To still want to pursue a career in secondary school teaching even though everything I’ve read warns me off?

[Overmydeadbody456]

I am in the finance industry at the moment, and have been for 15 years. I’ve been wanting to be a teacher for years, but got complacent and kept pushing it further down the line. Pay and bonuses in my field are good which I would say was the main reason, however the job is very stressful and I’m just getting tired of it

This year, I feel i’ve developed this overwhelming urge that I need to move into a vocation that I actually want to do. Teaching has always seemed so much fun and rewarding. But any teachers I speak to or any forums I read all are advising people not to move into it because of all the red tape and funding cuts.
Has anyone here decided to completely switch careers and move into teaching despite being warned not to?
My subject would probably be business studies/economics

I’ve been doing it for over 20 years and in maths. I adore my time in the classroom with the kids but I’ve been working till 10/11 every night this week plus all day yesterday and today and I’m still not done. I also know that tomorrow I’ll be given another different professional development target (that I won’t have even thought of) to ensure I’m not being lazy. I teach in an outstanding school.
Can you deal with behaviour issues? Classroom management is the biggest thing. It doesn’t matter how enthusiastic you are about your subject, you need to be able to control 34 kids that couldn’t care less.
Can you deal with the mental health difficulties that lots of kids have nowadays? I have several that self harm. We have autistic students now in mainstream with little support in lessons. Funding is non existent and we have to do so much with so little. It’s very rewarding but incredibly soul destroying.
Think carefully, I wouldn’t be teaching now if I could do something else. Unfortunately my skill is classroom management and I still love the pesky lot. I’ve never had a kid I can’t like. I’ve taught some unpleasant kids and some who are downright dangerous, but I still liked them.

@Overmydeadbody456 I work in further education with people who need employability skills. I have just finished a BA in English and would like to teach English either in secondary or in a college at GCSE level with students who have struggled to get their grade C but still need them to complete their vocational courses.

I've been thinking about it for years but working in a college environment has given me a real passion for education and the DC are old enough now that I feel I could dedicate the time to it.

@bobbiepin thank you that sounds exhausting but it’s been really useful to have that level of insight about the “day job”

I can’t believe the hours you all work. Are your partners understanding? You must go to bed every single night just mentally drained.
I have 2 kids under 3yrs old and I am worried that I won’t be able to put in the extra hours just yet. If overtime is very common then maybe I need to hold fire for a few more years.

@Name7 - the behavioural aspect is interesting - the only thing I think would help me in this environment is that I feel like I have a good way of talking to kids. I used to do some mentoring at a college for kids interested in getting into banking and i used to really be able to talk to the kids and develop a rapport with them. But that was 1:1 and I know it will be completely different in a classroom setting with a pack mentality. You’ve given me lots to think about

As a PP has mentioned, salaried places tend to go to those who have experience of working in a school. You are expected to pick up teaching hours much quicker than non-salaried. Teach First would be an option but also has its challenges.

I'm thinking of retraining as a Primary School teacher.
I've looked at the Schools Direct route & isn't that the one where you only have 6wks training before starting in the school? Also as I understand it whilst you are qualified at the end, the qualification isn't recognised abroad so you couldn't teach overseas if that was something you'd be interested in. Only full PGCEs are recognised. I could be wrong though, still looking into the many various routes.

I'm a bit surprised that you are shocked at the hours tbh. That's the main complaint from most teachers!

In my nqt year I had a "I wont work past midnight" rule. That was fun. Still didn't get everything done. YOU CAN NEVER GET EVERYTHING DONE!

At my favourite school (lovely private girls' school, small classes) I was in school 7.45-6. That meant that, in general, I didn't need to work at home in the week. I would do a couple of hours on Sunday still.

All school holidays I would be working for some of it. I'd usually do one full day at work in a week's holiday- I concentrate better if I go into school and it means I don't have to lug loads of books home. Two or three days over the xmas and easter breaks. In the summer hols I'd plan to spend all of the final week working.

That worked ok before I had kids. It doesn't now, so I'm out. On mat leave and not going back.

The hours are huge. And a lot of it is spent doing shit with data that means nothing and pointless. That's hard to stomach.

Average secondary teacher works 55 hours a week, while being paid for 32.5 hours directed time a week. Often more on your training and NQT years. Just have a look around the staffroom board on here.

I can’t remember not feeling exhausted!

Oh and if you teach maths you will have your pick of schools. Business not so much.

In the current climate I would not recommend it on any level. It's soul destroying. Spending a few days in a school does not give you a realistic idea as to what it is like on any level. There is a reason why so many teachers leave the profession after just five years.

Don’t do it. I wake up every morning with an overwhelming sense of gratitude that I have retired from teaching.

Overmydesdbody456 I am a single parent and work full time in secondary teaching four subjects... if I hadn't been doing this job for over a decade and worked out how to manage my time extremely fucking carefully, I would probably be in a strait jacket by now.

Just wanted to make sure that this is another thing that screams DO NOT DO THIS AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE at you. I was a core subject teacher for 12yrs. Robust in terms of mental health but after I developed a physical illness and my school was unsupportive I became very depressed. DH is a secondary school teacher- he also hates it. So does every bugger I know in the job. If your current job pays well and has bonuses that’s two more pluses than teaching.

I have been teaching 9 years, I moved from Financial Analyst role in a Blue Chip company.

I love it, its constant and full on in term time. Depending on school workload can be excessive, my current school is focussing massively on workload reduction, so if they add anything else in to do something gets dropped, so I don't find it too overwhelming.

