To really not e enjoying teaching?

[NotEnjoyingTeaching]

Sorry - moany thread and I don’t think there is a solution although happy to hear any suggestions.

I was deputy head, stepped down after having DD, classroom teacher again and I thought I’d love it.

I hate it. I don’t know whether it’s being a mum now and not so career focused or whether it’s the relentlessness of teaching all day every day and the accompanied planning and marking, or whether these strange post covid times. But it’s exhausting me.

I’m already dreading Monday

Just came on to recommend the FB group which PPs have signposted to. It really helps you reframe your motivation to make a move towards leaving and is such a supportive community.

I think there’s always a solution I don’t to be honest. Of course, you can leave and do something else, but then if doing that something else involves (say) commuting for longer or reduced income leading to financial worries or even the stresses and strains of a new job it is just swapping one type of stress for another.

I think it’s always possible to change your circumstances but it isn’t always possible to change them in a way that’s better, if you see what I mean.

In many ways I’m very lucky and I do remind myself of this a lot but just the same teaching is hard work.

It is hard to change, the money is better than I would make retraining at my age (would be different in a more marketable subject and for a younger person) and having holidays with dc is a big draw. It's easier going on being a bit miserable sometimes

How about a move abroad? Depending on where you go the behaviour is better, smaller class sizes so lessmarking, no OFSTED, you have a lighter timetable and top schools have plenty of money for resources. I used to be stressed in the UK. It's minimal now.

It’s really hard to change. My main worry is that teaching, especially primary, seems to be no longer a job for an ‘older’ person (particularly female!). I know far too many people who turn 50 and then suddenly found their face didn’t fit and were managed out, to be replaced with someone young and cheap.

I don’t know of any other friends in jobs where being older/experienced is a bad thing, like it is in teaching. I know council workers, engineers, OTs, speech therapists, dentists, physiotherapists-all of whom are seen as having experience which is sought- after.

In teaching, there is a general thought that why would you pay £41k when you could pay £24k and get a new person in front of the class which will ‘probably’ do!

When your pension age is 68, that’s a scary thought.

Can you reduce your full time post to 0.8?

I found that although I still worked 5 days in reality, or near enough, at least I'd got through all of my school work before the weekend came and could have more freedom at home with less work to do each weekend.

Looking at that against full time in some other jobs, I earned as much for the 4 days as I might have elsewhere.

YANBU. It's not the job it was and it definitely is no longer a job for people who want to enjoy their own children. I left and went as a stop gap into a job where all I had to worry about the next day was if I had a clean uniform - still there and loving it! Teacher pay and pension is pretty good, holidays long but inflexible, but unless you are some super-energetic, super-organised dynamo that fits in with the current management clique IMO it's not worth any of the benefits any more. I'm not at all suprised to hear so many are leaving.

It is a bit scary about experience not being valued.

I am considering dropping a couple of days next year which I think will be better as obviously I won’t be in for more than half the week. Just then I might be working in it for longer!

I agree HowshouldI! I have friends stepping up role/or part time on good money or into higher roles that are OTs and SaLTs and doing so well in surportive environments with lots of job options or directions they could go. Teaching is such a one way street. And retraining is so expensiv/tricky with kids.

Fine. Change your career.

Teach FE college courses (adult students,there by choice)
Private tutoring of school kids one to one
Adult literacy, one to one.

YANBU in some respects.

Just returned to teaching this term after 1 year maternity leave and cannot believe the number of different things I need to juggle (and that’s after reducing my hours to 0.8). Had 2 parents evenings this week (so working days 8:00am to 8:00pm), so that’s 2 days I didn’t see my baby at all. Plus there are just relentless emails and reminders to do pointless admin tasks when what I could really use that time for is planning and making resources.
Even worse, due to covid and staff absences, half of my free periods are taken up by me having to cover other lessons.

However, teaching is also a good profession when you have children as you will always have the school holidays off to spend with them. I enjoy the autonomy of teaching compared to other (less mentally demanding) jobs I have had. And I have a strong passion for my subject which keeps me going!

One thing which I think is very important is trying to switch off once I am home. Yes, occasionally I may need to take marking home (as I have this weekend), but I won’t check my emails after 5pm. Unfortunately this isn’t something modelled by SLT, and it does make me feel guilty sometimes, but then I remember to look after myself.

At the end of the day, my classes are learning and I am keeping relatively sane.

Oh and a PP mentioned changing schools.

