Tell Me What It’s (really)Like To Be A Teacher

[LucilleBluth]

I have applied and been accepted for a couple of School Direct and SCITT places for 2022. I’m 40, I work in a special school in a support role and feel like now my own DCs are older that teacher training is something I want to pursue…I have a good degree.

I obviously work closely with teachers and have teacher friends… BUT MN is so so negative about teaching. Will some of you MN teachers tell me what you love/hate about teaching. Am doing the right bloody thing here?

It isn’t a job, it’s a life!

Michael Fullan says imagine by the virtue of being in a specific school that a teacher is better and stronger.

It’s true- find the school that fits and you believe in and you will thrive!

Thank you all so much, this thread is a real and honest insight. I’m an SEN Intervention Coordinator and I already plan and deliver lessons…I also get spit on, bitten, punched and kicked etc etc.

I feel like I should give it a go. I love working with young people and I love my subject. I’m lucky, DH has a good job and I can Jack it in any time I want. I can always go for a TA position if it doesn’t work out. I love working in specialist provision so I may go back to that as a teacher.

It seems like we are going wrong somewhere in this country with the way in we treat our teachers.

@TeacherMa

I hear a lot about micromanagement in teaching. I wonder if this is something that's different outside of Scotland, or if it's because I've only worked in one school so far? We are given a lot of autonomy with our teaching and lessons. I don't feel at all micromanaged. We do have to follow the school's agreed processes for marking, behaviour etc but I don't feel at all smothered by it. I can be completely creative in how I teach children the curriculum. And this is a big perk of the job.

Which aspects of teaching do others feel are micromanaged?

Yes, thr micromanagement in England is horrific.

I qualified to teach in Scotland and I was trusted and valued. The system in England is broken (been here since 2016, can't take much more.)

@LucilleBluth

Thank you all so much, this thread is a real and honest insight. I’m an SEN Intervention Coordinator and I already plan and deliver lessons…I also get spit on, bitten, punched and kicked etc etc.

I feel like I should give it a go. I love working with young people and I love my subject. I’m lucky, DH has a good job and I can Jack it in any time I want. I can always go for a TA position if it doesn’t work out. I love working in specialist provision so I may go back to that as a teacher.

It seems like we are going wrong somewhere in this country with the way in we treat our teachers.

Be very careful if you complete your training and become a qualified teacher but then decide to work as a TA. Headteachers will think it is Christmas. You will be asked to step up to a teacher role anytime a colleague is off sick ......but it will be seen as a favour to the school in an emergency situation .You will have all the work and responsibilities of a teacher but you will 100% be paid as a TA.

Lacroix11
Nails it!
I am 25 years in and still enjoy it. I do have a thick skin and don't let kids, parents, other staff or Ofsted get to me. If you're sensitive it can break you. I'm not a perfectionist and most of stuff I do is just ok. In often late with deafness and paperwork but never turn away an upset kid or worried parent. Luckily I am in a supportive school with a really liberal way of managing and trusting staff. Some if the Academy chains I hear about would have me running for the hills? Or I'd have been sacked by now.

deadlines not deafness!

@notyourmummy I’m a 1:1. I work my allocated hours, unless I choose to stay late to do something. I don’t do anything at home, unless I choose to and if I did, it wouldn’t be more than an hour a week.
What are they expecting you to do? I’m genuinely intrigued.

*It’s easier than a care job. You get to sleep in your own bed and your days off are not punctuated by endless phone calls asking you to go in.

The regular wage is nice, unlike when you’re self employed and have to stress about money coming in.

And it’s more important than most other jobs with similar wages.

Yes it’s a lot of work but if I wasn’t doing this I’d be doing something else which may not be any more worthwhile or enjoyable. I actually don’t dislike marking, planning and writing reports.*

This this this. Lots of my friends have just as stressful jobs for far less money (like my friends who are carers and health care assistants for example). There is nothing else I would rather be doing, even on the worst day.

I have to plan and prepare all my group sessions for the groups I do involving my 1:1 child, then write them up after each one (10 a week). I have daily sheets to fill in evidencing how I'm working towards ehcp goals, plus planning for adapting the curriculum/planned activities to my 1:1 child's needs. In addition to this I have responsibility for an area of provision (I work in early years) so have to plan and resource that area and feeding back to 1:1 child's parents and class teacher daily and to Phase Leader, Sendco and Head Teacher weekly.

It seems like we are going wrong somewhere in this country with the way in we treat our teachers
Absolutely. People largely believing the media. I think we have a real problem with the general attitude of people in this country. Every year we get people from other countries working with us for the full year. They can never believe how rude so many of our students are. They cannot understand how the students, and parents, so frequently take absolutely no personal responsibility for anything.

But then again, Covid has show so many adults here to have exactly the same attitude.

