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

[malificent7]

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?

There are other jobs available between teacher or shop/factory work. A poster up thread had a DH who became a corporate suit and loves it. By contrast my DH was a corporate suit first and finds teaching a piece of piss compared to working in the oil industry. It is horses for courses - people that find teaching impossibly hard are obviously ill-suited to the profession should get out - you can't be a good teacher if it totally stresses you to fuck and it really isn't fair on the kids who only get one chance at school.

people that find teaching impossibly hard are obviously ill-suited to the profession

This is incorrect. The growing realisation is that the profession is ill-suited to human beings. So many initiatives are now being set-up around reducing workload in schools to try to stem the flow of teachers quitting. I know many who have quit after more than a decade or even two in teaching stating that the workload and pressure are now unsustainable.

Teachers on here do seem to think they are a special breed.

Being a lawyer is hard, being a Dr is hard, being a nurse is hard, being in many professions is hard and makes you ill with stress. But most dony get such long holidays

I've known a few ex solicitor friends who gave up law to do teachinv and are still there.

I am yet to meet a teacher who has given up teaching to do law.

But you're not teacher

You're not a teacher
( that'll teach me )

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

There's lots of jobs other than teacher or factory / shop worker. Honestly op you come across as if don't want to help yourself and that's why people have been frustrated on previous threads.

Teachers on here do seem to think they are a special breed.
The challenges of each job are different.

The differenve between teachers and solicitors is that solicitors don't have people tell them how to do their jobs because they watch judge rinder once. Nor do they have people saying they couldnt manage in 'the real world'.

Teachers have endless people telling them how to do their jobs because they happen to have a sprog of theit own and went to school once.

I think some teachers whine far too much but i also think MN highlighys how much shit teachers deal with from people who havent a clue about the job

The thing is most jobs are incredibly hard, every professional job entails running the gauntlet of red tape, office politics, moaning clients, lack of resources, long hours and unrealistic expectations. Apparently, according to studies factory work is the most stressful job. This week, I have spent hours doing yet more ethics training, inputting details about my DHs underlying pension fund into a system, setting goals for people, attending shit compulsory meeting run solely for the benefit of the organisers career progression. Now I’m behind on my work and have to do extra hours. It’s life, teachers often have never been out of an educational setting and don’t realise most jobs come with the same shit different view. If teaching doesn’t suit go and do something else, we haven’t got jobs assigned to us.

Someone just posted on the teacher recruitment thread in secondary education about the high dropout rate on her DD’s teacher training course already. And they said ‘The majority of drop outs were older career changers’
Which suggests that the problem isn’t teachers thinking the grass is greener because they have no experience outside education. That comment suggests that those trainees knew the grass was greener elsewhere.

I've no doubt teaching is hard. I couldn't do it. But as a nurse with several weeks less paid time away from the workplace per year to recover, likely less pay, having to work significant unsocial hours -Christmas Day etc, and with more serious repercussions for errors made, you're far from being alone who feels their choice of occupation is 'gruelling'. Many jobs are, some more than others it seems.

The differenve between teachers and solicitors is that solicitors don't have people tell them how to do their jobs because they watch judge rinder once.

Wrong. You're not a soliciotr so what would you know.

I am sick and I am tired of clients saying they want a lie detector test on the other party, they want a subpoena on someone, they've looked up cases in America and people get more money there.

I am sick of tired of clients thinking they know more than me as they have watched US legal dramas.

So you are wrong. It happens in all professions. Drs get patients thinking they know it all from looking at it on Google

NamasteNiki
Sorry I really didn't explain what I meant. I meant as in sweeping generalisations about a sector rather than individual interactions
E.g. I never see threads saying 'why do solicitors always do...' in thr same way you see ones about teachers/nurses/social workers (at least on here anyway)

The dr google thing must be infuriating too.

I guess what I was trying (and failed to do) was say that you don't seem to get the same nastiness and pile one mob mentality about othet professions the way you do on teacher threads (othet than nurses and social workers).

I think some teachers are total moaning minnies and need to stop being mood hoovers, but I also think some of the complaining is justified.

Which suggests that the problem isn’t teachersthinkingthe grass is greener because they have no experience outside education. That comment suggests that those traineesknewthe grass was greener elsewhere
I'm the only career changer from my cohort of trainees still teaching. All the other career changers eventually went into something education based but not mainstream teaching, went into higher study or left within 5 years.

