To consider retraining as a teacher?

[bagelmonkey]

I no longer feel that my career is compatible with my family. I'd like a job where I don't need to work nights or weekends.
I've always enjoyed the parts of my job that involve teaching - I love helping people to understand things and sharing knowledge, although my teaching experience to date has been informal rather than formal. I think I'd enjoy being a teacher. I was thinking along the lines of secondary school biology/science.
I'm 33 with a 7mo DD. AIBU to consider doing a PGCE and a compete career change?

[pozzled]

OK, Good points:

*Being around children
*Seeing them make progress
*Planning exciting activities and projects, some days it is a joy to be in the classroom
*Never a dull moment
*Control over your own workload
*Long holidays (even when you take away the time spent working)
*You can really show your own personality and be creative with displays, the way you teach and extra-curricular activities (but does depend on the school)
*Parents- The ones who acknowledge your hard work and do their best to support their child's learning

Bad points:

*Very intense workload during termtime
*Absolutely no flexibility over holidays, no time off for school plays etc for your own children
*Horrendous amounts of paperwork, some of which are fairly pointless
*The pressure of teaching to tests and Ofsted- very frustrating when you can't do something a particular way even though you feel it is best for your class
*Parents- the ones that won't believe their child could put a foot wrong

[donthateme]

Junior doctor is no doubt fairly tricky with a young family, shifts, being on call etc. Teaching is more compatible but would still be longish hours, I am a teacher and I usually do 7. 45 to about 5.30 in school plus an hour or two mon to thurs nights at home and then a few hours at the weekend. However the advantage as others have said is that you can do quite a bit at home which gives some flexibility.

My main feeling though is that teaching is not the first thing id think of for a career change unless you are really passionate about it for it's own sake. As a doctor you have high pressure and stress but you deal with one Patient at a time. In teaching you'll have 30 teenagers, all with different personalities and attitudes and learning needs and you have to deal with them all at once. Then the bell goes and it's another 30. I would say that's probably the biggest difference. The mental stimulation, the research aspects, communicating skills and knowledge are probably similar to what you're used to, but I think I would find it very hard to switch from one to one interaction with the patient to dealing with 30 teenagers at once

[musttidyupmusttidyup]

Teaching is a wonderful job. The hours and pay are fair IMO. It's great to have same hols as the kids and many schools would do their best to help you see the christmas play / first day etc. Its hard work and great fun. Try and get some observation in school. Try not to let the whingers put you off. Good luck with your life changing decision.

[LemonDifficult]

YABU.

[JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar]

I dropped out of my PGCE [lightweight emoticon]

As a medic though, you are surely made of sterner stuff.

I regret dropping out bitterly btw.

[itisnearlysummer]

I would advise against it, but largely because I retrained as a teacher and then realised that I had a better work/life balance before.

This is largely because the 'life' part was missing and the 'work' extended to the point where I felt guilty for attending my own children's birthday parties. I spent most of the summer holidays in the classroom, along with the other teachers before someone suggests I wasn't doing it properly if I spent that long in there!

Working from 8 till midnight and then setting the alarm for 4.30 to finish off before getting to school at 7.30 and leaving at 5.30 made me ill. My marriage suffered, my children became strangers to me because I worked for most of the weekend and I ended up on ADs.

I appreciate that not everybody's experience is the same as mine and that the school I worked at put staff under this pressure for a reason. But still. It's completely put me off and now I don't see myself returning to the classroom.

Shame really. I was so excited to qualify and actually really proud to tell people I was a teacher when they asked. I also love sharing knowledge and helping people to understand. I love thinking up exciting ways of engaging the children. I love working with the children.

My son is wonderful with children and has often said he'd like to be one. I would strongly discourage him.

[trixie123]

As ever on this topic there is a wide range of views. I've been teaching secondary humanities now for 13 years and very very rarely bring work home. The occasional set of books that can be marked in an hour before the DCs get up and only an odd day here and there in the holidays. Obviously the first year or so is harder but a LOT depends on if you work in a school that supports you, shares teaching resources and is not oblivious to the fact that you have children. None of the headteachers I have worked for have refused permission for good, conscientious staff to take an occasional few lessons off to see an important event of their own child's, provided sufficient notice is given and good cover work set. I am a good teacher, get excellent GCSE and A level results and get to spend large chunks of time with my children. DP is also a teacher at the same school and though he is a Head of Dept, assistant head and involved in various extra curricular things is rarely home after six and always baths our son. He also is very good at his job. It does depend a bit on the subject but IME there are few jobs as good to combine with children

[LaurieFairyCake]

I really want to highlight though that it depends on what school you're working in - some have a much harder SMT (senior management team).

At the current school my dh works at he could never leave at 4 as he has course work catch up sessions or meetings every day til 5. And he also could never leave for a nativity play or anything.

At the last school though they were brilliant - when I had a miscarriage they forced him to go to me in hospital and covered all his classes for the rest of the day.

This is why he's trying to get a job in another school that has a better/more flexible SMT>

[itisnearlysummer]

a LOT depends on if you work in a school that supports you, shares teaching resources

this part is crucial. With this, it's great, without it, it's hell and sometimes you only find out too late.

