Is teaching really that bad?

[Cremeegg456]

I did a secondary PGCE and gained a pass with Merit, and 'outstanding', that was 6 years ago and I've never completed my nqt year.
I know the PGCE isn't representative of what actual teaching is like though but I remember it being what seemed like a lot of unnecessary paperwork, but we also had the assignments on top.

I've done various work with young and elderly people since which I've enjoyed, but I've never made a lot more than minimum wage. Had zero hours contracts, agency work etc.

I did enjoy teaching but I am just not prepared to work evenings and weekends as well, it's just not worth having no life for me. Not prepared to work more than 45 hours a week.

But truthfully if I want a higher and more stable income I think I would have to go into it, if I'm thinking of buying a house, children etc in the next few years.

Would be interested to hear from people as to what their work life balance really is.

Also, teachers salaries increase every year irrespective of performance.

😂 Who wrote that?!

I often wonder if some people who make things up on the spot actually come to believe they are true after a while?!

@EmmaDilemma5 seems to be living in the dim and distant past when that was the case (it was for me as a young teacher, but I'm retired now). But even then, before the salary scales were restructured, it was only the first nine (I think) years where an automatic increment was added.

Well quite! I also qualified back in the last millennium-it seemed so odd to state the way things ‘used to be decades ago’ as fact.

As someone who loved teaching then-as I’m sure many other people did-and knows that most of the time consuming stuff we now have to do know is utterly pointless, that’s what makes me sad. The job simply doesn’t have to be like this. It annoys me so much when people say things like, ‘well you knew what the job was like, why did you go into it?!’ but the job wasn’t anything like this-it was a good job!

No doubt some parents would rather have a teacher fresh out of college with enthusiasm and quizzes though!

@Spottybotty20 I've read all the posts in this thread and yours resonated the loudest. I was a teacher for 30yrs. It was all I ever wanted to do from the age of 8. Initially I loved it. I loved imparting knowledge, I loved seeing the students become more confident and being successful in the exams. I have a scrapbook filled with thank you notes (unsolicited obviously) with students saying how much what I had taught them was helping in their lives.
Then I started to climb the greasy pole looking for promotion. Still ok -then bad decisions were made. I moved to a school 'that fancied itself' It was one of 2 secondary schools in a small town. The other school was in the middle of a rundown council estate, 'my' school was surrounded by owner-occupied the the more affluent end of town. As far as SMT were concerned all the students were little angels and could d no wrong and so there was not structure in place for dealing with miscreants. The only sanction was isolation , which was only used for truly heinous behaviour.
I took over at Easter. The y11 classes doing the subject had been divided into those who would do the exam, and (their words, not mine) those who were too stupid. So in effect I had to pick up on that and contain them for 2 terms. I taught in a single storey building, with 4 exits and trying to keep them in the room was like trying to keep water in a colander. After trying in vain to get SLT support I quit. I took early retirement, lost 25% of pension, but it was so worth it.
So, to conclude - I wouldn't recommend teaching as a career- even with the longer holidays (I'd sometimes go into school to tidy up, 2 weeks to prepare resources and displays, and then 2 weeks holiday like everyone else.

Thank you, you saved me having to say just that! Most teachers love teaching, it's all the other stuff that's dumped onto schools and it's not just the official demands. How often on this site are posters told 'Tell the school' be it parking, two mothers being in a dispute, childrern having arguments while under their parents' care, the list would be enormous. Perhaps a government, of either persuasion, can tell schools We will let you concentrate on teaching, we will not move the goal posts for ten years, we will remove all the unnecessary box-ticking exercises that are not directly advantageous to the pupils. Then maybe teachers will stay in the job they love or even return to it.

Yes.

Is it the same for primary school teachers

I did exactly that - quit teaching and have joined the civil service. One of the best life decisions I've made.

I knew it was time to quit teaching when I told a Year 8 boy in a Geography lesson to sit down and stop licking the window and I literally meant it. He was doing it for effect to disrupt the lesson. That's one of the milder stories I can tell of many.

