To think it's not necessarily beneficial to go straight from uni into teaching?

[GoldfishParade]

My cousin is training to become a teacher straight out of uni (it's also what her sister did and her mum is a teacher). I am considering retraining and becoming a teacher myself, I'm in my 30s.

I dont know why I should think teaching is different to any other profession, because it isnt, but part of me finds it strange to become a teacher straight out of uni.

I cant imagine going from school to uni to school again without a change of scene.
Also theres a part of me that thinks to teach kids it would be good to have some general life experience first. Also if you're teaching a subject (secondary) maybe it would be good to have non academic experience of the subject. And just generally, experience outside of the world of school.

On the other hand, I keep hearing that teaching today is hugely stressful and apparently many people are leaving it. So maybe it's better to be a teacher young when you have loads of energy. Are the teachers leaving the profession ones who have made teaching their profession from the get go, or are they ones who went into teaching later in life? That would be interesting to find out.

Anyway what do you think? If you're a teacher, which way around did you do it? And do you think generally it's better to become a teacher straight off the bat, or come to it later in life?

I've been teaching for 20+ years. Other than min wage jobs as a student, I have been a teacher all my adult life. I have plenty of life experience (I don't sleep in a coffin in my classroom or owt ) and lots of family/friends who work in other sectors, so I have a good idea of contrasting perks/problems.

I wasn't a great teacher when I first started, but I see NQTs making the exact same mistakes now, so I expect teaching experience is what made me better at my job. This is a problem because experienced teachers get expensive and schools can't/won't pay. A school needs a balance of young & enthusiastic, and old & clued-in.

I love my job, and hope to do it for another 20 years. I feel very privileged to work with teenagers. But... the single most important factor in my job satisfaction has been the quality of school management. IME, Teachers don't leave schools, they leave heads.

My degree was BA Hons in Primary Education so it made total sense to go straight into teaching! Not secondary education though which probably makes a difference.

I was a good teacher, graduated with 1st Hons and an outstanding final placement who offered me a job but only lasted five years in the procession. I definitely thought the grass was greener but I work from home in a design job now and earn more money so it worked out better for me personally. Just wasn’t teacher material in the end.

Profession* 🤦🏻‍♀️

Autocorrect strikes again!

You can say this same thing for lots of other professions. One of my family went into nursing at 21 after doing a nursing degree and is still in the job 20 years later. Should she have done something else before starting nursing? She knew what she wanted to do and went ahead and did it. It's the same for people who want to teach.