[eslteacher]

I have quite a few friends who are teachers...I can think of three particularly good friends, all very different, all teaching in secondary schools in different parts of the country. All three of them seem to hate it. One of them has just gone on maternity leave and plans on never going back, the other one is looking to get out of it but doesn't know how, the other I think is trying to transfer to another educational-related thing that is not teaching directly.

The reasons that none of them seem to like it are: working with a hell of a lot of kids who are completely resistant to learning anything at all, working with unreaslistic/pointless targets and guidelines about how to teach and what the children must be doing, being forced to spend a disproportionate amount of energy on the minority of rowdy/unruly kids, how much work they have to bring home at weekends and on the evenings.

Maybe I just know some unusually disatisfied teachers though!

[TheFallenMadonna]

You need to go into a school and see life in a school classroom. It is not all sharing knowledge, and it is very different to teaching university students for example. And the pay is nothing like as good. I do love it though, and I an a science teacher!

[Cereal]

Definitely spend some time in schools (more than one if possible) and try to get some experience.

[weegiemum]

I'm married to a GP

It is not a "Piece of Piss" - maybe he takes his job more seriously than your niece, LaurieFairieCake! And I say that as a secondary teacher.

I now teach adults and it is totally different to teaching children. If your only experience is in adult ed, it is really not the same!

[Mishy1234]

I don't think YABU to consider it, but think carefully and do considerable research. I think it's one of those jobs that you really need to be passionate about and not do because it's seen as an easier option.

My SIL and BIL are both secondary teachers and have been honest that it's a reasonable gig. They do take work home and do stuff in the holidays, but tbh who doesn't! I'm not a teacher, but I certainly do a considerable amount of work in the evenings/weekends and don't get anything like the same number of holidays. I think that teachers feel like they constantly have to defend themselves against all the comments about their holidays etc, but some don't seem to recognise that most professional jobs involve similar level of pressure, if not more.

I would say go for it, if it's what you really want.

[BuckminsterFullerene]

I confess I haven't read the whole thread but:

"I'd like a job where I don't need to work nights or weekends." And you think that's teaching?!

Ahhahahahahahahahahaha!

Oh, you crack me up!

[noblegiraffe]

Biology isn't a shortage subject is it? I'd check out the TES online to see what jobs are like in your area before potentially giving up a job to retrain for one that doesn't exist. Lots of schools are laying off teachers at the moment due to budget cuts.

[NinkyNonker]

It does depend heavily on subject as well. As secondary English teacher the marking load is heavy heavy heavy, so there is no way of doing it outside of evenings etc.

[NorfolkNChance]

Teaching is a fantastic career if you are passionate about it. It is not something you can do half heartedly or without full focus.

The hours with a small child can be manageable and teachers do manage it even full time but there is a LOT that goes in teaching behind the scenes that few outside of education see.

My advice is to talk to as many teachers in RL that you can, if you can get time to volunteer in a school and shadow a teacher to help understand the true nature of the job. The PGCE/GTP & NQT year are very hard and personally it wasn't until my 4th year of teaching that I found things easing up in terms of workload because planning was becoming easier as I grew in confidence etc.

[pink13]

I teach English and have for 6 years now, I still work to about 9pm every night and have to do at least half a day at the weekend. My DH has just trained as a Biology and Chemistry teacher (this is his first full year teaching). Most nights he is still working at gone 10pm. Yes you can do it at home, and yes there are longer holidays (although the 'set' dates mean a premium price to go away), but the pay is lower than many professions. It can be an amazing job and we both love it, but you have to be really passionate about it to make it work.

[cornsylk]

Anyone remember that thread where everyone was saying it was really hard work and then Cod came on and said it was a piece of piss?

[Teapotqueen]

Helo - Getting v.v. stressed at the moment. Not enough hours in the evening to get all the planning done. Glad it's not just me:)

[KittyFane]

I'd like a job where I don't need to work nights or weekends
You are in for a nasty shock OP :o !!!

[WilsonFrickett]

Lots of good advice on here but I think the key thing is - are there available teaching jobs in your subject, in your area? Because I know of a lot of newly-qualified teachers who are either doing supply teaching or on contracts. In my DS school for example, there is a vacancy for his class teacher but that's only going to be offered as a contract till the end of this school year.

[whatsfordinnerthen]

I am an ex-doctor and I gave it up before I had children but I know I would have found it almost intolerable with children. The question is do you really want to leave medicine or are you just finding it hard at the moment? I knew I did not want to be a doctor from the beginning really so leaving my career was a great relief and I have never regretted it since.

If you love teaching this can be a massive part of lots of different jobs and you really can use your degree to your advantage and the skills you have are really useful. Don't make the mistake of thinking you have to leap from one profession to another because you need the identity in it.

Since leaving medicine I have been a medical secretary and done other admin jobs in the NHS which to be honest I have really enjoyed. I am now embarking on going back to work now my youngest has started school. I couldn't be happier!