunerated. Under the new model, all GTAs will receive 6 hours of remunerated training for every academic year in which they teach at King's, regardless of whether they have taught before or not. DWS operates a system whereby all GTAs are paid for 12 hours of training. This includes 6 hours of induction for all GTAs at the start of the year, followed by 6 hours (3x2 hour sessions) for new GTAs in department specific training in term 1, or professional development training for returning GTAs.
You can also visit the King's Academy GTA Development page (GTA Development Programme | King's College London Intranet.) for more information, resources and additional workshops that are available to you as a GTA.
Qualifications1. A first degree in a relevant subject area (or have equivalent experience).
2. Currently studying towards a PhD in a relevant subject area (or have equivalent experience)
How identified and assessed - application
SkillsExperience
Essential qualifications:
A first degree in a relevant subject area (or have equivalent experience).
Currently studying towards a PhD in a relevant subject area (or have equivalent experience) How identified and assessed ? application
1. Experience of adapting own skills to new circumstances ? essential
2. A good understanding of the HE sector - desirable
Personal characteristics / other requirements
1. Ability to self-reflect on teaching design and delivery and act on feedback for future improvements - essential
2. Ability to work as part of a team - essential
3. Ability to motivate high performance in others ? desirable
Role specific requirements
1. Ability and willingness to engage in relevant departmental training and introductory pastoral support training - essential
2. Keep abreast of current literature in subject areas being taught ? essential
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