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

[MadameGazelle]

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

I love teaching (secondary) and I came out of a previous career to do it. It gives me a real buzz and you just never know what's going to happen next!
The bad part is the admin - it often gets piled on quite high but if you use time wisely you can cope.
My problem is the job situation - I didn't fully realise how few jobs there really were in my subject area. I have been very lucky and had two long fixed-term contracts (present one part-time) since qualifying, but will be job-hunting again soonish.
I believe the job situation is no better down south than up here in Scotland although it depends on sector and/or subject.

I posted on 'desperatelyseekingsnoozes' thread too, so this might sound strange being as I already said on that thread that I've been signed off work with stress, but..

I trained 3 years ago, when my DS was 2 (he is deaf and I am a single parent). I did a PGCE and it was really, really hard work, but I LOVED it.

I still love teaching too. I love the children and seeing them make progress and planning exciting things and thinking 'oooh - they are just going to love doing this!'

I just haven't been able to cope long-term with the hours and the stress. My school seems to begin every year with an announcement that 'the planning is going to be done in an entirely different way this year' and we start entirely from scratch all the time, so the planning workload is ridiculous.

Please don't be put off by people like me. In my case I think a lot of the trouble is my school. Find the right school and you'll be fine.

I am a teacher.

I pretty much hate it.

I like the kids but the rest of the shit is fucking tedious.

I love my job! I work part time in a middle school. I work long hours- really long, but I'm in a new job, so the workload should tail off next year as I will be able to reuse my resources if I get given the same subjects to teach again.

I love being in the classroom and truly believe that you get out what you put in.

I love teaching and even love the naughty challenging kids.

I worked in PR when I graduated to try out other things before I went straight into the classroom, and I hated it. I hated the superficiality and the office culture.

Teaching is fun, and I never get up not wanting to go to work, although I would if I worked full time as I would get too knackered, with 2 young kids. I work 3.5 days a week and it suits me fine.

I love my job too - secondary though and (only ) part time but it's the most rewarding job in the world.

and yes it's the adults that create/cause stress - so much depends on your department and senior management. I like the fact that I'm the only female in my dept

and teenagers are fab - mind you dd1 is only 10 so I don't have to live with one yet
If you really want to do it then the first few years especially are v hard and certain times of the year are just crazy - now for us....reports / parents evenings / exam revision / controlled assessment etc.
But I do love it. best job in the world imo - 'too much geography, not enough lesson' is my frequent refrain

OMG am so with all the people who say teaching is great - it is the other stuff that hurts

Love teaching! Love teaching teenagers! Love lots of my colleagues! (though not in a Waterloo Road sense) Hated being middle management - nearly driven to the edge of total breakdown

It can be the best or worst job - it is so driven by outside factors. Also it varies so much from school to school - different places are completely different experiences with their own pluses and minuses.

Im on my NQT year with a 4 year old in reception and a 3 year old in preschool and love it! The pupils drive me up the wall but its so much better than any other jobs- but alot of work and stress too. I dont stay up til midnight planning or anything- I will work for a couple of hours each evening but I really make sure I use the weekends for MY children- teaching can take up your whole life if you let it- I will take on more responsibility at school when my children are older.

Depends on the subject too, I teach English and whilst I wouldn't want to teach anything else it is very marking heavy. DH is maths and his marking is really just a series of ticks, no lengthy essays to read or constructive feedback to give etc.

I love teaching - the children are amazing!

However the constant meetings, pressure from management and paper work are all a bloody nightmare.

I have thought, from time to time, about leaving the job because of this which is very sad.

I couldn't because I have a genuine love of the job and the children.

Thanks to everyone who posted positive messages- it's good to know it isn't all doom and gloom . Johnthepong, it sounds like your children are a similar age to mine so it's reassuring to know that it is doable with little ones.

It seems that finding the right school is key.

One other question, I was hoping to work on a job share or part time basis after I qualify until my children are a little bit older. Are there many opportunities for part time positions for NQT?

I'm not sure about part-time NQT posts; most of the part timers in our department are people who started full time and then changed their hours when their children came along. The best way to check that is probably to check the TES website. Almost all jobs (in England and Wales) are advertised there so you'll be able to search by area and subject and see whether many part time jobs are available. Most NQT roles will be advertised between now and May. NQTs can apply for any 'main scale' or 'MPS' roles.

Oh, and you can definitely do part-time PGCEs, but the people on my PGCE who started doing it part-time quickly changed onto full time. They thought it was best not to extend the agony!!!

