If you left the corporate world to go into teaching what was the biggest shock?

[coodawoodashooda]

Just wondering. Usually we have threads from fed up teachers. Im a teacher, not looking for a fight. Just interested.

Teaching shattered my ability to be still within myself. I was also always a bookworm and very early on I found I could no longer read a book without thinking about how to turn it into a lesson.

I really agree with the posters who have pointed out that many teachers go straight through the education system without having experienced anything else and this is a real problem in my view.

Plus loads of other things. You would never manage a group of adults the way schools do - completely infantised and no laptops for staff, etc - it all just sends a message that we don’t value you.

Teaching does sound incredibly difficult and stressful. However, as a nurse, I have to disagree that it is the only profession in which you are expected to put in free unpaid overtime to complete your job.
This has been the case in nursing for many years. Nurses regularly also work over their hours with no pay, also cannot take breaks when they like and are due them, have to complete training on days off without pay, pay yearly to register as a nurse, pay for parking at work, have to handle life and death situations regularly and often are understaffed so manage the care of up to 15 patients as the only registered nurse.
This is not in any way to say that teachers do not have a really tough job, it is just to say that it isn’t the only really tough, poorly paid public sector job.
None of this is right, for either profession, and I wish any government would change this.

@Libertaire

I’m not a teacher, but I would imagine that getting 13 weeks off a year (or 16 in fee-paying schools) instead of 5 in the private sector would be a pretty major difference.

Teachers don’t get 13 weeks off per year. They work evenings, weekends and holidays and if they’re part time they work on their days off. Half terms are spent planning, marking, writing reports, etc. First part of summer hols are spent catching up/finishing off, last week or so is spent preparing classroom and planning for the new school year. And as other posters have said, you never switch off. Takes a good couple of weeks after the year has ended to switch off, so you might get 2-3 weeks of down time over the summer before you have to start thinking about the next year. It’s relentless.

@SWS17

From a non UK perspective, it seems as though there’s a massive amount of wasted effort and duplication going on, with each teacher individually writing and endlessly rewriting lesson plans based on shifting curricula. When you add it up, it’s an enormous amount of unnecessary labour and surely teachers would be more effective in the classroom if they were fresher rather than exhausted. Why doesn’t the Department of Education standardise things or at least invest in the development of parameters that would reduce the amount of work involved in lesson planning? Are textbooks and workbooks not used?

Yes, exactly this.

I work in a corporate role.

Husband left a corporate role to teach.

He works every evening, leaves at 7 am to be in school for 7:30 am, and works at least one day at weekends. For half the pay.

He loves the teens, hates OFSTED and is largely exhausted

I'm 4 years in working in a FE College,.corporate background for 20 years before that. Salary is shit but it's evened out by the holidays. I wouldn't go back when though by the end of each team I'm exhausted, as is everyone else. After Easter we'll literally be dragging a load of teenagers through their final assessments and exams so they don't fail. If they do fail they'll be back at college in September as it's all a numbers game anyway! It can be completely and utterly demoralising and regarding in equal measures!
I've recently been offered a £35k full-time job back in corporate which I've refused. I may regret that!

@Sandinmyknickers actually I have
"So you've never worked as any kind of professional consultant....having multiple clients constantly thinking they are your top priority, demanding your attention to their needs is extremely stressful."
I was an ict manager and had lots of clients before teaching.

It's having 30 different clients every hour who all have different needs that have to be met in different ways within that hour. You also have to plan three way differentiated lessons for each class and find time to mark their work so you have an idea of starting points for the next lesson. Some days you genuinely don't have time to go to the toilet or get a drink.
As a consultant if you want the loo you can just go. Rearrange meetings and also get paid for overtime.

The textbooks are falling to pieces
Hardly any money to replace them.

It’s possible to standardise the curriculum content.

Children are not standardised.

So schemes of work can stay broadly the same from year to year (until the next curriculum change/ OFSTED framework update/ exam specification change). You can have a basic outline of content for each lesson.

However, individual lessons do need to be adapted for the learners in the class. Teaching isn’t like broadcasting a TV show -one way traffic, with constant repeats once it’s made. Children’s learning is key, and all children are different . You might need to make additional provision for a gifted mathematician working several years above age- related expectations, or adapt a lesson about sound for children with hearing impairments or sensory overload issues as part of ASD, or build in a plan for a child with aggressive behaviour, or tailor a PSHE lesson to avoid distress to a child whose parent has died.

@Arghteens

Teaching does sound incredibly difficult and stressful. However, as a nurse, I have to disagree that it is the only profession in which you are expected to put in free unpaid overtime to complete your job. This has been the case in nursing for many years. Nurses regularly also work over their hours with no pay, also cannot take breaks when they like and are due them, have to complete training on days off without pay, pay yearly to register as a nurse, pay for parking at work, have to handle life and death situations regularly and often are understaffed so manage the care of up to 15 patients as the only registered nurse. This is not in any way to say that teachers do not have a really tough job, it is just to say that it isn’t the only really tough, poorly paid public sector job. None of this is right, for either profession, and I wish any government would change this.

