To wonder why someone would want to be a secondary school teacher?

[Teateet]

Not judging anyone, despite the tittle, but I was wondering why people remain secondary school teachers.
Just finished an opening evening at a secondary school for prospective students and I left with the following thought: unless you adore teaching and view it as absolute vocation, being a secondary school teacher sucks.

The pay isn't fantastic, and very poor in London, for a graduate.
There is very little room to coast if you're have a rough day / week.
Breaks a prescribed, you cannot have a coffee / tea break when you feel like it
Dealing with teenagers, who have their own angst.
Dealing with abuse from students and parents.

I noticed that there alot of teachers 45 + and not much below.
i am assuming, the older ones got to the property ladder and are pretty secure financially.

It just seems like a tough gig.

It's a bit of a weird question really because you could ask the same of absolutely anyone in any job.

My worst nightmare would be working in a cafe or restaurant kitchen, but my brother loves it.

I couldn't think of anything more terrifying to do for a living except maybe armed forces, front line emergency services or baby care unit 🥺.

It is a tough gig.

But the majority of kids are great. Parents too.

I enjoy helping kids learn stuff.

The holidays are fantastic.

You just get stuck in a pension trap at some point so may as well try to stick it out. It's pretty dire now though - I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. And I used to love it.

I love it but it's not a vocation.

People use that term to make us seem like money grabbers when we expect decent pay and conditions.

I'd have to take a big pay cut to do anything else.

I understand

What sort of pension do teachers get and when can they retire?

Holidays ,pay pension
Not necessarily in that order
All the secondary teachers I know complain all the time but never seem to think of getting another job

Yep, all true. I'm a secondary teacher btw. And am lucky enough to afford to go part time. Daily, it is exhausting, relentless, draining, demanding and thankless.

However, I love the kids. Their energy, humour, enthusiasm and sarcasm lift me even when I'm having a shit day.

And getting an email from a parent saying I've been a lifeline for their child during GCSEs or getting an excited message from a sixth former who has left telling me that I helped her get the grade she wanted are the reasons I do the job I do.

But I couldn't stay full time. I think it might finish me off. The angst and stress of the kids gets to me at times..and I'm lucky in that I don't have to worry about behaviour..it's a good school.

I've been in a school with dreadful behaviour and shit SLT and it put me on anti depressants.

I fell into it a lifetime ago because I was wc and did an English degree, then had no idea what to do with my degree. Teaching was a stop gap until I could work out what to do for real. And as my (left school at 15) mum pointed out, I'd be home by 4 and have all those holidays to plan what else to do. And the starting salary was good in relation to my peers.

Then I got addicted to it and it's pretty much ruled my life since. I have a teacher's dh and teacher's kids. We all revolve around The Job.

All of the above.

Just rolled into bed after another long day at the chalkface and wondering if I really can stick it out for another 10+ years. Have considered getting out but when you read other threads on a variety of topics you realise that the pay, flexibility, pension, & holidays are just too good to give up compared to the issues other have to manage.

This too.

I'd rather be a prison guard.

I loved my subject - that helped. I laughed every day when someone (student or colleague) would say something witty. I knew I was making a difference to people’s lives.

Sure it’s tough at times but, for me, the pros outweighed the cons.

Blimey, what a weird reply before you changed it with the edit 😳😳

I'm a secondary teacher and love my job. I would never do anything else. I love my subject, I love my classes and I love the holidays with my own children. It's tough yes and the marking, late nights and admin can feel relentless at times but I wouldn't do anything else.

It's never boring - you're never counting the clock down.

It's often really good fun.

It's academically satisfying (I'm a maths teacher - I love playing with algebra all day long, I get to bang on about it to other people, and if I'm really lucky, some of them love it as well!)

You can create a school community that's more idealistic than "real" society.

Working with teenagers makes me optimistic for the future (well, not all of them...)

Disclaimer: there's a whole bunch of shitty bits about teaching and reasons people wouldn't want to go into it! But I think they've been fairly well covered on MN over the years.

My mum was very, very wrong about the getting home at 4 and being able to do what I wanted in the holidays though.

Dh has had 20 years of me saying:"I can't do this until I'm 68."
"Well what would you do? You could train adults. "
"Could I talk about books and poems?
"No. "
"Not that then. "
"Project manager. You do that all the time. "
"Could I act stuff out? Could I talk about history?"
"Erm, no. Not really. "
"Not that then. "

And so it goes, until I realise that maybe I do want to teach. But possibly late 80s early 90s, when you were allowed to stand at the front of the class and tell them stuff.

All the above - holidays, lovely kids, pension etc, but also a high level of autonomy and control (couldn't sit at a desk all day, thrive on lots of social interaction) and job security. I've seen so many friends in other sectors go through redundancies and although it does happen in teaching, it's rare. If you want it, it's pretty much a job for life.

Plus, I genuinely love my job. I'm lucky enough to work in a great school and it's fabulous about 80% of the time, which I reckon is as good as it gets in most jobs (unless you are e.g. a wine taster, chocolatier etc, and have found the holy grail).

I'm a primary school teacher and there's no way I could teach in a secondary school. Young children are hard enough to control but at least a sticker or a reward can help motivate their behaviour. Teenagers - no way. Even if they tripled my salary - not a chance. 😂

It’s really bloody hard. I’m just starting year 19 and it’s not the job it used to be. It’s just got worse and worse. Expectations from everywhere - ofsted, SLT, pupils, parents - are just totally unrealistic. The tories just destroyed education. I’ve probably got another 20 years to go, which makes me feel awful, but I can’t afford to retrain and start again on an entry level wage. I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to young people today. There’s a reason why there’s a recruitment crisis.

Even y13 love a sticker!

My husband is an exceptional secondary school leader - I don't know how the fuck he sticks with it. I told him it would be awful thirty years ago when he started and he never listened, he just ploughed on being all idealistic.

Now he comes home every day and cuddles our dogs for half an hour in a heap on the floor, he is completely worn out by it all.

It's the complete lack of fucks given by I creasing numbers of kids and parents that is doing him in.
Today there was a kid standing around in a corridor - he's all like 'you need to get into class now' and she's bleating 'ooh no i cant, a girl in that class might give me a mean look.' She had her phone on her and her mum was busy whatsapping her telling her to hide in the toilets or come home.

He can't deal with the lameness of it all anymore, it's absolutely soul-destroying.

I'm worried we are slowly destroying our teachers and the teaching profession.