I dropped to part time (3 days) after my oldest's mat leave, I can manage 3 days with a 4 and 2 year old, I don't think I would manage 5 days, part time has its draw backs - everyone of my classes are shared which adds to the the workload.

I have a lot of admiration for those who work full time with small children, I know I couldn't do it.

I have a very supportive partner who is not a teacher.

Also unless you have an understanding school things, its hard to get time off for things like settling in sessions at primary school, school plays etc.

I want to do a Primary PGCE, I volunteer one day a week in a school. I enjoy it and the teachers have been encouraging me to apply.

Thing is, on the Internet, nobody likes their job. Retail, office work, nursing etc. Most people work unpaid overtime in stressful conditions it seems.

I don’t know what jobs these days don’t have unrealistic expectations, low pay for the hours and responsibilities and dealing with difficult people and situations. Lottery winner maybe?

I went to a schools direct information evening recently. it’s not salaried, i think that’s the GTS you’re thinking of? the scheme i was informed about is linked with a local university, you definitely get a full PGCE at the end of it.

I would never tell anyone not to do it but highly recommend contacting local schools to ask if you could go in to shadow to get a real feel for it.

I teach a core shortage subject so getting a new job on a part time basis wasn't hard.

I also refuse to let it take over my life too much - I work at school, I do some on a Sunday night, a bit on my other nights of the week but not excessive amounts.

I can also manage to run a guide unit weekly, (just back from a camp weekend), go to personal clubs in the week, plus run around on my days off for my children.

It is a case of working smartly, and is a lot easier 9 years in. I have enough resources to plan a lesson within minutes now.

Are you in England or Scotland? From what I've heard England is much more stressful as it seems to be very result lead. I'm in Scotland and I adore my job as a primary teacher and regular encourage others to go for it. We just got a 10% pay rise too!

If overtime is very common then maybe I need to hold fire for a few more years

Yes "overtime" is a necessity. The year I trained I averaged 4hrs each evening (Fridays off) and about another 4 hrs at the weekend. So 20hrs "overtime" and my working day began around 7.30 and finished around 4ish on average. So my weeks were 62ish hrs work. I kept telling myself it was for the qualification. NQT year was only marginally better and yes it did improve a bit after that but I would still expect to work every evening for a couple of hours.

What is hard to write down though is how it feels, the constant feeling of drowning under the workload, waking up in middle of the night because you forgot to respond to an email or to remind yourself to contact James Smith's form tutor about your concerns and you keep a list by your bed of things so that you don't forget in the morning and you just always feel like you are failing someone. Schools and leaders vary in their supportiveness so obviously that can have a huge impact. Behaviour varies in schools but it is quite common for teachers to feel unsupported by leadership. You may think "I'll just put them in detention if they mess about" but what if their mum rings up and claims you are picking on their child and leadership take her side? Now you have to face that child 4 lessons a week and they know they've won and they swear and they refuse to work and they chat to their friends and throw things across the room and when you challenge them they laugh in your face.

I haven't even talked about the paperwork and admin and ofsted and observations. I can't stress enough how this job will impact on your life. I would never ever recommend this job to anyone.

Yes Scotland definitely much better. Having taught in both.

Not a teacher, but DH is (maths). He's in work 7:30 - 5:30 every day (sometimes a bit longer, sometimes slightly shorter but when shorter he will nearly always end up making up that time).

Monday to Thursday he works about 3hrs at home. Friday night he has off, but is usually so exhausted he's asleep on the sofa not long past 9pm. Saturday he has off and then he works again on Sunday for about 5hrs.

He loves his job and I don't think he'd want to do another, but if I had my time again, I wouldn't marry a teacher. We have a 2.5yo DD and although he wants another child, his lack of work/life balance is one major reason I'm not sure I can see it happening.

Thank you for sharing your experiences, I really appreciate the info and honest accounts. You do amazing jobs

The first thing I am going to do is the shadowing and take it from there. I need to know if my view is rose tinted and if I have the mental strength to hack it.

My husband has come into teaching this year as a career changer. He’s done teach first. He has no regrets and is less stressed than his previous job (which probably says more about old job!) but is working very hard with lots of overtime. I don’t think he would recommend teach first - he was teaching an 80% timetable with minimal support after 5 weeks of summer school and his school has also not been hugely supportive. But he is really happy in the job. Working hard every night to prepare lessons as the school has no pre existing resources that anyone has shared and writing 20 lessons from scratch each week has taken a while. But he’s enjoyed it. Having said that he’s come from working in some very challenging environments including previous nursing work in inpatient CAMHS units.

I am/ was in a similar position, after 15 years in senior IT roles I had a 1 year career break, I applied and got a job to do secondary geography from this September with teach first - they are the ones with only 6 weeks training! But it’s fully salaried, after 2 years you get a PGDE (not PGCE) which means your a big essay or two away from a masters. And a PGDE is worth more credits than a PGCE. They pay all your fees. For me it was perfect.
Then I got offered a senior IT role 10 minutes from home paying 3x the teaching salary and I couldn’t say no. Those jobs never come along locally.
I always wonder what if.... but as an experienced hire defo look at teach first. They get a lot of negative press but are one of the largest grad recruiters, and have a lot of positives.

You definitely need some schools experience OP.

I contacted 12 primary schools and only 2 got back to me. I also recommend going to events organised by Get Into Teaching and they also do school experience days. Their website is really helpful. I’ve also gone along to university post grad open days to get information.