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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask if there are any teachers out there who love their job?

94 replies

MadameGazelle · 02/03/2011 22:41

I will be applying for a PGCE Primary Education in September, to start September 2012 if I'm accepted. By coincidence I keep reading threads on MN about how difficult and stressful teaching is and how un-family-friendly it is as a career. I have 2 young children, one in Reception and one in Pre-school nursery and part of the reason I was considering teaching was the thought that it may be more family friendly. Are there any teachers out there who love their jobs, aren't about to collapse with stress and can basically reassure me that I'm not about to make a huge mistake! TIA

OP posts:

TheFallenMadonna · 02/03/2011 22:44

I'm a secondary HoD. It is difficult. It is stressful. I do work daft hours in term time.

But

I love my job! I have long holidays, and don't have to fret about finding childcare for my children then - that is the USP as far as I'm concerned. DH gets to do Sports Day and daytime stuff (he has flexibility - I have none) and I do the hols.

What is your experience of teaching? You have to love it to do it I think.

backwardpossom · 02/03/2011 22:46

I love my job, most of the time. The best bit is the actual teaching. The rest of it is 'meh'.

Pilchardnpoppy · 02/03/2011 22:46

I love my job!!! I have been teaching for nearly 5 years and have taught Year 3/4, 6 and now teach Year 5. It is bloody hard work most of the time but I enjoy the challenge and being with the children all day and getting to be creative. Most of all I love the holidays and don't spend them doing work!

Original poster

MadameGazelle · 02/03/2011 22:52

Hi TheFallenMadonna, I volunteer as a TA on my day off ATM as my current career is completely unrelated to teaching.

Are many Teaching roles offered as Job Share/Part Time?

OP posts:

neepsntatties · 02/03/2011 22:53

I like teaching, I hate all the other stuff, especially dealing with the management team. For me it's the other adults that cause stress.

annie987 · 02/03/2011 22:54

I teach year two and it's hard work. During term time I regularly pick the kids up from their childminder at 5.30 get them into bed for 6.30. Start work at 7 and finish at 11. I don't work on weekends or holidays though.

backwardpossom · 02/03/2011 22:55

For me it's the other adults that cause stress

Couldn't agree more. The 30-odd teenagers are easy!

Petalouda · 02/03/2011 22:55

I love my job! Man, I love to moan about it too, but I love teaching.

I've done other jobs and would never leave teaching. But it is the associated crap that gets you down. In a room full of kids (even exasperating difficult ones) it's brilliant!

As for family friendly, I'll let you know!

cricketballs · 02/03/2011 23:24

backwardpossom - I couldn't agree more! I love my job as a secondary teacher. The one drawback I find is that bloody goal posts keep moving and we have to jump through hoops depending on the latest government trendy thoughts are! If we could ever get back to 'teaching' it would be the perfect job (despite mouthy teenagers!)

notanumber · 02/03/2011 23:35

I love my job!

I think teaching is family friendly, but only after a few years. The PGCE and NQT year are very time consuming and gruelling. Tough to do if you're a young whippersnapper, very very tough with young children to care for. Which isn't to say it can't be done, but it probably won't be much fun for you or your family for a good bit IMO.

Another consideration is, it is THE WORST JOB IN THE WORLD if you don't actually like teaching, IKSWIM, and no amount of holiday or pay will change that. Why do you want to teach?

Sorry to be doom and gloom. Plenty of people do manage to qualify whilst also having young children - I mentored a very competent woman a few years back who did just that - I just wanted to be honest with you about how challenging it might be.

desperatelyseekingsnoozes · 02/03/2011 23:45

I am so sorry that I have managed to put you off teaching, please do not think my experience is representative. I do think it is much more likely that I am inefficient and my school asks to much of me, than teaching being a nightmare job.

I tried to make clear that I do enjoy my job which is why I am finding this so hard.

I am hoping my threads drops out of active conversations so it does not cause any more damage.

I think I will go back to lurking

Goblinchild · 03/03/2011 00:20

I like my job, it is stressful and I found it family friendly because I can manage on 5 hours sleep in 24.
Are you an organised person, capable of managing a series of demands, some simultaneous and are you able to prioritise and order tasks?
That seems to be a key skill if you are talking about remaining sane.

cat64 · 03/03/2011 00:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

lovenamechange100 · 03/03/2011 01:19

I am retraining and edging out of the door formerly a HoD, I loved it at first but now I am bitte and cynical (I really thought I would never get to this point) I admire fellow pros who keep going reguardless. Holidays are great for the family side and you can get away most days at reasonable time but boy do you have a lot to do at home.

The classroom is great when acutally in there teaching but all the other stuff.... I will stop here.

I intent to use the experience and skills in the futur though an feel it has been worthwhile, but time for me to move on...

NinkyNonker · 03/03/2011 07:31

I loved my job. (At home with baby now.) Was a secondary English teacher having retrained from previous career...only thing I preferred before in my earlier career was the salary!

jenga079 · 03/03/2011 07:48

I love my job!

It's bloody hard work though, especially for the pgce & first few years when you don't have resources already made to 'pull out of the bag'. Once you've got yourself established it gets much easier as you can prioritise your work & start using your holidays to relax rather than to plan & mark. Good luck. You'll know within a few weeks of starting your pgce if it's the career for you or not.

RupertTheBear · 03/03/2011 07:56

I love teaching - I am in my 13th year of teaching primary. I work part time teaching Y5.
I agree with notanumber completely - I had been teaching 6 years by the time I had my eldest and by then I had enough experience to be able to manage my time efficiently. Since having dd I have made it a rule to never bring work home and I have mostly stuck by that (apart from writing reports). I work a very long day at school (7.30 - 5.30 with not much in the way of breaks) and get everything I need to get doen in that time. I couldn't have done that at the beginning of my career though.

tabulahrasa · 03/03/2011 08:06

I've just dropped out of training two weeks before the end of my final placement because I couldn't do it on 5 hours sleep.

