AIBU to consider giving up teaching?

[PenguinBear]

AIBU to think that maybe I don't want to be a teacher anymore?

I have been teaching for a number of years and for the first time this year I am really not enjoying it. I have a difficult class (one child in particular who is making things very hard work).
There is massive pressure to achieve a good OFSTED grade and it's a whirlwind of constant book scrutinises, planning analysis and book comparisons, pupil progress meetings etc.

I love working with children and enjoy helping them to learn but the pressures for everything else are getting too much and ruining the enjoyment of the job.

I think I'd like to be an HLTA or something (definitely went to remain in a school).

Dp thinks I am mad to even consider it due to the drop in money but if I went for a HLTA position/ supply teaching it might be okay.

I just want to work in the classroom without the responsibility and pressure. I watch my TA breeze out the door at 3.30 with a smile and I'm stuck there till 6.30 every night. There's always so much to do and I feel like I'm constantly on a treadmill with no exit!

Anyone done similar? AIBU? Dp doesn't want me to do it at all and is being off with me for even considering it.

For those who were happy but are considering leaving now -when did it start to change?

For me, it's been within the last 2 years-things seemed tough but bearable before that.

if anyone can, emigration is a brilliant option for teachers. every teacher i have ever met who now teaches abroad, loves it. the only exception was someone who didnt research the school beforehand

The only people who are seeing this for the huge problem that it is are teachers.
Teaching will end up as a relatively short-term career, 10-15 years at most, and then the majority will move into other forms and patterns of work. Some in teaching, but part-time or supply. Some in completely different jobs.
Perhaps it's just evolution and natural selection at work?
20th century expectations and understandings changing for the 21st century?

No, I don't agree Downbytheriverside. The nature of the job has changed so much. The pressure caused by targets, OFSTED, performance related, pressure from parents etc pay is immense and teachers are no longer able to just go into the classroom and teach. I think the only reason that 'the only people seeing this as a problem is teachers' is that it's difficult for anyone else to really understand what it's like.

My son's friend is male and a primary teacher, married with no children. He is managing with a job share because he gets quality of life and spare time.

I'm not sure on either count.

I think problems vary from school to school. For a myriad of reasons I have a lot of bottom sets just at the moment and planning for them is timely but marking not so much. Also behaviour stresses me out.

I think there is a problem of 'competitive workload' - you so often hear teachers out vying one another as to who arrived earliest, left the latest, did nothing else all weekend/holiday other than work and if you object people crossly say you're not doing your job properly, as they have to work XYZ hours and it STILL isn't all done. I've had people be downright rude to me because I do have a varied life outside of teaching involving a costly and time consuming hobby and I leave early for this reason.

Until last year I was head of English; I may go back to it, I may not (had to relocate) but all the cries about so much work are a bit alien to me if I'm honest, I have always found teacher workload manageable, although in April/may at secondary it intensifies then settles a wee bit come June and July.

I did have some really shocking teachers when I was at school who humiliated children with special needs, condoned bullying, never marked our books and 'planned' by thumping textbooks in front of us so I don't really mind that this had to change. I'd like to see disruptive behaviour properly dealt with without blaming teachers for starters and I also think anything that doesn't directly benefit the children (I know a lot of this happens in primary schools) needs to go, but then I do think a lot of that has been addressed with PPA and with 24 tasks. I'd also like capability, when it's needed, to be properly supportive and not a way to drive an unwanted member of staff out as frankly that's disagraceful.

I do seem to be very speedy at marking though which perhaps skews my view somewhat.

Ah, I expressed myself badly Puds. It is a huge problem, and I agree completely with what you said:

'The nature of the job has changed so much. The pressure caused by targets, OFSTED, performance related, pressure from parents etc pay is immense and teachers are no longer able to just go into the classroom and teach'

I started teaching in the early 80s and left a permanent post a couple of years ago. There will be no solution to the problem until others outside teaching see the issues for what they are, rather than perceiving it incorrectly as the whinging of a protected, pampered workforce with long holidays.
Otherwise we won't keep staff in the classrooms for longer than a decade.

Absolutely agree Downbytheriverside. Perhaps we need to forward this thread to Nicky Morgan......

A few people are have seen as it's the first time i've felt like this I should wait a bit and see. It's not the first time I've considered leaving but it's the first time I've thought that I need to tell Dp I'm not happy and have been looking into resignation dates etc.
There are some things at my current school which are incredibly frustrating and I am powerless to change... Would be recognizable if I typed them here but they're really by the by in this situation.

Another thing that makes me feel that this time is a little different as we're constantly being given new initiatives, updated planning formats etc and I actually don't care anymore.... So many demands and I am almost past the point of caring at all. I know where I need my class to get to and know how id like to get them there and just wish I could get on with it.

I'd try changing schools first then.
As a supply in primary I get to see all the little independent dictatorships that heads have built for themselves, and how things like planning and marking expectations differ hugely from one school to the next.

I work in various schools as a play therapist and they vary enormously depending on the Head Teacher, some act like Lord Beauregarde of the 5th Plantation and run it like their own personal fiefdom, others are very "hands off" and some strike a decent balance. One of my schools is being inspected next week and the pressure on the (very high calibre) teaching staff is enormous, they are all demented, crying losing weight and generally knocking themselves ill. It's a very difficult job.