Yes, absolutely

An update to this:

I did leave at the end of the year and I am now in a completely different job that I love. My managers are all so supportive and kind and my colleagues are just as great! I’m respected and trusted and I’ve not even been there 6 months yet. We have new staff who have joined after me and I am looked to for advice and guidance and this is encouraged by my managers. My self-worth and confidence has never felt so boosted.

In my 10 years in teaching, I never once felt trusted or capable. I left last year as a broken shell of a person who cried endlessly because I had been made to feel so useless.

I’m 24 years in the job, love teaching but hate the hours. Yes I ensure I have a 30 min lunch break every day and I find time to run for a coffee and toilet break mid morning but the day is 8am to 4:30 plus at least one late day for meetings. I work 4 days and use my day off marking and sometimes need to add a couple of evenings in..
I always use holidays to get ahead to make term time easier for planning.
it’s taken a while to get the working hours down to this.

I have always taken the position that I would never tell someone not to do it. But I found it increasingly difficult to find positive aspects of the job to work experience teachers, trainees or ects. Honestly, if I could go back to my early 20 self I would not do it.

Yes you will have an increased pay initially and yes that will most likely go up in the first few years. However it will call out pretty soon, especially as schools are struggling with very limited budgets. You will then be in a job where the demands are constantly increasing, your workload ever building and your experience relied on to support for no financial reward.

Then you might have kids and realise that whilst the holidays are great the hours per week are completely incompatible with family life. You can't do school drop offs as you are in school at 7:30, or picks up as you could be in school till 6:00/6:30.

I understand wanting a better paid job but I would look into a lot of options before going down the teaching route.

@cherrypiesally so like me, you work for free 1 day a week to stay sane, getting paid for 4 days but working 5.

Does that not strike you as wrong? Full time it's impossible to keep up

@GuyFawkesDay - it’s totally mad, I tell myself not to do it but it’s worth it to see my kids at the weekend and one day I get to pick the youngest up from school. I’m tell myself I’m lucky as at least planning is easier after all these years - it’s just the marking load and the paperwork!! There is a new form or initiative every week!

It depends on the school you end up in. Some are great but many are dire full of bullies and poinstless workload for the sake of it.

That's exactly what I was thinking! No-one starts a PGCE without having a realistic idea of what the first few years will be like, surely?? It's pretty common knowledge that teachers work way more hours than 9-3!!

It's worse.
Not the hours it's the mileage. Working 60 hour weeks while told you are marvellous and given endless treats and bonuses might be bearable, but systematic disparagement of your ability and commitment in tandem with ever-increasing demands really decreases its tolerability.

There are so many teachers leaving 😔. I really want a new career.

I had someone pretend to be a cat. For an hour. As in, he was crawling on all fours, rubbing his head on tables, climbed up and sat on the window sill licking his hand and rubbing it all over his head.

wasn’t serious enough for a member of SMT to come because he wasn’t harming anyone, they were all busy dealing with more pressing issues.

The boy didn’t have a support plan or anything.

I don't think you should go into teaching if your main motivation is money.
What about private tutoring instead?

I think teaching should provide you with enough money to pay your bills.

I've stepped down from mentoring trainees, a role which I used to take great pride in, as it just feels so disingenuous and as if I am grooming them to persistently override their most basic well-being instincts and boundaries as I am expected to share training expectations and foster a work ethic which will enable them to keep up with the demands of the profession. I once mentored a female trainee with a very young baby; it was heart-breaking as I knew she was having to make incredible parenting sacrifices to pursue her dream of teaching. We'd regularly work from midnight into the early hours on Zoom to try to make sure she didn't miss too much of baby's waking and feeding hours by working. I had a toddler, so working nights was already par for the course for me. She was hands down the best trainee I ever mentored, but I've never mentored since.

Do you only think that is true of teaching or do you apply that thinking to all jobs?

I'd love to be a teacher but there is no way I'd tolerate working for free after I clock off. Just because you're paid a salary does not mean they own your life. Your work load should be achievable - that is a manager's job. A lot of my friends teach and I'm glad people are finally putting their foot down re strikes etc. Always thought I was somewhat of a diva.

Thats the difference between a job and a career. I’ve been teaching 27 years and feel I have a pretty good balance but the notion of clocking off is alien. Most decent, satisfying, interesting jobs require some extra work.