If you love it (as I do) it's the world's greatest job. I have at least 2 or 3 moments every week when, for me at least, it is like those slightly annoying teaching adverts on tv!

BUT, as others have said, if you don't like teaching itself, ie the nitty gritty of being in a classroom, it can be the millstone around your neck that tips you over the edge.

The key is planning and time management - PGCE and NQT year very tough but as long as you keep everything you plan and make over the years (also, don't underestimate the power of nicking other people's stuff! You'll always gave some resources you can trade off) it does get easier.

Would I do it again as a career? Every single time!

Ooh, I teach secondary by the way

PGCE & NCT year will be VERY VERY TOUGH with two yound kids in tow As long as you are prepared for that. I did it at 24yrs old when footloose and fancy free and OMG is was such a shock. Never imagined just how hard it would be.

10 yrs in and I still do at least two hours every night & lots on a sunday and that's on top of a stressful and very demanding day (and have 2 DC)

Hope you like it - the profession needs new enthusiastic blood! [If I had my time again - I wouldn't do it ]

Spinkle - I hardly know anyone who loves it either..sorry OP!

I love my job. I trained with a 1 and 3 year old so that wasn't easy at all, but I was fortunate to get a part time teaching position. Being a job share brings its own stresses though!

I used to. Still love the pupils but everything else is pretty dire and probably going to get worse if the present government continue.

I HATE sounding like this and really feel as if the last couple of years have virtually destroyed my love of the job tbh.

Fortunately, I do still get a kick out of planning and delivering lessons - and have to keep remembering that this is the real crux of the job, whatever OFSTED etc may think!

When it's good, it's amazing - so please don't let me put you off. :)

I am doing my NQT year on a 0.5 contract so part time- and I am doing it over 2 years.
I completed my PGCE over 3 years on a flexible basis- even had one of my children in the middle- it can be done.

I am going full time in sept - in some ways really looking forward to becoming much more involved in the school but feeling very guilty about my own kids having to go to after school club every day- but them's the choices I make.

lol at Spinkle!

I'm a teacher, I teach primary 3 days a week. If you LOVE teaching it is a great job, but most teachers find it pretty stressful. I currently put in 10 hour days at school, plus another 15-20 in the evenings and at the weekends.

Teaching is not family friendly - apart from having school holidays with your children, which is a massive advantage, of course. Having said that, I work in the holidays - planning, putting up displays, organising resources, etc. and when DS starts school (currently at nursery, which is open in the holidays) I don't know what I will do with him!

I will also not be able to take him to school on drop him off three days a week, or so Sports Days, etc. If I worked f/t I would literally never see his school, let alone his teacher.

Probably much depends on the school you teaching in (mine is awful) but even if you think you've found the perfect set up, things can change very quickly - new heads, school going in to special measures, etc.

Sorry to be such a downer - I really wish I had listened to those older teachers who told me not to do when I was training!

MadameGazelle who on earth told you teaching was family-friendly? Someone who still believes that teachers nip off home when the kids do at 3.30? The holidays are undeniably a bonus, re: childcare, but term-time? Horrendous.

ditto Strandtest. My professional mentor on my very 1st day openly told us that this is a career move that we will all regret (secondary btw)..I have to agree with him. When you join tecahing you find all of the older members of staff very negative and you just get irriated by them. Most are at the end of their tether, slag the profession off and can't wait to get out. It only takes about 3 years into the job before you can completely see why. The thought of doing this until I'm 65 - laugh or cry?!

Re: being family friendly - other than having the same holidays, it is very inflexible - no time off for all of the important little assemblies/nativities etc. It is always my DC who have nobody there .

You start too early to be able to drop DC off at school (cost me a fortune in childminding fees) and you finish after their school day ends so can't collect them.

What schools do these days to look good 'on paper' is unreal. It's all a big fix and it has completely taken my job satifaction away.

choose your school wisely

LOVE it
it IS family friendly
head of department are paid more for people to work harder so ignore them moaning

I'm doing a PGCE at the IoE. A lot of the mums choose to do it part time, and they say that although it's tough they feel like they're managing. The ones that do it full time struggle massively I think. That might be to do with the specifics of the IoE though - from what I've heard of other course providers, this one is incredibly intensive.

Also, I totally love it. There is no other reason to do it.

Part time, your children at your school = really quite perfect.......when they behave!!

its hard for the first few years

i dont find it hard now