to be second guessing re training as a teacher … help!

[Starcarbar]

I worked as a solicitor for around 9 years. It 34 and we want to ttc in next few years. I’ve always wanted to go into something other than law and my plan was to do teacher training from next year ahead of ttc. I keep having doubts. I don’t know if it’s the media but I often hear about how the workload spirals etc. I typically work 8-6 or 7 in law and can usually avoid working a weekend. Does anyone know if it would be worse than that in teaching? I love the idea of making a difference and working with kids and in certain I want to leave the legal profession. Am I making a mistake? I feel like it’s now or never to jump ship!

If you want to teach I'd actually look into teaching Law at A level or even degree level.

Probably much more manageable when you have small children.

BPP and University of Law are always recruiting.

Don’t even think about it. It’s a terrible job and not family friendly in any way. I did 15 years and left a few years ago. Feel very lucky to have escaped

My advice is don’t do it, esp if you are looking to have a family. I got out afew years back, the workload is totally unrealistic and they just want more. You can’t have even a minute off at your choosing and looking after your own kids isn’t allowed! I was in hospital and was just moaned at for when I’d be back rather than how I was! Teachers are leaving in their droves

It’s absolutely relentless. There are always threads on here from parents moaning and groaning about the most ridiculous things that have happened in school.
I am fortunate to be in a fabulous school with an incredible headteacher but I have been in toxic schools and they will think nothing of beating you down to a pulp to get rid of you.
I wouldn’t recommend teaching to my worst enemy.

I am secondary and to be honest, if I can't get it done in school and it isn't coursework, it doesn't get done. I am too tired when I get in to do anything.
I work hard in school but at nearly 59, I can't do what I used to do 10 years ago!

I work FT in secondary and I am a middle leader.
I work 7.45-4, I rarely take work home and I refuse to work in the holidays. I am good at knowing when it's 'good enough', though. I certainly worked much longer hours earlier in my career.
For me the tricky bit is the inflexibility. I can never go to my children's shoes, parents open mornings, doctors appointments. I can't pick up from the playground ever and I am scuppered on their inset days. Fortunately I am not married to a teacher!

For me the issue with teaching now is that you are unable to achieve what you might like to for the children, because of a broken system, and parents have expectations of you that are just so high.

Come back to us when you’re teaching ( and planning /marking /assessing for) a 90% timetable and have complete responsibility for the progress, SEND arrangements, safeguarding/ reporting well-being, reports, data management, home-school communication, medication, friendships, and lost property of 35 children, plus subject responsibility for at least one subject, plus commitment to wider school activities…

Ex-teacher here. I left because I wasn't suited to the job, but I have friends who have wonderful careers in teaching.

I would consider:
Are you very introverted? If so, think about the energy it will take you to 'perform' for 5-6 hours a day, on top of the paper-based work. I found this more of an issue than the actual hours.
How important will flexibility be to you? I'm some ways teaching is way less good for kids than many other roles because of the extreme difficulty in taking leave at any time other than the school hols.
Are you a perfectionist or are you able to stop working when things are 'good enough'? In teaching you could work 24/7 and never be done, so those I know that are happiest are the teachers that have the self-assurance and discipline to not work themselves into the ground in fear of being less than perfect.
Finally, the individual school you work in matters a LOT. Some are much better than othera when it comes to supporting their teaching staff.

I would also add - are you good at managing confrontation, other people's emotions and difficult conversations? There can be a lot those!

i am retired after a career of nearly three decades in the classroom. Teaching is a thankless job now, it is not family friendly and the demands on individual teachers are beyond ridiculous. I would advise anyone thinking of teaching to avoid it.

i loved my job and was good at it but it has changed beyond recognition in the last rotten years and even more so in the last five.

Advice I have got is to do the teacher training but then take a high level TA role to get the best of both worlds (less pay but less hours). Might be worth considering?

I wouldn't. Most teachers on here end up moaning about it.

OP, asking a question like this on this forum isn't a good idea.

I do love my job. You wouldn't think that if you'd spoken to me at any point in the last term as it's been a particularly bad few months. But I do genuinely like what I do.

The job has changed beyond recognition to what I trained to do 25 years ago. The pressure is ridiculous but the kids are still kids and mostly appreciative. There is a large number of SLT and parents that I could honestly do without. But I see them as an inconvenience rather than a deal-breaker.