I've spent five years on all in college and uni to get to this point and I'm pretty gutted because I loved it, absolutely loved it - but because the final placement on my course is a 10 week one (I managed the shorter ones) I realised that I wasn't going to be able to do it.

My DP is self employed and works really long hours so there was no-one to pick up the slack at home and I ended up so tired and stressed that I was just doing everything badly.

I was picking the children up at 5, taking them home, making dinner, sorting them out with their homework and getting the youngest off to bed and then doing lesson prep till about 1am and going to bed not because I'd finished, but because I was so tired I could no longer focus, lol, then having to get up at 6 to make it into school on time. Even spending weekends doing it as well still didn't put me ahead enough to get any downtime during the week. There's no way I could have managed my probationary year.

Other people on my course have managed it though, it just depends on your home situation and how much sleep you need, lol. I plan to do a PGDE after my children have finished school because I really did enjoy it - but no, I don't think it is particularly family friendly, not training anyway

maize · 03/03/2011 08:13

I am doing a PGCE.

I love it, I mean, really, really love it! It is crazy mad long hours though, on placement I work before school get to school for 8ish and then leave when I am chucked out (5.30) and then work all night. My average bedtime is 2am on placement days.

However uni is a breather in between and I am slowly slowly getting quicker at things and planning realistic lessons. Its a very steep learning curve.

I do not regret starting it for one minute. What I will say is that people who had doubts upon starting the course have dropped out, you have to really want to be there.

Pekkala · 03/03/2011 08:24

Yes, I do love it - the children are fab (I teach reception) and I found a job at a school where I 'fit'; the head is very supportive and flexible to new ideas (I basically get a free rein to do what I want, hurrah!). I also work part time - this makes a huge difference to my quality of life

Being a career changer, I didn't find the PGCE as scary work-wise as some of the younger students who had come straight from uni, I was used to working a long day and then doing more in the evenings already.
One note of caution - what is the job situation in your area? Where I am, primary jobs are like hen's teeth, it's common for 100+ people to apply for each job.

Jacaqueen · 03/03/2011 08:52

I flirted with going into teaching but was put off mainly by my sister who has been teaching primary for over 20 years.

She used to love her job and still does love the teaching but the paperwork etc have turned it into a nightmare.

Apart from the holidays I dont see it as being family friendly unless you job share or do part time. She pointed out to me that you will never be able to attend your own childrens sports days, nativities, prize givings etc. Nor will you be able to do school drop off/pick up. Mind you not all parents attend these events or do those duties anyway.

Most teachers I know start 7.30-8am and never leave before 5pm. Infact DS Maths teacher called me last night at 7.15 pm and she was still in school.

However if you have good childcare arrangements in place it is probably no more or less family friendly than a lot of jobs.

trixie123 · 03/03/2011 09:07

I teach secondary and wouldn't do anything else. As for the hours of prep time and marking etc, it does differ from primary to secondary and from subject to subject but actually I never have had to do this thing of staying up to the early hours. You find resources as you go along and then you reuse them so you don't start from scratch each time. Marking generally, if its lower school stuff can be done pretty fast and you can plan things so you don't get lots in at once. Its a fantastic job but time management is key. I do have friends who stay at school until 7-8pm and I honestly don't know what they are doing in that time - at least I didn't until I was there one time and actually, between chatting, moaning and making coffee they probably only did 1 hours work in that time!

YouTry · 03/03/2011 09:31

I agree with trixie- if you have good time management, secondary teaching is family friendly. While I was pregnant I never took work home and my work still got done- you have to avoid the chatting, coffee making and moaning! Even on my PGCE I never stayed up til the early hours/ worked all weekend as some people do. At least if I really need to for an appointment with DD I can leave at 3 and while I will have to work evenings and maybe a bit at the weekend (on maternity leave at the mo) my DD won't be in nursery from 7.30 til 6.30 as my sister's DD will. There's always more work you could be doing, but you don't have to do all of it!

NewTeacher · 03/03/2011 11:53

I'm in secondary and I love the teaching part too.
All the admin and meetings are 'meh'.

It fits in great with family being off in holidays etc and you get home at a decent time! DH does all the kids sports days etc.

I do have help at home and with young children I need it, couldnt manage without the extra pair of hands!

I also retrained from a City job, you teach because you love it as the starting salaries are not great (for those that have retrained).

Good luck with it.

youngjoly · 03/03/2011 15:53

I've been teaching for 13 years now and I still love it. I'm now in FE, so teach 'A' level and just today had had an email from a former student asking for our help now that she has finished her degree, and now wants to do her teacher training (my subject). When you get things like that, and realise that you really have made a difference in someone's life, then it really is the best job in the world!

I work part time, and so my hours are not necessarily than unfriendly, particularly now my children are at, and reaching school age. I'm lucky in that my bosses are understanding and do let me have time off for nativity and that (as I part timer, I am able to swap my lessons with a colleague) so I don't have to miss too much. I also have most of the same holidays as my DDs and that is a great perk.

As for the long hours, yes I do work very long hours during the week (but I only teach 'A' levels, so marking is very heavy) but I am able to bring my work home and do it when the children are in bed. When they get older, I'll probably stay at work later, so I'll do it before I come home. Because so much of your work is done outside of the classroom, you are at least in control of when and where you do that.

As others have said, if you're doing it because it is a job you love - then really it is the very best job in the world, just don't do it for the holidays, the pay, or the 9-3 hours

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