Talk me out of teaching

[Avaricii]

I don't enjoy my job. I've drifted into something that doesn't fulfil my need to feel like I'm making a difference. It pays ok.
I'd like to teach secondary maths. I think I'd be great at up to GCSE and have a relevant degree. But all I hear is that teaching is so stressful. What I don't get is why it's more stressful than any other stressful job? I'm stressed every day at work now so at least I would get a less stressful summer with my still primary kids who I feel are growing up fast at camp or at after school clubs.

I’d imagine it’s like many public sector jobs:

• interesting
• fulfilling
• meaningful
• underpaid
• underappreciated
• stressful

Personally, I’d choose teaching over banking any day of the week. Yes it’s hard but it’s also meaningful. I’d rather pluck my eyes out that work in some private sector corporations.

Give it a go! Some teachers love their job (there’s always some they love and some they hate their jobs)

I thought after GCSE maths was one of those subjects where they tell you to forget everything you learned previously because it's completely different from then on?

I had a friend who loved it and aced her GCSE, and then absolutely hated AS level because it was nothing like it.

I taught for over 30 years. Loved the kids and hated so much else.

Hated the endless planning and the pointless nature of so much of it.
Hated the micromanagement
Hated the demand for utter conformity
Hated the lack of trust

Final straw was realising that my line manager had lied about an observation. Complained to Head who said, "Well X has a style of management that suited us in the build up to Ofsted." In other words, I know that she is a manipulative, deceitful bully but I've let her have free rein over you all because I thought it would help us get a good Ofsted rating.

I'm now in a different public sector role, working with adults - who actually behave like adults.

I have quite a few friends who did PGCEs and became teachers, and I think 2 of them still teach. I also have a friend who is a teaching assistant and refuses to go into teaching proper because of the stress. They get the school holidays and some of the pressure but not all, and he works part time.

One became a self-employed dance teacher (didn't last a year).
One became a housewife.
One became a private tutor.
One became a civil servant.
One became a flight attendant.
One became a vicar.

All of them graduated in their early 20s, only one stuck at it for more than 10 years.

@Avaricii , maths teachers are in very short supply, so your skills will be highly sought after. Sensible schools will treat you well because they won't want to lose you - if they don't, you will easily get a job in another school. You will need to do very little marking, because most maths homework can be done via online tools such as Dr Frost. If you want to, you will be able to earn extra money to supplement your income as a maths tutor. You will be rewarded by the success of your students. When things get tough, you will have perspective, because you have worked elsewhere. And if you later decide teaching is not for you, then you can go and do something else.

In case it helps, this charity supports people career-changing into teaching:
https://nowteach.org.uk/

Thats not the point - able/capable kids in year 11 will want to ask questions, go further, maybe explore concepts beyond the syllabus, and its really rubbish when they have a teacher who basically fobs off questions because they aren't confident enough at the subject themselves.

People who think a-level maths is 'nothing like' GCSE weren't well taught earlier - a strong maths teacher would have helped them understand how the principles they are learning earlier come into play in more advanced maths.

Definitely don’t do it! Teaching is horrendous! The TV adverts where you see the smiling teacher starting at the same time as the engaged and respectful kids etc couldn’t be further from the truth. Firstly ask yourself why there is a shortage of teachers. A job where you get generous holidays, pay isn’t awful and you have the ability to finish at 3:30 should be an attractive prospect but it isn’t. I don’t know the exact recent figures but most newly qualified teachers now quit within the first 5 years.
The reality is that you will end up working every evening and weekend just to get your work done and you will be exhausted. Holidays will be spent sleeping, recovering from illness (due to being run down) and doing school work. You will be treated like shit by senior management who are often bullies who won’t care that you are an ‘in demand’ maths teacher. As long as there is a body in front of a class then they won’t care what their qualifications are. As you progress up the payscale you will be less attractive to the school and you might be bullied out in favour of a cheaper alternative. If you dare to have an opinion that is different to theirs then your card will be marked and suddenly there will be issues with your teaching where none have ever been raised before. Behaviour is awful at the moment too. Undoubtedly you will meet some lovely students who are motivated to learn but unfortunately a large number of kids do not want to learn and will attempt to derail and disrupt your lessons. They will be rude but there will be no consequences for them. They might assault you and verbally abuse you but that will somehow be your fault or you’ll be told you need to be more considerate towards them because they have a tough home life. You’ll spend a large amount of time writing up incidents, filling in report cards and calling parents. Parents are also a challenge, it will be your fault that their little darling isn’t making progress. They think it’s acceptable to contact you at all hours and you will not be supported by senior management. You might think I’m exaggerating or have had a bad experience but this experience comes from working in numerous schools in different areas and a 20 year career. There is a FB group for teachers who have experienced similar and it currently has over 169K members. This should tell you all you need to know! As a PP suggested definitely shadow a teacher for at least a week so you can see how bad it is for yourself.