I have a nurse DD and a teacher DD and recognise the different stresses of both. And yes my nurse daughter often doesn't get to finish on time. The difference is though, that she doesn't have to work at home. When she's home, her time is hers. The teacher daughter is works several hours a night and at least one weekend day. Their availability to do stuff with friends and family out of work is vastly different Of course the nurse daughter has other stresses that the teacher doesn't, but I don't think your first point is a fair comparison.

I worry about the stresses of both their jobs though of course.

I need to give some background before the comments. DH left the IT/tech world after 15 years and is secondary school teaching (mathematics and physics). He had trained as a teacher originally, and ended up in IT as a first job, and continued in the field. I also work in tech area, and the decision at the time was for one of us to move to more stable/secure/structured employment after kids were born.

He'd never go back to IT. He likes the school he is at. Some friends of his were already in the field, his Dad was a teacher, so he had a good idea what to expect.

I asked him to name the three things that stand out:

• poor quality of materials, equipment, budget and problems to move things forward
• having to deal with some awful students and colleagues, behavior that would be totally unacceptable and addressed in the corporate world
• maths/physics is a passion for him, and he has a good work/life balance doing something he loves

I am rolling my eyes at the posters who believe they have found the answer to all teaching woes - one curriculum , one set of lesson plans, one set of text books. One size fits all - problems solved.

In reality how is this going to work? Do you think the selective grammar and the struggling comp can really teach the same material in the same way? There are huge differences between one child and another in the same class, let alone differences between schools and different parts of the country? You cannot teach the top sets the same material in the same way as a ALN group. You also need to adjust for things like the time of day - first lesson many are still sleepy, after lunch some are full of sugar and energy, last lesson they don't want to know. You also have to take into account the different learning styles and needs of those in the class. This is even without the minefiels of making adjustments for those who have struggled to even be in school that day, their home situations are so difficult.

On top of that add government interference. One year your subject may be highly valued, the next no one is interested in it and your teaching time is cut in half. New GCSE and A Level exam specs a few years back nearly did for me. Specs were released with no thought given to teaching materials. I virtually wrote the GCSE 'textbook' and did write the A Level one - from scratch - there was simply nothing made available. Three years of my weekends and holidays went into that.

And even if there were set text books - who is going to pay for them? Our school simply did not have the money. But it costs nothing for the teacher to write their own worksheets and powerpoints and use the projector in class. But of course, the real cost comes to the teachers having to do this - time, worry, stress. Plus my own costs, buying refernce books from Amazon to research and prep. Buying my own laptop and software to prep. None of this money is ever reimbursed.

I’m not a teacher, but I do work in a school (currently primary, secondary for a short time before). This is after working in the corporate world for most of my working years.

I’m confused why there’s the need to compare the two at all. They seem the same to me:

*Both require working beyond contracted hours (unpaid)

*Not all corporate companies pay generously. New contracts are especially low

*Both will have ridiculously high workloads

*Both can be stressful

*Both have their pluses and minuses (albeit the pluses and minuses may differ due to the nature of the work)

*Both will attract respect/disrespect from the public, depending on the nature of the work

*not all corporate companies provide free stationary and free tea/coffee for their staff

I’m failing to spot the difference 🤷🏻‍♀️

[quote monkeysox]@Sandinmyknickers actually I have
"So you've never worked as any kind of professional consultant....having multiple clients constantly thinking they are your top priority, demanding your attention to their needs is extremely stressful."
I was an ict manager and had lots of clients before teaching.

It's having 30 different clients every hour who all have different needs that have to be met in different ways within that hour. You also have to plan three way differentiated lessons for each class and find time to mark their work so you have an idea of starting points for the next lesson. Some days you genuinely don't have time to go to the toilet or get a drink.
As a consultant if you want the loo you can just go. Rearrange meetings and also get paid for overtime.[/quote]
Many professionals don’t get paid overtime.

They are also expected to work whatever hours necessary to complete their work.

Teaching is difficult but these aspects aren’t as unique as some might suggest.

@101jobs

I’m not a teacher, but I do work in a school (currently primary, secondary for a short time before). This is after working in the corporate world for most of my working years.

