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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think being a teacher is a good career

106 replies

trailledog · 10/02/2011 22:50

My brother is in his last year at uni and has applied to go on a PGCE next year as well as for some jobs. At the moment his current preferance is to go into teaching, I told my sister about it tonight and she scoffed. Then she started to talk how those who can't do teach and how she'll have to talk some sense into him when she goes and sees him this weekend to stop him wasting himself.

OP posts:
Dansmommy · 10/02/2011 23:30

stresshead, we have 9 days in April... how do you have 6? Grin

Original poster
trailledog · 10/02/2011 23:31

He's doing a geography degree and hopes to teach geography.

OP posts:
ilovesooty · 10/02/2011 23:32

He might have a rude awakening when he discovers how few teaching jobs there are out there.

I'm also with stressheaderic : I don't really understand how anyone can consider teaching poorly paid. There are many reasons why teachers might be disenchanted, but I don't see the pay as one of them - and I say that from the perspective of someone who spent many years in the profession.

missmakesstuff · 10/02/2011 23:33

aah, Geography will be fine. Colouring in maps, as far as I can tell. Grin

freesiacow · 10/02/2011 23:37

I have a lot of respect for teachers, but I know lots of teachers and ex-teachers on a personal level and their tales of stress, lack of support and Ofsted nightmares are quite worrying! Many of them have been signed off with stress, self-medicate or constantly tell me that they're planning to get out of the profession.

I also have a child with SN and I'm very aware that lack of training/support with SN in mainstream schools makes teaching an extremely difficult job. I'm the first to admit that DS isn't the easiest child to deal with, due to ASD meltdowns - fortunately he is at special school now but it must be a real challenge to cope with children like that every day.

scottishmummy · 10/02/2011 23:38

teaching is a v good vocational career,if he likes children and is educationally motivated and adept at negotiating social issues too

missmakesstuff · 10/02/2011 23:40

I agree, the pay is pretty ok. No-one is going to become fantastically rich, but it's ok. I have gone down to 4 days a week, HOD, we do alright.

I was HOD in two years, including my NQT year. Add other responsibilities, and the pay adds up. Its never appealed to me to go higher, but people can and do, very quickly.

Get the right school for NQT, make sure he is organised, and willing to work really fucking hard for the first few years at least, would be my advice, and good luck to him.

But he has to want to do it, will realise very quickly if he isn't enthusiastic - about 20% of my PGCE left halfway, or didn't pass, or get jobs.

jenandberry · 10/02/2011 23:42

In agree that teaching is a career best reserved for those who are passionate about it. You do need a huge amount of energy and stamina during term time. I started at 7am this morning and bar a break to eat and do homework with my own children I have been working all day and still have about another hour.

I don't agree that you get no thanks, I often get cards, letters, phonecalls etc saying thankyou. Pupils often also say thankyou - one made me a cake today Grin However teaching is a varied procession and therefore one person's experience can contradict another. The subject you teach can also affect your experience.

I earn less than most of the people I went to university with but I still earn in excess of £50K a year so there is little to moan about. During the holidays I have an amazing quality of life which is, in my opinion, worth the reduced pay.

There are not many teaching jobs out there at the moment. However a new entrant will be cheap which will go in their favour in the current climate.

ArsMamatoria · 10/02/2011 23:50

Popelle: not sure what you're saying there. Do you mean that if he gets a good degree he should consider something else?

I got a first class degree from UCL and then an M.A. I worked hard for this, knowing all the time that I wanted to go into teaching afterwards.

popelle · 10/02/2011 23:54

The point I was making is that if he gets a first from a Russell Group university then he would find it much easier to get into more lucrative careers.

jenandberry · 10/02/2011 23:54

I teach in a school with lots of teachers who have first class degrees many from Russell Group universities and some from Oxbridge.

