To consider quitting my job and training to be a teacher?

[magicmummy1]

I have a good job. Earn just over £50,000. Excellent pension arrangements & other benefits. Generous annual leave allowance. Flexible hours. Reasonable boss. Nice office. Short commute. Opportunities for training & career development. Lots of autonomy in my role. Heavy workload but not excessive.

I know I'm lucky in many ways, but I don't find my job remotely rewarding. I also struggle to cope with the high stress levels in my current job, not because of the amount of work that needs to be done, but rather because of the nature of it iyswim.

I secretly harbour a desire to re-train as a primary school teacher. In fact, I have been thinking about this for years, but the desire has become stronger since dd started school about 18 months ago. Apart from the general attractions of working with young children, I am fascinated by the way in which teachers plan lessons and develop the curriculum. I realise that teaching is bloody hard work and can be very stressful. I know too that teachers work long hours and that the long holidays etc are a bit of a myth. None of this puts me off.

Whenever I have considered this previously, I have usually ended up dismissing the idea, not least because of the drop in pay that I'd have to accept. I'm the main breadwinner in our family, and we can't really rely on DH's (limited) income as he has financial commitments to his extended family overseas. He knows how I feel about my current job, but I have never said that I would seriously consider quitting. I think he would be anxious if I told him this, though I think he'd try to be supportive.

Please be honest. Am I crazy to even consider this? (I'm 38 by the way).

Sorry bravegirl x posted!

falsemessage Somwtimes our dreams are more realisible than we think. The OP could for example, decide to save for the next 2 years so that there is a cushion when she retrains. She could talk to her bank about taking a mortgage holiday.

Its not like she wants to be a famous actor. Her dream is possible, even if it means a lot of practical planning and possibly lots of saving.

Yes, I have spent some time in schools. First time was years ago - work experience as a teenager (shows how long I've been thinking about this! ). Then I taught overseas for a few years (primary and secondary), and I volunteer for ad hoc stuff in dd's school, but can't easily do this on a regular basis atm.

I think I have a reasonably good idea of what the day to day stuff is like.

Bravegirl, yes, I'd definitely want to get a bit more experience before making any huge commitments. Too risky otherwise.

Have wondered about being a magistrate, falsemessage - one of my former colleagues did this, and found it immensely rewarding. Might look into that again.

I am a secondary teacher and to be honest while I love my job I wouldn't recommend it to anyone these days. The govt are trying to push schools into becoming free schools/academies which has a massive impact on work load, holidays, working conditions etc.

In addition they are merging many schools now so there are less and less jobs, my own school announced redundancies last week.

And stress, I had several REALLY stressful jobs prior to teaching and NOTHING compares to the stress of teaching
sorry, if that isn't what you wanted to hear :(

lesley - I know that, I just think its a bit grass is greener tbh when logically held up against the great list of pros from magicmummys current job - it could be she just needs something else outside of it and it would cause reevaluation and be enough to tide her over without the worry of financial problems etc.

Isaythis as I've hadthis sort of wobble with my job as well.

i think it would be different if the OP wanted to open a cafe or small busines she had been thinking about for years but swapping one stressful job for another just with different stresses?

Do it if you're really keen and can afford it. Teaching can be rewarding in the right school and with the right pupils, but it is hard, hard, work. I'm a teacher (secondary, but could do primary) but can't find supply work at all at the moment, presumably due to the cutbacks etc. There is a higher level of satisfaction amongst primary teachers, apparently, but hardly any work. And remember that teaching isn't well-paid compared to what you're doing but once you're qualified, you can always go back to it in the future. Think volunteering/ shadowing in a school is a good idea.

Good luck.

maddy, that's a very good point. I hate what Gove is doing with the education system, and hadn't really factored this into my thinking.

Lesley, thank you for your encouragement. I want to believe that it's possible for people to pursue their goals. I just don't want to do anything that I might later regret.

falsemessage, you speak a lot of sense, thank you.

In fact, thank you everyone for all of the replies. They have given me a lot to think about.

YANBU. It sounds as if you'd be going into it for all the right reasons :) Also you have thought through the bad points as well as the good. If you're still interested in teaching despite the stresses and lower income then it's obviously something which you feel very drawn to.

magicmummy if you have been a teacher before then you have a better chance of getting a place to train than I thought from yr first posts.

Can I ask what you do atm?

I am planning to retrain as a teacher (hesitating atm between primary and secondary) but my situation is different as I was made redundant from my good hours/well paid/flexible situation job (pay NOTHING like yrs tho!), so not such a hard decision.

An NQT at primary level will start on about £23k I think - less than half your current income. Also the highest they can reasonably get to is still a lot less than you earn now unless they want to be HT.

GTP primary places are hard to get tbh; GTP secondary more likely but depends on yr subject.