I’m confused why there’s the need to compare the two at all. They seem the same to me:

*Both require working beyond contracted hours (unpaid)

*Not all corporate companies pay generously. New contracts are especially low

*Both will have ridiculously high workloads

*Both can be stressful

*Both have their pluses and minuses (albeit the pluses and minuses may differ due to the nature of the work)

*Both will attract respect/disrespect from the public, depending on the nature of the work

*not all corporate companies provide free stationary and free tea/coffee for their staff

I’m failing to spot the difference 🤷🏻‍♀️

One of the differences is hugely generous pension contributions that people working for corporates can only dream about

I’m not a teacher, but

Hmmmm

@LethargeMarg

I've not worked in the corporate world as such but I'm an ex teacher . I never drove to work without having butterflies as a teacher. Other than the inset days there was never an 'easy day' and every day was unpredictable and non stop. Also it's quite lonely as you're mostly with classes of kids and you can never let your guard down or really be yourself . Also in teaching things like being seen as 'too soft' can be really soul destroying and it can feel impossible to reestablish yourself - kids are unforgiving and if you make a mistake in teaching it's really hard to come back from and you can feel a real failure and it's hard to get support. Teachers are very competitive and very critical . Observations can be totally brutal . I know people in the corporate world will say that's the same in their profession but when working with adults they're usually a bit more reasonable and accepting of strengths and weaknesses. I don't think many people in the corporate world get told to their face what their physical imperfections are for example in the first five minutes of walking in to a cover lesson !

This post made me really sad. My experience has been the complete opposite. Kids actually have short memories and you can have a bad lesson one day and then it’ll be fine the next day. My hugely supportive department make it so much fun - I’m in bed with a hangover from our meal out last night. I’ve also never had the competitive thing - my dept and school, despite being highly academic, is very collaborative. I spend my time teaching literature texts and am constantly learning- after 27 years. I do actually take the holidays as holidays and only do stuff like reading around and if it’s in the run up to exams marking the odd timed essay.

@Shinyandnew1

*I’m not a teacher, but

Hmmmm*

How is this different to all the handwringing here from teachers who’ve never worked in the corporate world? FFS.

@itrytomakemyway - couldn’t agree more. Some schools are trying to make it more uniform but that is a straitjacket. I could never use someone else’s lesson plans - I don’t think anyone in my department could. People would like it to be that simple but it really isn’t and that kind of centralised control stifles creativity and real learning.

I've not worked in the corporate world as such but I'm an ex teacher

Case in point.

Er because this thread was for reflections of people qho have become teachers, not for non teachers to criticise 🙄

I went the other way. After completing PhD in science/tech area I did some post-doc research, mixed that with teaching/lab work and so on. I enjoyed it a lot and would have liked to continue it as a career. However, it was always what I felt were short term contracts with little possibility of permanent employment.

I took an industry contract role for 6 months, low starting salary, but more opportunities came from that, increase in salary, lots of chances to travel. Overall it has turned out better for me.

On the positive side I'm earning a good bit more money. I also feel I'm learning a lot. I also have ability to take holidays when I want (project schedule allowing of course). Good training opportunities to upskill.

On the negative side, two companies I've worked for have closed, and each time I've had to relocate to get something suitable. Project crunch times are crazy. Stack ranking means there is always pressure to perform at a high level. I certainly won't be able to continue on like this in my 50s and 60s.

@Shinyandnew1

I’m not a teacher, but

Hmmmm

Sorry, I’m not sure I know what you’re trying to say. I said I’m not a teacher, because I’m not. I’m a TA.

I know full well how hard teachers (most) work, I see it on a daily basis. I also know that the workers (most) in the corporate world face the same expectations from their bosses too. I thought that was clear in my post.

What did you not like about my post?

@Shinyandnew1 so why is it ok for teachers to be commenting who’ve never worked outside a school environment? As seems to be the case (predictably) with a huge number of posters on this thread?

And what do you mean by criticise? Do you mean, shock horror, they don’t conform to the mantra that teaching is the hardest job in the world?

I’ve done both as I said in my original post.

If you don’t like your job, leave and find a happier life. Otherwise accept that, just as the corporate world does, there are pros and cons to everything and it’s up to you to choose what you’re willing to compromise.

These sorts of threads do nothing but Stoke “I work harder than you do” division, when actually what the teaching world continuously tells us it needs is support.

Also - there are endless comments saying “people don’t understand we don’t get paid for the holidays”…

Which actually means that if you pro-rated an annual teachers salary of eg £36k to the 39 weeks worked, then applied it to a full 52 week year you’d be on £48k PLUS the enormous pension which private sector workers will never have access to.

All whilst private sector workers ALSO work unpaid overtime, weekends and holidays. Case in point myself - I went on holiday last week and worked around 2 days worth of hours over the week I was there. And that’s light… equivalent to more than half of my time off (I work three days p/w). I also regularly work 10-12 hours overtime on top of my PART TIME job… which is 21 hours. So that’s often 50% of my time too. Plus I get paid less than the average teacher, and get less than a third of the pension contributions.

But I do it because I enjoy it, it’s flexible and it allows me to manage other areas of my life. That’s the trade-off I’m willing to make. It’s also tremendously difficult to find a job in my field, I simply couldn’t walk away and expect to find something equivalent.

The point is, everyone is getting screwed over when it comes to work life balance. I don’t see what’s so hard to understand about that. The difference is most of us don’t have a Union as our mouthpiece.