I agree Arsmamatoria.

scottishmummy · 10/02/2011 23:55

i think its wonderful graduates are vocationally motivated to teach,its a good career

Morloth · 11/02/2011 00:08

I was thinking about retraining as a teacher because it seems so rewarding and obviously fits well with school aged children, but then I remembered I don't like kids very much. So maybe not.

I think it looks like a fab career if your heart is in it.

SlackSally · 11/02/2011 00:08

I'm an NQT, and it can be hard-going at times. Particularly at this time of year with coursework deadlines (I teach mostly A level).

The last few weeks have been 80 hours each. But it's not like that all year.

And I agree with those that say the pay isn't bad. It's not amazing, I'll never be rich, but it does go up steadily for 5 years, and all you have to do is not be shit for five years. (Not that I'm planning to just be 'not shit'!)

jenandberry · 11/02/2011 00:16

lol at not be shit for five years.

If money is important and you are good at your job the chances are there. Headteachers can earn in excess of 100K.

cece · 11/02/2011 00:34

My TA has a good degree from Oxford. Smile

EcoLady · 11/02/2011 00:34

I'll be resigning my 17 years with a decent salary career in a major utility firm to start Primary PGCE in Sept. I must be bonkers, but it is something that I have wanted to do for soooo long.

Teaching has to be your vocation. You must be passionate about what you want to do.

You must do your homework about costs and fees. Geography has lost its bursary, so it's loans only while training. There is NO time to have a paid job during a PGCE course. You must also understand the job opportunities in your area, or be prepared to move to where the jobs are.

jenandberry · 11/02/2011 01:41

I have known many PGCE students work, it is difficult but can be done and often needs to be done.

I have been reflecting on this while working ( hence I have only just finished! ) and while many very good teachers do have a sense of vocation I know of many excellent teachers who would not even want to claim to have a vocation. They turn up do the job but it in no way takes over their lives and they see it as a job like any other. Many people have careers that are not vocations and we accept that they do a very good job and can still be driven by ambition and pay. It need not be any different for teachers.

kreecherlivesupstairs · 11/02/2011 04:47

My DH is a teacher, he is a very good teacher and his job has enabled us to live all over the world. Comfortably.
OP, your sister has no right to scoff. She is, for example a twunt.

GotArt · 11/02/2011 05:11

missmakestuff lol at colouring maps comment. That's seriously all I remember from geography at school, aside from the teacher having a smell of booze on him regularly, which lead me think that teaching geography mustn't be too interesting. Grin

I'm currently waiting for a sculpture professor position to open at my city university, (bloody departmental politics) but have in the past thought about teaching art at highschool, but then decided it wasn't what I was really looking for and would likely become disenchanted fast. Your brother really should look into the demand for teaching geography before going down that road. He may end up being a substitute for a very long time or having to re-locate somewhere not to his liking or simply being unemployed. As far as your sister, that is a completely unfair comment to make about teachers. These are individuals that are teaching 'your' kids... if you feel like teachers are the 'can't do' people in society, why do you send your children to school?

foxytocin · 11/02/2011 05:18

A chartered surveyor as in someone who goes around and checks out a house before a sale?

what is that all about anyway? seems like money for nothing scam.

teacher here, btw but also a home owner.

GotArt · 11/02/2011 05:23

Oh, that's what it is... we just call them house inspectors, a lot less posh sounding job title.

foxytocin · 11/02/2011 05:28
poshsinglemum · 11/02/2011 05:33

I have a love, hate relationship with teaching. I love the kids and my subject but sadly the staffroom politics has tempered my passion for the job. I must learn to hold my toungue on return to the job.
The PGCE was tough and I did have some doubts about my chosen path as I wondered if I was ''wasting'' my degree. Now I can see that is rubbish and it is an excellent and rewarding career. Those who mock teachers probably couldn't do it them selves and are in awe of those who can and are most likely jealous of the holidays or had a grudge against chil,dhood teachers.

jimper · 11/02/2011 06:12

Send this link to your sister and brother.

Yes, I am a teacher :)