To think that YES, you can have reasonable hours and a good work/life balance as a teacher

[WistfulForTravel]

I'm 22, a 3rd year Primary Education BEd student, I love my degree and every assignment and placement cements the fact that teaching is my vocation and is what I want to do as a career.

However, I've been getting a lot of negative comments from my aunties and neighbors about how I'll never have a life again, how most of my waking hours will be consumed with thoughts of work, how I'll never even have one day to truly relax during the 13 weeks off, how it'll be a 7am - 9 pm job, etc.

I know teaching is more full on than some jobs, but is it really this intense? I am friends with a few teachers and they seem to have a healthy work/life balance (time for guys/sports/hobbies, at least one full weekend day off, out 1-3 nights a week) They have no kids though. I imagine it would be very different when you have kids.

Is it possible to practice effective time management + work very hard during the week so you can have the weekend off?

As much as I've enjoyed my course and look forward to my first class in September (eek!) my philosophy is more a 'Work to Live' not 'Live to Work'

Let her be, ET. She's cheap and cheerful and confident, just what schools are looking for.
She'll sink or swim and be the better for it in a few years time.

Thing is, when you qualify, those assignment are replaced with other things - reports, review grades, contributing to SEFs, LM and PM, whole school initiatives, extra-curricular activities. And a FULL timetable. Don't kid yourself that once the PGCE is over, the workload will decrease.

My PGCE WAS a walk in the park compared to proper teaching, and that's because when you're on a PGCE you don't have to take any responsibility for anyone except yourself. Someone checks your lessons, advises you, makes sure you're teaching the correct syllabus etc. you rarely have to contact parents, you have almost zero pastoral responsibility and at the end of the day, the buck does not stop
with you. When you start your first job that overwhelming responsibility is something else entirely. These kids never get the chance to do year 10 again, we get a chance to do it every year. I am by no means a teacher martyr, but you need to take it more seriously.

Fair point, Goblin. I probably do come across as one of those old cynics who sit in the corner of the staff room glaring at people across the top of MY mug (woe betide anyone who inadvertently uses it) I'm not actually like that at all in real life - I'm one of those irritatingly energetic drama teachers who's always doing a million things at once whilst grinning madly and boring the world and his wife about how much I love my job.

my last comment on this LeP before I burst a blood vessel! When you say that you won't do your normal lesson for Ofsted it speaks volumes and one of the reasons why our profession receives so much disdain from parents/politicians/press.

as Goblin said - come back in 5 years.....

ET I've said so many times that I anticipate a big increase in workload and stress when I start NQT. I definitely don't think the workload will increase. I just think people who are drowning in work while on the the PGCE should be a bit worried about how they are going to cope next year. I don't need to worry, because if I have to start working in the evenings, I will. It'll be fine.

How old are your DTDs, Evil?
My DD is 23.
Resilience is a vital skill as a teacher, to be able to recover from disaster and move on. I hope you have that ability within your personal resources too LeP.

cricketballs
Yes, I do an Ofsted-type lesson every few lessons or so - lots of group work, lots of mini-plenaries, etc. But I also do lots of very 'free' drama-type lessons and extended writing lessons which I know SOME Ofsted inspectors aren't as keen on. It's not because I'm going to be a bad teacher that I won't do every lesson 'Ofsted style' - I just don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach that some SLTs and inspectors seem to expect.
I'm sure I'll be too busy in 5 years to be posting on forums! Never once have I said that I don't expect an increase in workload after PGCE.

I appreciate that teachers have a high stress job and need to put in extra hours and that this is tough going for many/most. I think OP is right to ask questions about work/life balance.
However, I'm not sure that there are many jobs at this level (equivalent qualifications, career prospects and pay) that come with either less stress or less hours once you even out the extra holidays. And teaching pensions are still significantly better than those for the majority of public sector employees ie local govt and nhs.
So my thoughts are that teaching is in no way an easy ride, but finding an alternative job that is less hours and less stress is also likely to result in significantly worse pay and worse holidays.
Most people are working harder and longer for less and less, it's not just teachers

Goblin I am extremely resilient in my personal life and my professional life thus far. Thank you for the advice.

Sorry -- earlier I meant I definitely don't think the workload will decrease not increase.

I know that about you ET, you've got a long posting history I've enjoyed reading over the years.
DD did drama as an A level, and I was always grateful for the skill and awareness of the teacher. Drama and AS are not often a natural combination, and he worked hard to push her boundaries in a positive way, making reasonable accommodations for areas she struggled with.
Turned out to be a lifeskill, not just a grade.

Goblin - they're 7 Still at the age where spending all day on a Sunday watching the big kids rehearse is one of the most fun things they can image.

LeP - I think the point is that really, EVERY lesson should be OFSTED-ready. Recent info from OFSTED has made it very clear that there is no such thing as an "accepted" format. Our SLT did obs last week - we were told it would be at some point on Wednesday or Thursday. The only thing I did differently was to actually print out the lesson plan and class data so I could give a copy to whoever came in. The lesson itself was yr 10 drama, the kids were working on practical work, in four groups in four different rooms, I was floating between the spaces. I got an Outstanding. There were no mini-plenaries. The inspector floated between the rooms too as well as going over the progress data I had given her and flicking through a few folders. She spoke to the students and watched them work.

I would be happy for anyone to come into any of my lessons at any time - the only thing missing would be a printed lesson plan.

This is an interesting thread with a lot of insights into the drivers of teachers' long hours. I have also noticed, as a parent, that teachers with better subject knowledge are more efficient.

Wasn't meant as advice LeP, I don't think you're of a mind to take any.
It was a wish, having seen so many crash and burn.

EvilTwins - that's great that you are able to do so much but I do think there are many teachers who are so ground down by the paperwork that they just don't have the energy left to educate and enhance the childrens' time at school as much as they would be able to if they didn't have so many hoops to jump through.

And yes, my daughters are coming into work to 'help' me too (their slowness is, of course, the reason why I am still on MN and haven't left yet. )

The only person who currently has enough time to do the housework is my month old baby!

Fine EvilTwins - if there's no such thing as an accepted format I'd be perfectly happy for any of my lessons to be observed. I still don't see why planning a single lesson should take longer than 20 minutes :/ I am honestly at a loss to see how it can take some people on my course about two hours.

Manic - you're right, and I agree it's a shame.

I'm perfectly able to take advice Goblin and respond very well to feedback and advice on my teaching but it's hard to take advice from strangers who clearly have misunderstood to a colossal extent the point and meaning of my posts.

Sometimes I take that long. And I've been teaching for years.

Bonsoir - I think you are right - there is a person on my course with a Psychology degree, and they really struggle with lesson planning as they often will have to do a lot of background research and reading on the topic rather than simply having that knowledge to hand.

I don't think there's anything wrong with taking two hours to plan a single lesson occasionally, but I find it incredible that it could take you that long on a regular basis. Do you mind me asking what you teach?

Yes - teachers needing to research the subject before writing the lesson plan just isn't great in many ways.

OP, you've got a lot of experienced teachers telling you what the reality of teaching is like and you're determined not to listen. That approach will get you nowhere in teaching for a start - there's nothing more annoying than an NQT who thinks they know it all! You say you've got a job in the best performing school like that's an indicator of your ability or a badge of honour - try teaching an outstanding lesson to a group of kids with severe behavioural issues/eal/poor attendance in a school in sm and see if you're still so confident.
I wish you luck, I really do. But I'm afraid you sound full of it, and incredibly naive.

I've already mentioned it a number of times... Drama.

And it's not all the time, no, but sometimes I will take a long time to plan - sometimes it's necessary.