If I'd stayed in one of my early career schools i would probabbly have left as well. I chose to find a great school where I feel valued, am very happy with a reasonable work/life balance (as good as it gets in teaching 7:30-5 / 8-6 ish day depending).

Why would anyone have a go at you for being PT? If you can afford to be PT and it suits you, then be part time and ignore any idiot who has a go at you. If you can't afford to be part time... well, there's not much you can do about that, other than go full time!

I fully sympathise about the job, as I am a teacher too. But essentially you put up with it or you leave teaching. The more teachers leave, the greater the likelihood that the government will be forced to do something to make it a more attractive profession.

People quite rightly point out that teachers do not have a monopoly on overwork and crap conditions, but if teachers' 'whinging' continues to be ignored, there simply will not be enough teachers to teach the country's children. And that will not exactly improve the lives of private sector employed parents. So it is in their interest to support teachers, not scoff at their complaints about the state of the education system. If people don't give a shit that their kids are probably being taught by a bunch of unqualified cover supervisors, then crack on with the scoffing.

I guess what I was trying (and failed to do) was say that you don't seem to get the same nastiness and pile one mob mentality about othet professions the way you do on teacher threads (othet than nurses and social workers).

Yes you do.

Everyone hates lawyers. Clients blame us for everything and we're profoundly mistrusted.

You might see more teacher bashing on here because of the demographic. Parents but it exists everywhere in all professions.

The particular challenge of being a teacher is that everyone thinks they can do what they do better, and holds them in pretty low esteem because of the amount of time off received. That and the government changing the rules every 2 seconds.

The actual teaching and peripherals would be ok if the profession were respected more

I hear people moan about jobs all the time - the answer is always the same, it's your choice - change to a different job if you want to. Not qualified? That's up to you to sort out as well - make choices instead of moaning about past choices.

So, lets just assume (even if it's not the case) that teaching pays what it pays and is 16 hour days for 360 days of the year. It doesn't really matter - it is what it is - if you don't want to do it, just change to a job that you feel meets the pay/life balance/stress/difficulty balance your prepared and able to do - just don't moan when it turns out it isn't as you thought.

The problem is that lots of teachers are following that advice and quitting Blink and the country can't afford to lose them as there is a critical teacher shortage.

Spartan - respect is earned; and my sister would be my brother is she was a boy.

If teaching as it is isn't the right job, just change rather than trying to change the job or moaning about it.

Maybe it's the people doing the teaching job that are the problem rather than the job.

Do you have kids in a state school, Blink? Because if you do, you should be worried.

I’m part time and have never been criticised for it, on here or in real life. I've never seen anyone be criticised for it on here

Are you a single parent? I have gone from full time to supply and the relief is enormous. The financial reality is minimum wage since secondary schools get away with cover supervisor rates of £60 a day or less. When you factor in 13 weeks a year you can’t get paid and then the days there is no work, well, it is truly appalling....

Anyway, there is huge criticism. I get it constantly. People are very vocal about how they perceive my life should be. Full time I was bad because my children were in childcare from morn till dusk. Now I’m bad because earning less makes me ‘on benefits’ and that simply won’t do either. I have learned to ignore it and do what I consider is best for my family and right now I don’t have the headspace for a full time position with exam responsibility. And actually, you wouldn’t want me teaching your children because neither my head nor my heart could make it work.

So yes, OP. I get it. It will be a bun fight but you need to do what works for you.

noblegiraffe - I don't see it that way. The country can well afford to lose those teachers that quite frankly can't cut it. They should have been managed out by the poor management in most schools within 2-3 months of not being able to cope or give strong results.

Why do the best graduates not choose teaching? It has so much to do with the closed culture that protects poor performance.

Personally, I want to see someone have 15+ years experience out of teaching and prove they can cut it elsewhere and reach a high level before they could teach anyone. I'm thankful my physics and chemistry teachers did so, and then decided to teach with real enthusiasm.

If teaching as it is isn't the right job, just change rather than trying to change the job

But the job desperately needs changing! If nobody complains about it, nobody will know how badly it needs changing!

You really don't know what you're talking about, Blink