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?

[gardenpixies32]

I have discouraged my sister from going into teaching. I taught for 10 years (secondary school). I love teaching but hated all the crap that came with it. I earned a decent salary of 42k but gave that up and I am now a childminder earning a pittance.

I chose to arrive at school at the crack of dawn so I could leave earlier in the afternoons, a typical day was 7am-4:30-5pm (apart from days there were meetings and parents evenings which made it a 7am-7pm day and my old school had 2 parents evenings per year group which made it 14 parents evenings a year!

If it is what you want, go for it. Think carefully and do your research first!

[penguin73]

I think if you take anything from this thread it must be the message that everybody has different experiences as a teacher, both in terms of workload and flexibility with time off. My advice would be to get in the classroom and get some real experience of what it is like day to day - in a variety of schools if possible. I retrained when DS was 8 and relied heavily on the hours he was at school/asleep to get the academic/paperwork side of the PGCE done - I can't imagine doing it with a baby. Now I love that I can be home relatively early and the increased time we get together during the week as well as having most of the school hols with him is brilliant, but it does mean starting work once he goes to bed as many teachers stay an hour or so after school to plan/prepare/mark/run clubs etc etc which I tend not to do. You also need to consider where you could end up working as others have said - as the gap between the number of qualified teachers and the number of posts available widens many are finding themselves with horrendous commutes and incredibly long days due to this. If teaching is something you feel passionately about then I would say go for it, but if your motivation is mainly the reduced working hours/convenience then it is certainly not for you.

[tryingtobemarypoppins2]

Part time GP could be great. You have worked so hard to not stay in medicine???? Could you train GP's?? My GP friend does this and seems to have a good work life balance.

I teach 3 days and use my PPA time to do the school run, so I can take to school 2 days a week and pick up 3 sometimes 4 days a week.

[whatsfordinnerthen]

Is it the job or just the hours that is getting you down? I know it is difficult but is there a way you can go part-time or move to a different job within medicine that is more 9-5? I totally understand how difficult it is to get from being a junior doctor to a place where you can pick and choose what you do. The process to becoming a part-time GP is not that easy and competitive to get into. Can you even train to be a GP part-time? I totally understand why you are finding this so hard, for me the sacrifice was not worth it.

If you really love medicine then I am sure you will find a way through this but on the other hand leaving is not the end of the world that some people seem to think it is, if it is the right decision for you.

[Goingcrazy]

I did my PGCE 7 years ago when my children were 10 and 8. It was incredibly hard work and I couldn't have done it without my DH,who had 3 months gardening leave and took over all the cooking, childcare etc. My NQT was even harder work and I was probably working about 55-60 hours a week. There were times when I almost gave up.

However! It is the best job ever - it is never boring, can be really rewarding and 7 years on, it has become much easier. I still work long hours - I'm in school for 7:45 am and don't usually leave until about 5:45pm although there is flexibility if I need to leave early. I still do a few hours at the weekend as well and some evenings. The holidays are a definite bonus and although I still work during them I can work around my commitments and of course it's much easier now my DC are older.

I would say that if it's something you really want to do, then go for it. But if you're at all lukewarm about it, then think very seriously because I can't imagine doing this job unless you love it.

[An0therName]

if you come back to the UK - I think you can work part time even as junior doctor -
you can def do GP training part time - and loads of GPs work part time as well maybe you could take a career break for a year or so and pick up -know in the UK there are schemes to help with that as well
you will have worked so hard to get to and at medical school - and the finicial benifits when you do qualify would way more than teaching - unless you get to be head teacher

[tenderheart]

YANBU to want to become a teacher but YABU to think it won't involve late nights or weekends. I am not saying every night and every weekend but you will be v. busy depending on time of year.

I am still up doing my plan for this term (yawn) and I have been teaching for 5 years! The thought of teacher training with a wee one and then the stress of NQT year makes me go eeeeekkk! I would wait till LO is a bit older and I would also suggest getting some classroom experience so you can be sure it is the job for you.

Good luck whatever you decide.

[marriedinwhite]

I'm not a teacher but I work full time as a professional manager in a very large educational establishment which employs more than 1000 people. I earn £43,000, have professional qualifications and work very hard.

I start work at about 8.30, rarely break for lunch, leave at about 6 and often do about an hour and a half in the evenings, ie, over 50 hours per week. I also am very lucky because I have seven weeks annual leave per year plus the bank holidays (compared to the lecturers' 14 weeks and for people in more regular jobs - four to five weeks). I have a super pension, even now - with my employer contributing 14% of my salary per annum.

Surprisingly like most people with school age children whether they are teachers or not, we have to take our holidays in the school holidays (this is not merely the experience of teachers).

Oddly enough when I leave the building at 6ish there are very few teachers around - even fewer at 7ish.

It's called work and that's what working people do, often for far less money than the average teacher. Most working people just complain less.

[An0therName]

OP - just a couple of links may be helpful

www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk/


www.medicalwomensfederation.org.uk/files/Part-time%20full%20report%20final.pdf