PGCE - Secondary

stick up for yourself

Just gong to point out that in a lot of schools at the moment due to bad management this will put a target on your back.

I am also going to say that I enjoyed teaching, some of the worst kids were the ones with the biggest break throughs.

But management makes all the difference.

I get it! I now work in a lovely girls' grammar school. I've been there 3 years and the first time a student was a bit rude to me was last week. I will stay there until I retire. I worked in a private girls' school for years too, which was lovely. I am done with fire-fighting behaviour and seeing it waste well-behaved students' time.

https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/funding-and-support/scholarships-and-bursaries?funding_widget%5Bsubject%5D=business_studies&button=#funding-widget

This site says there are no bursaries available for Business Studies.

I went (back) into teaching at 34 after having kids. It was much better 2nd time around, although I was working in a 6th form college. If you can afford part time, that makes it nicer - I was between 0.6 and 0.8. I left after 10 years for more money back in the private sector. If you can afford the pay cut and like working with kids, do it. Pension is good!

True! Can you tell I'm not feeling overly positive about the profession.

The vast majority are indeed lovely - well mannered, hard working and respectful. But there are some who will bully, intimidate, argue, insult... the list goes on and it can really overshadow all of the good students who want to work and are capable of behaving respectfully. And it's certainly an issue.

This must be highly area dependent because RS is not a shortage subject. Business increasingly is becoming one.

In my school business teachers only teach business (with some occasional PSE). We actually have very few teachers who have to teach outside of specialism , apart from the usual drama teachers teaching English and Spanish teachers teaching a bit of French stuff.

Don't rule out RE as your second subject op. It's also in demand - can't get RE teachers in my area for love nor money.
It is a bit of a marmite subject for kids but when well taught it's brilliant, and it's becoming increasingly relevant in society. Our Muslim students are fantastic! Their lived faith is a visible reminder to others that RE is not just a theoretical subject. It's about exploring what real people believe . . .

OP I would think very carefully if secondary teaching is right for you. Teenagers in the UK are appallingly rude and as a new teacher it can take a little while to get the hang of behaviour management.

That's a bit of a sweeping statement! I've worked in a lot of schools. Yes, there are rude teenagers (and truly appalling, violent and nasty ones) but even in the London comps I worked in, the majority weren't rude. The OP has done voluntary work in PRUs, so I doubt she's got rose-tinted spectacles about teen behaviour.

OP I would think very carefully if secondary teaching is right for you. Teenagers in the UK are appallingly rude and as a new teacher it can take a little while to get the hang of behaviour management. For a lot of kids, they will be openly hostile until they know that you aren't going anywhere. Even then, you will still face difficult classes and kids that just don't want to learn and will act up because they just can't be bothered. It's hard. As a new teacher (depending on the school) you are also likely to be given low ability classes where SEN needs are high and disruption can also be more of an issue too.

You also have to factor in that everyone is exhausted and working crazy hours, so there is often little support available. Again, this will really depend on the school you work at. Some are better than others.

Also re workload: I don't doubt that you are busy and having to juggle a range of tasks. But there is nothing that compares to the exhaustion of teaching, of being "on" in the classroom. Can you handle the stress of being at the front of the classroom all day (with very few breaks), and only being able to plan/mark/do admin once the teaching day is finished and you're completely wiped out? Because that's the reality of teaching at the moment. You work a really intense day, then, despite being utterly exhausted, you have to summon up the energy to do all the work that needs to be done when you're not teaching your lessons.

A lot of teachers suffer burnout for these reasons. How many people in your industry experience burnout and suffer mental health related issues related to the stress and pressure of the job?

Just something to think about. Although the holidays are great, for me, they don't even touch the sides (and I often have to complete work during them anyway).

I’m currently secondary HOD and don’t work anywhere near a 60 hour week.

Teaching attracts a lot of people with perfectionist tendencies, and there simply isn’t time for that

its an amazing job but to keep being in love with it you have to put boundaries in.

Caution needed being at placements near where you live OP. You could get a disgruntled pupil targeting you. This could be simply because you have given a detention for lack of homework. I know of colleagues who have had eggs thrown at their house. Preserve your anonymity.