Experience of teaching is so different in different schools. Each school has its own focus and demands, and maybe you need to find a school that is more compatible with you?

If you were previously SLT, do you think you are doing more than the other teachers at your current level out of habit? Or sense of obligation?

A new school may allow you a fresh start!

@NotEnjoyingTeaching

I’m not a teacher but few the same about my job since having kids. It’s long hours, high stress and relentless but in a different way to teaching.

I hear where you are coming from. People always make it sound so simple: ‘you have to do what you love’ or ‘money isn’t everything’, ‘do something else’. But from my point of view none of those things are solutions! I can’t drop everything to retrain as although we don’t have an extravagant life we’ve cut our cloth to fit in terms of mortgage and where we live, so one salary isn’t an option. I work PT and it’s reasonably well paid so if I took a lower paid job I’d have to work FT. And on and on. So I feel like you, a change would swap one stress for another.

PT does give you a bit of a breather if you can afford it. Good luck!

What is meant by ‘fine’?

I don’t think I’m doing any more out of habit but I do have a jam packed full timetable (although still within 10%.) I have three non contact hours a week plus a lunch duty so I am pretty exhausted by the end of the week!

Going to a new secondary school will bring a lot of increased workload IMO, starting from scratch isn't easy even if the school itself might be a better working environment after a year or two.

I don’t think moving schools would be particularly helpful, to be honest.

Yanbu unreasonable to hate it, but if you choose to stay in teaching when you hate it yabu. Kids deserve better than an unmotivated teacher going through the motions.

I think at some point you have to decide what is the least worst option. I teach and I recognise it is hard work and also appears to be one of those jobs (like housework) that is never finished and in which you never feel like you are on top of things. You have to decide to be good enough. I also think that things seem worse because you have come out of management. If you were in management and then came back to classroom teaching you will see an increase in workload. Many people in management struggle with this. It is easy to forget how relentless classroom teaching is. I also try to focus on the fact that it is busy and full on, but that the summer is usually easier and there are the holidays to look forward to.

I only mention moving schools as my husband (also a teacher) moved schools due to stress and is now much happier. 🤷‍♀️

To be honest OP, sounds like you are over teaching already and don’t want any suggestions to help improve your experience of the profession.

In which case - yes you will likely have to take a pay cut to find a job in a new area.

Kids deserve better than an unmotivated teacher going through the motions

As I’ve explained, I spend a lot of time planning and marking, and planning for the needs of my individual classes.

That’s part of the job and you do it because you need to do it. However, not having adequate time to do it does mean it is rather exhausting, so I’m not sure it’s reasonable to expect rabid joy on top of everything else.

Of course @cansu sometimes some things won’t be done but there is a minimum involved with planning and preparing and assessing that (as you know) just has to be done, no way around it. I need to plan and prepare five good lessons a day, every day, and that takes time.

To be honest OP, sounds like you are over teaching already and don’t want any suggestions to help improve your experience of the profession.

Well, as I said in my OP, people can make suggestions but there aren’t any realistic ones. It’s a hard job, it just is. It certainly isn’t anything to be put out at.

@Viviennemary

Maybe try and get a job in a private school.

Might not help. I teach in a private school and feel the same!! It is a little better than state (smaller classes so less marking, longer holidays, teach fewer subjects so easier to plan etc) but it’s not perfect - I’ve not had a pay rise in 5 years and the teaching days are longer than state.

I also feel trapped OP, I have looked at alternative careers but nothing pays as well esp once you consider the benefits of term time only once your own child is in school.

Have you done any financial planning to work out how much you have to earn? Is it as much as currently or could it be less? That is a good starting point.
Then think through what you enjoy about teaching and would look for in another role; what you find most stressful and would want to avoid in a new job .

I'd also say in the kindest way possible that the grass is always greener. I know teaching is full on and stressful, and most teachers don't count the holidays as recovery time as they work through most of them. But most teachers I know believe that people earn the same and more than they do 'for doing nowhere near the work that teachers do' (actual quote from a teacher friend - and I know it's a view shared by many others). Which couldn't be further from the truth certainly in my experience.

I’m well aware the grass isn’t always greener! In many ways teaching is a nice job. But having such a heavy timetable coupled with demanding exam classes and a subject with heavy marking load plus a child of my own to care for is just an awful lot. I’m not necessarily looking for a magic bullet here - I’m just having a moan!

You might find dropping a day or two is enough to recharge your batteries a bit and reduce the relentlessness of it?
Worth trying that before anything else, I’d have thought.