I work daily 7.45-4.30. some days I leave a little earlier but I work at home wish evening a week. A few hours on a Sunday too. At certain points this increases massively (like mock marking). I also work in holidays. I go into school to do extra sessions after Xmas hols and run up to summer.

I'd happily look for another school. I've been their 10 years and I'm getting fed up. But I don't think I'd give up teaching. Happily give up my HOD role though! Don't go into that likely!

As a single parent it's mostly been a good send. Having holidays off with them. The term times are tough and I've missed sports days and plays etc. But spending the holidays with them makes the down sides worth it.

Very much depends on the subject and school. A tiny primary will be a lot more work than a two or three-form entry. Some subjects have a horrific marking workload and a lot of pressure for results. Choose carefully.

The workload in teaching is horrendous - every mature applicant I've known who have come into teaching because it's family friendly have soon realised it isn't and left. I've now dropped to part time teaching and only manage because I work in a trust that shares planning, so I've very little lesson planning and the marking policy is sensible. Most days, I love my job and I'm in a school that suits me well. I'm also good at knowing when to stop and when things are 'good enough'. But I worked myself far too hard for 20 years and I'll never get that time back. Also, you will be shocked at how little respect you get as a teacher - you need a thick skin!

I would say workload is likely to be a LOT worse than you're used to initially, but then will improve. It will still likely be a bit worse than you're used to, but you do get the holidays to compensate. Bear in mind you will probably do some work in school holidays, but still, they're pretty great.

Oh just to add- I'd recomended finding a nice private school to work at. Longer holidays, and good fee remission for your own kids. If you can find a school that has a junior school and nursery attached, that can be life-changing.

This. The workload is insane. I was a City solicitor and retrained as a teacher. Huge mistake.

When I did my PGCE in the mid-late 2000s, they wouldn’t accept you if you hadn’t spent at least a fortnight getting work experience in a school. I honestly think that would be the best way to see if it would suit you.

FWIW I have worked in KS2-5, mostly part time, but the warning I want to give is that depending on your own personal triggers and areas of vulnerability, teaching can eat you up and spit you out from a multitude of different directions! It’s possible to both love the job and for it to drive you to despair (quite literally). It broke me eventually; I dip my toes into specialist SEND provision now but make most of my living in another area, and I still don’t work full time. Teaching left me with a mental health weak spot, a bit like if you repeatedly dislocated your knee you would always have a weak knee. It was already a vulnerable area for me but I lost a lot of resilience and now, working as I do, I am poorer but happier. I do think of looking for FT teaching work because life is so expensive, but I honestly doubt I could cope.

Do spend as much time as you can getting some experience in a school, preferably in the key stage you want to work in- it will give you a much better idea of how the job might suit your personality and temperament.

I also like the idea of "making a difference" but unfortunately I'm a teacher.

Been teaching for 25 years now. Very little "making a difference" happening where I am.

As for "relevant previous experience"... anyone with a qualification in lion-taming and the ability to find being sworn at every day, funny, will just about make it through the first term of their PGCE (but only if their liver is up to it.)

Good luck you crazy fool. (Remember to get your liver tested before signing the induction papers.)

Sometimes I feel as though I do the very opposite of making a difference.

My DD2 trained as a teacher , she was so eager but the reality of it was awful . So much time out of hours working on lesson plans . Awful behaviour from the children and their parents ,loads of stress, she couldn't wait to finish and get another job tbh .
Be very careful OP before you go for it .

Most of the time i feel like i am barely making it through the day, rather than making a difference.

Contrary to what I believed when I was training 15 years ago, teaching is not family friendly at all. In fact, having children was the final push I needed to leave the career after over 13 years.
I now feel like a grown up who can attend a medical appointment without being bullied (despite attending two ever in school hours in 13 years, even antenatal ones, as I managed to arrange out of school hours). I feel like a grown up who can decide if I want to take time off to see my children’s nativity etc.
The one thing that really bothered me over the years is that no matter how hard you work, you never feel on top of your work load. I had a nice couple of years when I felt established and things took less time (but even then was working 10-15 hours overs the 32.5 you’re paid for) but then the pressures got more and more, more responsibility and admin tasks are passed your way because there’s no one else to do it and before you know it the supposed “golden years” are you working 60-70 hour weeks and receiving no give or take pay in return. I do not recommend teaching to anyone as a career right now.