I am about to leave teaching early at 55. No real financial plan as such. Single income. Will have to find admin work. . It should be getting easier on paper as many schools have, or are developing, a centralised bank of lessons. You should simply be able to make some tweaks for your groups and deliver. What you gain on this you are losing on the continuing indiscipline and in my experience senior management denial and less supportive parents. You are expected to get through as much curriculum as the local grammar school- yes it's always been the case but now the barriers or obstacles to achieving are even greater. I did not have children to contend with at home. The job is exhausting. As many of my colleagues have realised it is not family friendly. A PGCE in Business Studies means you will be reaching Key Stage 4 but you will probably be expected to teach another subject, e.g. computing. At my current school it could be any subject where there is a gap in staffing. . Think long and hard OP. I love the interaction with the pupils but the extra stuff, might be a shock to the system.

Go for it op! I find lots of teachers who come into it having worked previously in other industries, don’t complain that often about hours worked. I’ve been teaching for twenty years and worked before that. I still love teaching and teenagers are just hilarious. Yes they can be rude etc but the majority of them aren’t. And even the rude ones will mostly apologise when they calm down. I find how you treat them is generally how they treat you. One thing I struggled with when I started was how low in academic ability the majority of my students were. I don’t mean that unkindly. I mean that I was a top set student and went to uni, so was always surrounded by similarly academically able people. It was a massive shock to me how much so many of my students struggled with reading for example. And just the lack of general knowledge about stuff.
what’s the worst that could happen? You do your pgce and think ‘actually it’s not for me’. What’s the best that could happen? You do your pgce, love it, have found a new passion and help thousands of young people!

OP have you looked at business GCSE specifications, observed any business lessons and/or looked at the exam papers?

Your description of what business is as a subject doesn't really match up with my undrestanding of what it is in a classroom or how it is taught- subjective , for example. It's a very very popular GCSE - hugely so in my schools. It is also the number one dropped subject at my school because it isn't what the kids expect it to be.

I wouldn't want you to go into teaching and lose your love of your subject- the thing that you are most passionate about, it seems to me. This way lies frustration and disillusionment. The rote learning, exam treadmill, teaching only wat you need to with no extra 'just because' stuff is real.

I started teaching a subject I love. I now flatly refuse to teach it because of what it became. Luckily I have been able to diversify and now teach a subject where I have more autonomy.

Not much specific to add that hasn't already been said, but you sound very convincing, OP! I've been a teacher for 30 years and to be honest I usually join the chorus of 'Hell no, don't do it!' responses on threads like this. But your attitude and experience (of teenagers, including challenging ones) makes you sound very different from the average poster who's decided they fancy being a teacher. I'd say go for it.

It is draining …

You will have to teach teenagers with AuDHD, ADHD, PDA alongside NT teenagers, and they will be expected to get good grades.

It sounds like you will be a great teacher. And if you don’t like it, you can always leave. We have Business and Economics at my school, so the department teaches both subjects.

As others have pointed out, a big (and somewhat surprising downside) is teaching is not very family friendly e.g. difficult to be off with sick children; hard to attend events; last minute changes to the calendar (school dependent as this shouldn’t really happen).

Well we desperately need enthusiastc, new blood into the teaching profession, so good luck to you!
If you like hard work, not too fussed about money and can stick up for yourself, you'll be fine.

I'm 5 years into science teaching having career changed. I still love it and also mentor PGCE students. The most frustrating PGCEs are the ones who don't take feedback on board. What MrsHamlet said upthread is spot on.

The right school makes a huge difference. Definitely try to shadow for a bit before committing. I'm very happy in my career now, it's exhausting but also mostly rewarding and it challenges my brain in a great way every day.

Inspired by @MrsHamlet post: I watch this whenever I feel like quitting;
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So nice to read a positive thread about secondary school teaching. Too often these threads are filled with negativity. It’s hard but so are lots of other jobs!

my subject is so subjective and thought provoking I feel like I can really get them interested and involved.

You should have a look at the exam curriculum as well as the schools curriculum and find out what that involves and what and how the school wants you to teach it.

What exam boards want are a big part of getting the grades which in the end is what the school is after. Will you have one GCSE class and one Btec class. Does the content support each other and how different is it.

You will end up teaching another subject, what will it be? What support will you get?
What are the requirements for it?
It could be something completely different from business studies.