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.

My oldest son is starting uni this Sept and wants to be a secondary teacher. Oddly his teachers along the way have mostly advised him to do something else due to attitudes from parents as well as kids.

No idea, a lot of the ones you see posting here say they are utterly miserable

It's a hard slog
The kids are brilliant
The passionate witty teachers j work with are the best
Even thd shit days aren't as bad as some boring office jobs I've done
Thd holidays are incredibly good
You are part of a mini community making a difference

There are some really enjoyable bits - most teenagers are lovely, and more parents are supportive and appreciative than not. And the actual being in a classroom teaching part can be quite fun! I had a lovely lesson today with a Year 11 class I hadn't seen since teaching them at the end of Year 10 and we're at the stage where we know each other well, they were making me laugh and it was just a fab hour.

I work in a really great department and my SLT are fairly decent, my headteacher was super supportive when I had some stuff going on last year, gave me emergency time off paid several times when she didn't have to, and I know lets everyone have their kids Christmas performances and first days of school etc off, which definitely gives a bit more goodwill. The holidays are really nice!! I've been there most of a decade and am a bit emotionally attached to the kids now.

I will admit that I've had to go part time to maintain a work life balance though. And I listen enviously when DH comes home from his private company office job and tells me about how they had lunch ordered in and fancy biscuits and things!! It's a good day when someone's remembered to buy milk at our place.

I love it.

I get to do academically hard thinking preparing my A Level lessons.

I have creative autonomy to make engaging resources.

I spend more time with teenagers than adults, an teens are great - they haven't yet decided who they are so they are very malleable.

My colleagues are intelligent, kind
and morally sound.

There'll be one in particular who'll take over this thread if she spots it.

But I think there are more teachers who probably don't post about their jobs because they don't have a problem with them.

Which is the same for everything really.

All my friends who were secondary school teachers quit. One even became a vicar. Others are making much more for far fewer hours as private tutors, or running some kind of teaching class based around a hobby a or sport.

I guess the ones who don't quit are scared to, or convince themselves it's not that bad. But I feel the ones you mention, who are 45+, are more worried they're too late to retrain and no one will hire them rather than being financially secure.

I'm sure a lot of it depends on the kids you teach and their parents. I know I couldn't do it and I work in midwifery in the NHS!!

Yup I caught that too! Yikes!

It's like anything else I suppose. I'd hate it but I really don't like teenagers other than my own.

I work in a call centre doing customer service and I enjoy it but many people would hate it, I see it on here all the time people saying how soul destroying call centre work is. Good thing we're all different!

I’m not a secondary teacher and wouldn’t want to be (the rules around blazers at our local high school has me riled enough 😄) but I’m a singing teacher and love teaching teens! Granted I’m probably going to get a pool of willing ones, but they give me hope for the future. Secondaries I guess have violence, bureaucracy, drudgery etc. But there must be some good bits.

I think it depends on the teenager you meet - I know lots of incredible ones and I was an ok one myself but I also know some horrific ones too and their equally horrible parents and I wouldn't want to deal with that drama .

Most being 45+ tells me that everybody else refused as it wasn't Directed Time, leaving SLT to show up for a change.

I used to wonder the same and I wouldn't be suited to it, but after I looked round our local secondary schools, I understood why people do it. I found a lot of the kids charming and interesting and I could see why people would enjoy working with them. Obviously kids aren't charming and interesting all the time, but people probably find the challenge enjoyable. I couldn't be a police officer either, but can see how people enjoy the variety and challenge and would be bored by an office job.
I'm not saying I don't think the job is difficult etc, just that I can see why people choose it.

You’ll also notice that vocation is almost exclusively used for traditionally female roles. Nurse, vocation. Doctor, clever man job. Teacher, vocation. Professor, clever man job.

I’m 34 with a mortgage and kids, so to quit teaching would mean taking a pay cut and having to move to a smaller house, I’m not willing to start all over again . When my colleagues and I discuss quitting this is one of the main reasons that comes up

Awful. Plus for male teachers safeguarding is such a horrid threat for just normal hardworking people

It’s a weird environment. It’s totally unlike any other work environment. Teachers are often kind of put into competition with one another and everyone is desperate to be recognised. There’s also a lot of scrutiny and fear so you end up with lots of people just working like slaves. Once you’ve done it for a while the pay is good and it’s hard for people to find jobs with comparable pay.

That's quite the opposite to my experience. Nine if the secondary school teachers I knew personally 5 years ago are still teaching.

YANBU.
I wanted to be a science teacher when I was younger and became a science technician as a first job/stepping stone. It was a very rough school, but was a huge eye opener. The teachers had to go through some shit. It looked so stressful.
I decided then and there aged 23 that it wasn't for me.

I really really wish I was cut out teaching and take my hats of to all secondary school teachers, it seems like a rewarding but very tough job.

In my eyes, the holidays aren't pay off it make it worth it. If I was a teacher I'd start worrying/shitting myself, every August about the coming academic year.

It's definitely tough! My sister (34) has been a secondary school teacher for 12 years. Granted she complains often and has bouts of tears here and there due to the high load of marking/lesson/assembly planning... but she loves it! Mainly the student/teacher bond. If you actually have good control your class and they respect you it can be very rewarding. It only goes downhill for her when they don't get good grades because she's so passionate about them succeeding.

I've taught for 25 years and still enjoy it, most days. However, if I had my time again I wouldn't enter the profession now- it's a tough gig.

Kids are hilarious. Yes you get naughty and rude ones but the vast majority are not. When you close the classroom door and you’re teaching your class in peace, it’s the best job in the world.

Nice to read some positive experiences! I take my hat off to secondary school teachers, thank you!