If you were guaranteed a job, then it wouldn't be crazy. Doing something you want to do is very important. But from what I have read on MN, getting a job may not be easy at all. So I wouldn't do it now. However, is it possible to study part-time through the OU for it, so that in a few years' time you would be qualified if you still wanted to try for it and if the job market has changed?

Sorry that's very negative - I meant to add that if you have weighed up the financial benefits and your family is OK with it, I too think it's important to pursue what you really want to do.

And I don't think you are too old. I am 47 and haven't been laughed out of any of my teaching interviews yet

Lots and lots of people on my primary PGCE interview day were in their 30s or even 40s I would say.

Thanks Questionnumber - I do feel very drawn to teaching, not quite sure why.

Clary, not keen to say what I do atm, as it's quite specific and I don't like to give away too much personal info on here!

I almost envy your situation re the redundancy - that would certainly make the decision easier! But I know that redundancy is no joke in reality, and I should be bloody careful what I wish for! I hope it goes well for you when you finally decide whether it's to be primary or secondary.

I did gtp, if you gave any questions let me know.

Claig, yes, this is another of my major concerns. I would be totally stuffed if I couldn't get a job, and couldn't easily walk back into my current employment. I think that's the biggest worry in many ways.

Clary, that's interesting re the ages of the people at interview. Obviously lots of people choosing to make the switch.

Wanted to add you will have no chance of getting on a teacher training course unless you have experience working with children, usually in a voluntary capacity - guide leader or something like that.

If you haven't already, you might like to look at the TES forums to see the sorts of things teachers say to each other when they forget anyone can lurk.

The job market for teachers is unusually tight at he moment, but not impossible.

onimolap - I am a frequent lurker on the TES forums!

BalloonSlayer, I do have quite a bit of experience of working with children, and further experience with teenagers - some voluntary, some paid. I think this is primarily what is driving my desire to teach. But I haven't done much with children or young people in the last few years, so I'm guessing that I'd need to show some more recent experience. That wouldn't be an issue, as if I decided to do this, I would need a reasonably long lead-in time in order to save up a bit of cash!

You mention the politics, my experience is that this is the worst bit of all jobs, both the internal politics (which is invariably bitchy and occasionally really unpleasant) and the wider environment at the moment, where everyone is being asked to do more for less or static pay, if not being made redundant.

I don't think teaching is exempt from this, so being realistic means accepting this is the same pretty much everywhere.

However, if you know this, and still want to go ahead, then I would go for it, you really really only have one life, and why do a job you hate for what will probably be 25-30 years now.

Definitely take a week or two off and follow a teacher - and not just until 3.15, arrive when they arrive, find out how much they do at home and at the weekend. And pick a relatively new and motivated teacher, not someone who prepared all of their resources years ago and can do it standing on their head. Have you thought about volunteering as a school governor - many schools have vacancies. Contact your local education authority to find out if there is a vacancy near you. It is likely that you have skills that a school would really value as a governor.

I'm in the middle of it at the moment. I agonised over whether to do it 2 years ago and rationalised that I was crazy to give up a well paid secure job I had 10 years experience in, yada yada. It just wouldn't go away for me though and my j

You absolutely must get some experience of teaching before you jack in a whole other career for it. The reality of teaching can be quite shocking for a lot of people. PGCEs have quite a high drop out rate for that reason.ed

Having said that, I am about to do it . I left a very good job in broadcasting to work as a learning mentor / TA in secondary schools and am now going to train as a secondary school teacher. I absolutely love working with kids and cannot imagine ever going back to my old job, but the money is appalling as a TA and won't be anything much to write home about as a teacher, and you really have to think carefully about the impact that will have on your family.
Good luck.

Damn phone! Anyway my job became less and less fulfilling and empty. I bit the bullet and jacked it in last autumn and am now studying for a post grad qualification. And it is the best thing I have ever done - thats with a baby to balance as well. You have a good 20+ years of work left yet - probably more than you have already completed. Life is too short for regrets that big.

When my first DD was born, I gave up my very well paid job (£80k 15 years back) to go and teach in a secondary independent school (so had no need to retrain as you don't have to be qualified in the independent sector). Actually, I was nudged into it as I had no right to maternity leave and my job back in those days.

I loved the teaching, and found the holidays fabulous...they actually DO exist at boarding schools where the holidays are MUCH longer than in the state sector eg 10 weeks in the Summer. BUT 10 years later I was back in my old job as times had moved on, and part time work was available and I could earn twice the money working 4 days a week, term time only in my old profession as I could full time as a teacher. It was too hard to resist. I preferred the teaching though: even if it is indeed hard work, it is very rewarding.

If you can survive on half your current salary, why not go half time in your current job and do a part time PGCE with Teaching Practice and see how that goes?

Or spend the other 2 days a week with your DC.

Also, why not try volunteering at lunch breaks in your local primary and see how that goes? And/or local Sunday school or equivalent?

Gosh, lots of replies and lots to think about. I need to cook some dinner, have been stuck on here too long.

I will come back and respond properly later! Thanks all!