Is teaching really so stressful?

[summertime06]

Really trying to get my head around this without getting flamed. I have a good friend who is a teacher, part time since having kids, doing the same hours as me (I'm not a teacher), 3 days a week.

For the past year or two, all I ever heard when we met up was how stressful her job was, how difficult it was to be a teacher and a mum at the same time etc etc. I get that there's work to be done outside teaching hours, but I do the same in my completely different job and just get on with it, I think it's part of the job when you get up the pay scale/responsibility level a bit. Any time I did mention that things were similar in my job, I was put down, I couldn't possibly understand how stressful it was to be a teacher?!

And now she's made the decision to take a career break for a few years because there's just no way she can continue to be a teacher and a mum to 3 young kids. That's fine if that's what she wants to do but she's making out that she's been left with no choice but to make this decision because teaching is just so difficult. Is it just me or am I missing something? I get that it can be stressful as are lots of other jobs, but there are surely also lots of advantages? Not having to sort out summer camps and childcare during school holidays? Is it really so much more difficult and stressful compared to other jobs? I genuinely want to understand!

recrudescence
I don't think everything is always manageable. As I have said REPEATEDLY I've nearly left the profession.

I do think that it's better to have a discussion about the challenges than tell people not to bother because it's all terrible. I've been in a few state secondaries and some of them are chalk and cheese.

I'll tell people that in some schools X Y Z, others do A B C, Ofsted can cause issues because... One thing to be aware of is... It would be silly, to me, to write off all state secondaries just because I've experienced some awful ones.

@YourSarcasmIsDripping
It is very weird. It's the classic workplace moaner that exists in every work place.

Moan when things aren't very good or could be better (understandable)
Moan about how their job is so much more stressful than others doing the same job.
Moan when people share new ideas to make life easier or try to change things for the better.
Moan when SLT (or management in other jobs) do anything nice or to reduce workload.
Keep doing the same thing they've always done and then moan about that.
Make stupid digs and comments to anyone who doesn't wish to join in the moanathon.

HOWEVER, despite everything, despite the relentlessness of it all, there are still enough good times to make it worthwhile.
They can be funny, witty, intelligent, interesting, perceptive, hardworking, eager to learn & share, inciteful, creative and good fun to be around. Never dull that's for sure.

I'm only as far as page 4 of this thread and have to say i really needed a dose of something positive. There's so much negativity around teaching. I'm terrified tbh as DH is currently teacher training to teach computer science at secondary level. After years of doing an awful physically exhausting job, it's his last hope. I think he has a flair for teaching but he hasn't even got into the classroom yet! Please someone tell me something good about it! (Admittedly i do have to read another 15 pages but so far i'm not feeling good about it)

I teach two days a week and I'm usually up until 12/1 in the morning working including at weekends. Apart from the actual teaching hours, I have the same workload as full time teachers in terms of planning schemes of work for the whole department, planning trips etc, marking as often as FT. I have 5 classes, so 2.5 sets of books to mark per week and I only work 2 days. There's barely time to eat or go to the toilet. I can't remember the last time I had a hot drink at work. It's a 5 minute walk to fill up my water bottle.

There are sometimes weeks where things are better and I get to bed earlier.

I've never worked as anything else so O can't compare it to other careers. I'm just looking forward to having all the holidays with my DS.
DS is 21 months. I couldn't do more than 2 days and make it work.

I'm still working that late at this point in the term too.

@BooseysMom the kids can be amazing,funny,engaged,inquisitive. Some of the parents are great too. The lightbulb moments are brilliant. Small achievements in some way that really give you a purpose. You can form some really good bonds and care about the kids and they care back about you. A hug from the non touchy ASD kid. There are many upsides and they mostly involve the kids. There are many downsides too but that's mostly SLT,school ethos,workload, pointless paperwork and hoop jumping etc.

I managed somehow today to get a whole (considered tricky) class to sit down and be quiet by mostly hand gestures. It was like fucking magic and it made my day.

@BooseysMom
He needs to choose his NQT school carefully. There are some schools that chew staff up and spit them out, but others are really supportive.

There's no avoiding some of the external pressure and society's belief in places that teachers work til 3:30 and have half the year off. There are hoops you have to jump through like any profession. Unfortunately, some of the stresses on this thread are part of teaching (e.g. cuts to specialist services, changing parental expectations, Ofsted and league tables).

There are many good things: sharing your subject with students (knowing a good proportion may never love it but you can still make a difference), having a form group and seeing them grow up and mature, the moment a student gets something they've struggled with, when students trust you with things they are struggling with, the ability to have your own room and craft your own lessons, have your own approach, getting to know the students.
In a good school, a supportive leadership team who help you develop and who have meaningful CPD (and not some generic crap for the 4th year running). In a good school, being part of something that is always changing and getting better. In time, taking on leadership responsibilities and starting to change the things you don't agree with. In a good school, once you've got your confidence and walked the walk, telling SLT why you object to their ideas and they listen to you and you debate it.

So much depends on getting into a good school (and I don't mean good by Ofsted, I mean good as in supportive and down to earth).

Op I have pondered this many times too!

@BelleSausage
I cannot believe you are seriously trying to convince us that being a teacher is harder than being a dentist !
And that dental patients actually want to be at the dentist

I have several friends who are teachers.
They ALL love their job and none of them moan about how stressful it is.

My job is stressful. But I keep it to myself and don't bang on about it.

@YourSarcasmIsDripping and @LolaSmiles.. thank you both for your comments. I have passed these on to DH to boost his confidence! Whatever happens he will do his tmtraining and then maybe go into TA work instead of teaching..the training will hopefully open doors for him

@BooseysMom

If he goes in with his eyes open and having done his research then he'll be better placed than someone who're going in naive.

Anecdotally, I found the year I trained that career changers had a smoother year and since being in teaching I've always found having a different professional point of reference to be helpful in keeping perspective (including when it means saying no to SLT).

As a qualified teacher working as a TA, he'd be ripe for taking advantage of by schools in my opinion. He'd be better working part time as a teacher than full time as a TA when he is a shortage subejct teacher.

During hia training year, try to get as many hints and tips from colleagues as possible. Some will work for him and others won't. I encourage trainees to keep out of trainee bitching because every year there's always a few who gloat on group chats about how their mentor tells them they're the best thing ever and outstanding in their 2nd lesson, and there's always some that can't handle professional feedback and slag off every person they come into contact with. Both are emotionally draining to deal with.

When he qualifies, encourage him to speak to a range of staff and find things he can do beyond his department. It's really useful to have that wider fit in school.

@BooseysMom TA pay is shit(I am one) and there is the danger of being taken advantage of (like being moved around to cover classes because he will be cheaper) as a qualified teacher.

then maybe go into TA work instead of teaching..the training will hopefully open doors for him

TA pay can be dire-not much more than minimum wage.

TA pay can be dire-not much more than minimum wage.

£9 ph in East Midlands.

@LolaSmiles.. thank you for taking the time to give advice..that's really helpful. Yes we think he'll be better off if he teaches part time rather than go for a TA post.

Thanks@YourSarcasmIsDripping plus others for your help. We're used to living on the poverty line as i'm on minimum wage and DH wasn't paid much more in his last job. So we just need anything as we can't live on my wage alone