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Original poster

Teachers: would you encourage your own children to become teachers?

27 replies

Awkwardusername · 05/09/2021 10:23

Or work in schools?

Why/why not?

I would personally try to discourage mine, the same way my parents tried to discourage me. I did it anyway!

OP posts:

mdh2020 · 05/09/2021 11:03

My daughter said that watching me succumb to stress convinced her that she never wanted to be a teacher. On the other hand , my son who was at uni at that time, has become a teacher and is exceptionally good although I do have to give him quite a bit of support and counselling. I always explained to my children that although my salary made life easier , it didn’t enable our life style eg., private school and holidays abroad.

passengerjl · 05/09/2021 11:08

I wouldn't. Even as a new teacher, the pressure and expectation is so high, the hours long, for little actual reward. Yes, it feels good to make a difference to children's lives, and the time spent with the young people is the best bit of each day, but all the other dross around that is the killer.

I'm not even sure I want to be a teacher any more.

Howshouldibehave · 05/09/2021 11:14

I wouldn’t encourage them, no.

Mine know too many of my friends and colleagues who want to leave!

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 05/09/2021 11:23

No I wouldn’t and they didn’t. One of my sons married one though, but she’s given it up.

Q1w2e3 · 05/09/2021 11:29

I definitely would. I absolutely love my job, the interaction with pupils, the autonomy within my classroom, the variety and the fact that I laugh every day. I’m in Scotland though which I think has better conditions.

ProfSprout · 05/09/2021 11:42

No I wouldn’t although I expect one of them at least will become a teacher. I love my job and am very fulfilled by it but I think they could get a better work-life balance in other jobs.

SirSamuelVimes · 05/09/2021 11:47

Noooooooooooooo

Heyha · 05/09/2021 11:47

Not at the minute but DD is very small and things may have changed dramatically by the time she is looking at career choices. If things swing back to more like how they were when I started then probably yes but not in the current climate, no.

Badbadbunny · 05/09/2021 11:48

Very few people encourage their kids to do the same job, regardless of the job/profession.

I'm an accountant and have steered DS away from doing the same. One of his friends has parents who are both doctors, and they've persuaded him not to go into the medical profession. Another friend's father is a solicitor who has encouraged him to look into other professions. I don't think any of this friends are aiming for the same trade/profession as their parents.

TheFallenMadonna · 05/09/2021 11:55

Yes, if I thought they were suited to it. It's not badly paid, and the holidays are a godsend if you have small children (and pretty fab when they're not so small any more too). If I thought they weren't suited, then no. It would be a miserable job for someone who didn't actually like it.

AliasGrape · 05/09/2021 11:59

No, honestly I hope she doesn’t go into teaching.

But as a pp said, she’s still very little and it might be different by the time she’s thinking of careers. I loved the job for a long time, found it hugely rewarding and also had a lot of opportunities with it e.g. teaching abroad. If conditions were improved and she could benefit from the same positives whilst having less of the negative, then maybe I’d encourage it? (Although I expect she’ll do exactly as she wants regardless of what I say, which is as it should be).

I’m currently taking time out with DD whilst doing some other freelance work, and wondering whether teaching is something I want to go back to at all even though I do miss it in a lot of ways. So she might never really know me as a teacher anyway.

halfbakedkate · 05/09/2021 12:02

My daughter is off to uni next week to start her teacher training ...I didn't manage to put her off.
I do worry about it though. I find the demands are far greater than they were when I first qualified 25 years ago. Teachers are so micro managed and scrutinised compared to when I started out. Parents as well have definitely become more challenging.

MeredithMae · 05/09/2021 12:03

Yes I would! In my corner of the world, I love working in schools and generally my colleagues are also very happy.

MeredithMae · 05/09/2021 12:03

Who knows what the state of education will look like in years to come though when DS is old enough to decide.

RavenclawsRoar · 05/09/2021 12:17

Depends entirely on the dc! If they have a real passion and enthusiasm for it then yes - we need teachers like that and I have worked with some ace colleagues over the years. If they don't seem terribly interested but consider it as an option then I'd say no. I've noticed a few of my relatives seem to consider a PGCE a "back up" option because "the holidays"....I don't think that's a good reason at all. I do enjoy teaching but it definitely depends on the school where you teach. I used to hate it but my current school is brilliant.

Sawyersfishbiscuits · 05/09/2021 12:34

Noooooo
I want them to have a good life/work balance

CaptainMyCaptain · 05/09/2021 12:38

My dd became a teacher after spending time with me at school on her INSET days. I did make sure she had more varied placements for Work Experience and she did try a couple of other careers before teaching.

Blueleah · 05/09/2021 12:46

Absolutely not. Extremely low paid, stupidly long hours and disrespected by everyone, regularly subjected to violence and abuse. You’d have to be mad to encourage your kids to do it once you’ve seen the reality of what it’s like.

HugeAckmansWife · 05/09/2021 13:23

If they wanted to and had a real interest in it yes. I love it, think I'm well paid for what I do and like the holidays. I think an awful lot depends on what subject / age group you teach though and what your SMT are like.

elephantoverthehill · 05/09/2021 13:29

Ds1 was once asked if he would go into teaching and he replied 'Hell no, have you seen my Mum?'. He is actually very good at teaching, summer schools etc. Dd is keen on it although I have tried to dissuade her but there are a few years to go yet.

flipflop76 · 05/09/2021 13:34

Definitely not. The stress is just not worth it and it made me ill. Yes you get the holidays but you have to spend all your free time in term time working. Since leaving teaching I have 5 weeks holiday a year rather than the previous 13 weeks but I get my evenings and weekends back which is far far better for my health. It's a great feeling to be able to leave work at 5 and not have to do anything until I return again the next morning. When I was a teacher I always had to do work in the holidays and it was always on my mind. Now when I have annual leave I'm not expected to do any work which is so liberating!

flipflop76 · 05/09/2021 13:35

...and the teacher bashing and disrespect for teachers in general in the media etc used to get me so down when I knew how hard I worked. It was really demoralising.

winewolfhowls · 05/09/2021 15:21

God no!

When I started c 15 years ago, life was good.

Now I wish I had done law instead

RosieLemonade · 05/09/2021 15:24

I always think I only became a teacher because I was never exposed to other careers.

Laiste · 05/09/2021 15:30

Are TA's allowed to answer?

If so, no!

Stressful, over worked, undervalued and underpaid.

From what i saw over 8 years of working along side teachers i would say the first 3 (at least) applies to them too.

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