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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that many people have no idea how hard teaching is like?

193 replies

malificent7 · 05/12/2017 19:54

I have been criticised on here by some for not teaching full time as i have PGCE. The truth is it makes me ill. It is at least a 60 hour week and o cant cope with the politics, classroom management and workload.

Plus most of the contracts are short term. I am crap at ill i feel and have been managed out before.

I now teach pt and do care work pt. I am skint but happy. Aibu to not teach ft and to think many have no idea how greulling it is?

OP posts:
KathArtic · 05/12/2017 22:48

I raised this on a couple of threads because you have complained about being on benefits and of having no money.

In reality you are an educated woman who could gain good employment both in and out of teaching but instead you complain about being on Universal Credit, working zero hours contracts, of being a TA and doing carework.

You have good qualifications, experience and skills which you could (and should) use to improve your situation. Many professions are hard work but I think it is working in general that you don't like.

Also you have benefitted from a generous inheritance which appears to have gone.

OwlinaTree · 05/12/2017 22:50

I get there for about 825 and leave about 530 most days. About 40 mins for lunch. That seems reasonable to me.

Lollipop30 · 05/12/2017 22:51

I loved my job as a teacher and will go back. I knew the work involved and the long hours before getting into it. I’m aware I’ll never earn a patch on my DH but I found something I loved doing.
My biggest bugbear is when so many people have so little respect for teachers in their cushy jobs. My own mother commented the other day about how easy it was as you only work 9-3 and then get a holiday every 6weeks. I mean she actually saw the fact that DD had to be in childcare from 7:30-5:30 daily and that’s not including the extra bits once she was in bed.
The problem is it’s soul destroying doing something that others think is easy. Any teacher that actually only works 9-3 must be crap.

OwlinaTree · 05/12/2017 22:52

No break and no lunch due to people wanting things from me

What does this mean? Do you eat?

Woodman03 · 05/12/2017 22:53

I have several friends that are teachers, ones that went straight into teaching, its the hardest job in the world. A few who worked in industry first think it's less demanding than there previous jobs. One who was in the police for several years says it's easy.

OwlinaTree · 05/12/2017 22:54

It's the marking that's the killer. Your school policy on marking is what can really make the difference imho.

OwlinaTree · 05/12/2017 22:57

It's a great job if you enjoy it.

Wilburissomepig · 05/12/2017 22:58

whilst they work fairly long hours in term time - 8-5/5.30

No teacher I know works those hours unless they’re part time and working on their day off.

Every teacher I know works these kind of hours, at the very least. I'm a cover supervisor and every single teacher in my school works silly hours.

blue25 · 05/12/2017 23:03

Agree that lots of people have hard jobs, not just teachers. It does seem to be teachers who do a lot of the moaning and expect the sympathy though. I've do wonder why more don't move onto a different role if it's that bad.

NovemberWitch · 05/12/2017 23:11

Many of them do. Smile
Haven’t you noticed over the last 10 years? Schools are increasingly staffed by part-timers, NQTs or supply.

Original poster
malificent7 · 05/12/2017 23:24

I actually do love to work ...i could never be a sahm. Trouble is i have chosen the wrong profession...i actually hate it at times.
FT my mental health suffered and i was bullied out.
I can sustain pt work without ending up in hospital.

The reason why i started this thread is due to so many people saying i should do ft as i have a bad financial situation. This is true but it's tgat or a breakdown . I could ft work in a factory, shop etc but not as a teacger. It's these people who say i should go vavk because of mobey who donthave a clue....its not laziness...its to sace my sanity!

I love the care work but the homes gave been mostly privatised

OP posts:
Original poster
malificent7 · 05/12/2017 23:25

Typos...aggggrrr!

OP posts:
kaytee87 · 05/12/2017 23:26

So do a different full time job?

Nottheduchessofcambridge · 05/12/2017 23:33

Nurses do a hard job, they work all hours, 12 hour shifts. Deal with all sorts of stressful situation, you never get nurses moaning about it though, it must come down to job satisfaction. Maybe they feel satisfied enough that they don’t have to moan, or maybe they are just too tired to moan. I get that teacher jobs are hard, they must be, we hear so much about how hard they are. You can always leave though, go for a job you love and enjoy doing, doesn’t feel like Work then.

sweetkitty · 05/12/2017 23:34

I'm a NQT and am nearly on my knees the holidays cannot come quick enough, I work 8.30-5pm due to childcare then 8.30-10.30-11 at home, only have a Saturday off, I'm finding it very hard to balance this level of work and family life. I'm seriously thinking of dropping a day if I can next year.

CheeriosEverywhere · 05/12/2017 23:36

The reason why i started this thread is due to so many people saying i should do ft as i have a bad financial situation

If you complain about having no money what do you expect people to say other than work more hours?
Nobody actually cares what you work as or how many hours. It's just a sensible response when you bring it up. If you don't want a sensible suggestion, stop complaining about being poor!

willstarttomorrow · 05/12/2017 23:43

I could not be a teacher, I work with teachers as a social worker. Every single one of them works far excess of the hours they are paid. Most of that extra time is not teaching. Part of the problem is because everyone has been to school they think they know about teaching. It is the same with social work. Every one has been parented, know a parent or they are a parent. So everyone is an expert.

noblegiraffe · 05/12/2017 23:47

Teacher recruitment against targets for this year.
If you're advising teachers who don't like it to quit, be careful what you wish for, especially if you've got kids in school who you don't fancy being taught by an unqualified teacher, a string of supply teachers, or in a class of 50+.

To think that many people have no idea how hard teaching is like?
GrockleBocs · 05/12/2017 23:50

Is the " like" a rouge word op? I don't understand your header.

Grin at rouge (which my autocorrect tried to make rogue)

I'd not teach for all the tea in Tesco.

Esspee · 05/12/2017 23:50

Can I echo the first responder to the OP who doubted you are a teacher. The heading you gave to your post isn't grammatically correct (nothing to do with typos). Standards are slipping if you are a teacher.

NovemberWitch · 05/12/2017 23:51

OP, if you can’t be a teacher, then don’t be. But complaining about money issues, saying that you are unhappy with your current situation on many levels and doing nothing to change it is also bad for your mental health.
Don’t teach. Make a short-term and a long term plan and dig yourself out of the shirt you are in because no one else will do it for you.
Or you can stay on MN complaining for the next decade about the same issues.

NovemberWitch · 05/12/2017 23:54

Interesting, noblegiraffe. Primary exceeds their target and has a very high drop out rate in the first 3 years. More proof of unrealistic expectations and reality colliding?

NovemberWitch · 05/12/2017 23:55

I wonder why my autocorrect dislikes ‘shit’ and prefers ‘shirt’?
OP, I have no opinion on the shirt you may or may not be in.

starzig · 06/12/2017 00:05

Oh my. Hasn't everyone else got such a light workload not being a teacher. What on earth does everyone else think they are playing at not doing 169 hr a week.

manicinsomniac · 06/12/2017 00:31

The reason why i started this thread is due to so many people saying i should do ft as i have a bad financial situation. This is true but it's tgat or a breakdown . I could ft work in a factory, shop etc but not as a teacger

But you'll be earning more as a part time teacher than you would working full time in a factory or a shop.

So I don't see the problem.