I know where you are coming from OP. Sometimes I would kill for a job where I can leave at the end of the day and switch off - it's the evening planning / marking that I feel impacts on family life the most. But I'm the main breadwinner in our family so it's not going to happen any time soon.

On the positive side though, I had the most awful class last year - 34 of them and a couple of real energy sappers behaviour wise, but my class this year are lovely and I feel much more positive about the profession again, so if this is the first time you have felt like this it might just be a case of riding it out. I'm also in a school where the head is reasonably realistic with her expectations and that makes a difference too.

A change of school might help. It is true that as supply you get to see all sorts and they vary enormously. The joy of supply is that you can refuse certain schools. My local school had a new Head and she cleared out the staff, they voted with their feet. One year on 5 of the new staff went- which tells you a lot about the Head!

I am only in my second year of teaching and I am seriously considering this. I am enthusiastic, I love the children, I love making my classroom exciting and homely. I am in most weekends to sort everything out and I am exhausted. I feel guilty when I go out because it means I might not get books marked or whatever. And on top of that I am constantly being told that what I am doing is not good enough meaning my self esteem has taken such a bruising I feel nervous every time someone from SMT walks into the room as they will find something I am doing wrong/not doing.

Not much use to that rant just saying I understand. And I can't believe I am at this point not even two years in :(

I'm a teacher in an indie secondary school and have lots of pressures (although different ones to those in a state school) on me. I would never encourage anyone to become a teacher; it is the most soul destroying, toxic and cancerous job I can imagine. I have worked in tough state comps as well as working as a manager in industry before entering teaching so I have a fairly wide field of experience to draw upon.

The job isn't what it was 15 years ago (not for the better either) and the government's expectation that all children have to be better than average (WTAF?) is ludicrous but ensures school managers pile the pressure upon classroom teachers.

I love being in the classroom with children - I do adore the actual teaching aspect of my job - but the rest of it is awful and unfortunately it's this other BS which occupies much of a teacher's day.

So back to the OP I say hang tight, see what other opportunity are out there and then make your move. Being a HLTA will bring a cut in salary but if you are able to offer tuition on top you might find your salary isn't so bad.

If nothing else, I think you should look at moving schools as a compromise with your husband. I think he will probably be a lot more sympathetic if you show that you are genuinely trying to find a satisfying job that doesn't massively reduce your household income. If moving schools doesn't sort it out, you can think again.

Have you thought about moving to the independent sector? I teach in an independent senior school and taught in a different indepdent senior school before this. Both are lovely schools and neither was bothered about ofsted/paperwork - get in the classroom and teach tends to be the motto! They do expect a lot more from you in terms of extra curricular involvement though - sport, societies, chapel services, boarding duty if it's a boarding school.

Do you still have PMR, termly observations, learning walks, book scrutinies, climate walks, target setting etc in private schools? What about pensions/pay scales/national curriculum/PPA/planning and marking expectations
How does it differ from state schools on a day to day basis?

I went from FT to supply (loved it) and then a dream PPA cover job. Go for it! I have a life back and my marking is 10% of what it was and the planning SO MUCH nicer.

I still get the INSET, the training. I work 2.75 pw, and am often asked to cover in-house which I then claim back. I love it. I actually enjoy teaching again. I took a cut in wages ( went from an academy with no pay-scale promise, to a new school and down a scale, plus hours), but it was TOTALLY worth it. My performance management is fine: subject based rather than attainment based, and i'm very happy with that.

This isn't something I want to discuss with my head till I'm sure. I may start looking at other avenues and looking around for other options. I would need to keep a reasonably good job due to paying our mortgage.

It's a good idea to look Penguin, and get a feel for what else is around. Nobody else needs to know. I'm constantly stalking the TES app!

roll on the summer

PMR - no idea what that is. Ditto learning walks/climate walks. Never even heard of either. Book scrutinies I presume is management looking at kids exercise books? Nope. Never happened in either school I've been in. No target setting either. I got observed by my HoD twice in my first year and now will be observed by him or SMTP once a year.

Pay scale is well above national scale, but as I say I work far longer hours - teaching day is 0845-18.10, plus I am required to do 6+ hours of sport, evenign duties etc.

I am a member of the teachers pension scheme as I would be in state sector and school pay in to it on a match basis.

We are not bound by the national curriculum although of course if we want them to sit national exams we must teach them the syllabus!

Don't know what PPA is.

Planning is left to the individual teacher, no formal lesson plans are required nor have I ever had to show anyone my plans.

I was a primary teacher for many years. Eventually couldn't take it any longer and left. I walked into a new job at a local college, stayed there for several years then got another job at a secondary school. I'm not teaching, and obviously took a big pay hit but I enjoy my job and will probably stay on after my official retirement date (so you can tell I was in my late 50s when I left teaching). I do sometimes wish I had tried the independent sector to see if that was any more bearable as I loved the actual teaching, just loathed the behavioural issues in a difficult school and the constant 'initiatives'.

There is life out there!

How does one look for jobs in the independent sector? There are quite a few independent schools very near to me but have no idea where they might advertise.
What is the tes app? I use their forums but didn't know of an app!

Independent schools are also listed in The TES. You can just google TES jobs or, if you have a tablet, download TES jobs app.