I’m currently doing a pgce and I’m about your age.
The demands of it are exhausting however I’m really into it so it doesn’t feel like a chore.
Sometimes I question the wisdom of not just doing Qts route but the academic side is quite interesting.
I’m also a lot less stressed than when I worked as a TA, and a lot less physically tired- I’d say you’re well prepared with your background.
My advise would be not to do your training in the school that knows you, as then you get treated more as a trainee and given space rather than an extra pair of hands who can handle extra work load!

And last night I had tears of laughter reading some of the creative writing from my lesson! Really do your research on the school you work or train in. This is the key thing, all schools are SO different

I’ve done 19 years this year. I absolutely loved it until about 7 years ago. Micromanagement is rife, schools are skint, you can’t help the students to the degree you want and need to.

I do FE now to maintain my sanity.

I think it’s a young person’s game too. I’ve seen many 50 plus managed out/looked over. I wouldn’t go into it at 40.

I’m also a lot less stressed than when I worked as a TA, and a lot less physically tired

Interesting-can I ask why you think that is?

So much has been introduced since I qualified that has taken SO much time and distracted us from time spent with the children and planning wonderful lessons. Literacy strategy, numeracy strategy, Success criteria, APP, Thinking Hats, learning styles, WILF/WALT/WAGOLL, P4C, Mantle of the Expert, deep marking, two stars and a wish, green for good and pink for poo and the purple pen of pointlessness. Im sure there are so many more fads that I’ve missed.

Add Pie Corbett and Wayne Dix to that and you have the stuff of nightmares

I love it! Different schools are different worlds, if you find a school that had the right ethos and values staff them it's a great job. I love my subject. I love getting to be creative and make my own decisions about how and what I teach (because I work in a school that encourages that). The kids are fab. It's never boring. I think the pay is good and then there are the holidays. Yes it's hard work. But it's so nice to feel like you do ajob that's important, contributing to society and fulfilling. Good luck!

Teaching just broke me, and l ended up getting ill health retirement.

Thev10% interacting with the kids is great. The rest is just utter utter shite.And it’s a young persons game.

It’s Paul Dix isn’t it?

I don’t know. Used to enjoy it but at the moment, I’m not.

I’ve just had a very reasonable absence request turned down though so I’m a bit upset and pissed off.

@Sodullincomparison

It isn’t a job, it’s a life!

Michael Fullan says imagine by the virtue of being in a specific school that a teacher is better and stronger.

It’s true- find the school that fits and you believe in and you will thrive!

I would have agreed with you a few years back.

I’d taught for 15 years in two schools and was miserable-at the point of leaving, but decided to try one more school. Have been here for 8 years and it was great for the first 6, now the old head has left and the replacement appears to be heading the way of the previous schools. I’m not sure it’s that simple as find a new school-I think the problem is embedded.

The first couple of years are tough, then it is great. If you feel like leaving the profession, try a new school first. I made a lot of career progression but have now stripped back to just a classroom teacher, 4 days a week and I love it. If you approach all students with love and empathy it is incredibly fulfilling. Every job has good days and bad days.

Love
The actual teaching
The kids
My subject
Being a tutor
Holidays
My department

Hate
The pressure
Managing tricky behaviour from kids because they having got funding for the right support
Some parents can be really hard core
Exam stress
Some kids can be almost impossible to manage in a classroom

@Strawbales

It’s Paul Dix isn’t it?

I don’t know. Used to enjoy it but at the moment, I’m not.

I’ve just had a very reasonable absence request turned down though so I’m a bit upset and pissed off.

Yes, that's him!! Mind block from the amount of times his holy grail of a books have been brandished around as the teaching guide to end all guides

I don’t disagree with everything he says but it’s bloody annoying when management use him as a reason for doing nothing to deal with poor behaviour.

I don’t like the other extreme, super strict, day in isolation for glancing at a phone either though.

I did a pgce some years ago. I was horrified by what teaching is compared to what the outside perception of it is. Most of that is because of a cripplingly overbearing system of testing, recording and justifying. Teachers are prevented from teaching or even caring about students and their development. I'm not sure how it got to this. But there's no respect for teachers, students, parents etc and it's probably all because of the ridiculous set up, targets etc. I had to leave because cared about doing it right. I realise there are still teachers who do want to do a good job but I can't help but feel their hands are tied by the demands put on them.

I love teaching, the kids, sharing my Subject (which I love) and on paper teaching is the perfect career for me. I left at the end of last academic year and it was the best decision I've made. I miss teaching but I dont miss the school and all the 'other stuff' that comes with it and I didnt realise how ill it was making me, or how much of myself had been lost under the weight of the job. I do plan to return one day, but if I do it will be with parameters on how much it interfers with my personal life and will stick to it!