If you love your subject and have a relevant degree in it you would probably find the actual teaching part of the job very rewarding. I know I did. Seeing progression, helping kids mature, as a form tutor seeing the changes from year 7 to 11 and knowing that you can support through the hard times. Loading with the supportive parents and equally committed staff ..can't think of any better job for me.
But ...these days the admin demands, the endless observations, OFSTED, unsupportive parents, some in teaching who have actually said they are only doing it because they couldn't think of anything else to do with their degree and have no interest really. Head Teachers and SLTs who issue edicts about how to improve behaviour but who remain firmly behind closed doors when they should be out modelling the great way they manage the kids. Other professionals who seem to view teaching as 'less' even though you have a good degree and did rigourous training. Long long term time days and working holidays. The list goes on.
Personally I couldn't have done anything else. Loved it and had a good progressive career. Got on with both kids and colleagues of all ages. But even as I retired the job was getting harder and I see the exhaustion in my own daughter who teaches. Think carefully. If you love your subject and think you can manage 30 different teenagers coming through the door every hour and feel able to be accountable for results every single year. If you have resilience and empathy go for it ...there is no better job.
But you asked for the downside ...to be "put off' so here you have it. The good, the bad and the ugly. Good luck with your decision. 😁💐

Do not do it. At my secondary school, one teacher got locked in a cupboard, another had fruit thrown at her, another had a compass thrown at her head. Many teachers had mental breakdowns, one had a heart attack during the lesson due to the ongoing stress of the job.

I’m a secondary school English teacher. Coming up to 20 years in the job. I have taught in ‘naice’ middle class schools and have found it stressful (especially in middle leadership). However, where I feel most valued - and am happiest - is in my current school. Inner city. Huge percentage of disadvantaged students in comparison to national figures. The children value my subject and know that education will open doors for them. Teaching here is a pleasure and - on paper - you wouldn’t think that.

There has been a lot of reflection here about how to recruit and retain experienced teachers and marking policies reflect that. I do work a couple of hours each work day evening when my children are in bed but I also leave school at 3.10 two days per week to collect my own children from the local primary school. I guess I do my 9-5 in a split shift!

Whilst teaching gets a bad press, it can be a brilliant career. Also, depending where in the country you live, the pay isn’t bad. I earn just under £40k for 4 days and get all the holidays off with my children.

As a maths teacher with a maths degree you will be in huge demand. I say go for it!

@branstonpickle28 yes to this. You need a sense of humour. You also need to be the type of person who doesn't catastrophise when things go pear shaped and you need a thick skin. You can't go home and overthink things and have to compartmentalise.

I love my job (sometimes) as it's so so varied and there's so much human interest. I also really like teenagers and have so much empathy for how tough it is to be that age. You've got to be flexible, responsive, curious, reflective and always learning. You also need to be a team player.

They have the internet to explore further.

The teacher needs to stay on the syllabus for all the kids and make sure they're training them to pass the specific exams.

@Tuftykitten I'm really interested in what you said about students not having to work any more. We're also told that the pressure on pupils now is worse than it's ever been. It seems the education system isn't working for anyone 😔

I've never been a teacher but I have several close friends who are teachers and they really enjoy it . They work in good schools though with strong leadership so I think this is the key. They don't seem overworked.

From what I hear, Maths would be way better to teach then say languages. And defo secondary.
The training year would be really hard but I don't think it's a bad idea. And you can always do something else if you don't like it.

Where do I even start....
You also won't be able to teach in the best schools unless you teach A level.

I started teacher training for secondary science, and quit half way through. I'm now a mental health nurse, and personally find it way less stressful and more enjoyable.

I despised it. You could honestly offer me 100k a year and I wouldn't do it. There is an expectation to arrive early and leave late. Leaving at 3pm is looked down on. You're expected to sit there lesson planning. Even if you do go home, the lesson planning and marking never ends. Particularly in a core subject like science or maths, which are very content heavy. You have to do work over the weekends. You do a lot of unpaid work.

Half of the time, you're teaching to kids who frankly don't give a crap. You spend a lot of time managing behaviour. This is obviously school dependent, but I went to a crap state school for one of my placements, and the disrespect was something else. The rudeness was soul destroying.

I was only there 6 months. I came home every day crying and dreading it.

Just wasn't for me. Give me a psychotic crisis or someone suicidal any day of the week!!!

Well, it is no different from any other stressful job if you have work life boundaries and can mentally leave your job behind when you arrive home. Like any job, some people can do that, others can’t.

I think teaching is unique in that the whole ethos of education is to work as hard as you can, achieve as highly as you can and please the people in authority. That is the mindset encouraged in pupils and unfortunately it rubs off on the staff too. Perfectionism, workaholism and people-pleasing will get you a mental breakdown in teaching. If you have already had another career and are going into it with a sense of perspective and able to withstand this ethos, then you may find it very rewarding.

This 100%. Every sentence is spot on. I couldn’t articulate it better myself. It will destroy your life, your health, your relationships, your self worth, your status, reputation and lifelong accomplishments in both your eyes and the eyes of others, and any current likability or affection you might currently have for children will be extinguished.

I’m sure teaching in a grammar, a private school or any other country abroad with different parenting and education values
/culture would be lovely but most teachers I know in British state schools (former colleagues, friends and family members) want out.

Do it! We need more great teachers 👏

I left after 20 years. It’s soul destroying. The kids (particularly at secondary) can be awful but they aren’t the worst part. Constant pressure to get results that were simply unobtainable for some, expectations to be switched on ALL the time (email comes in at 10pm on a Sunday and actions required before the next day), accountability for lack of progress for a child who is rarely in school, expectations that you will get the work done even if it means 14 hour days. They are some of the reasons why I left. I used to cry on my way to work and cry on my way home. I used to catch every bug going and then have to decide between going to work ill or the anxiety of calling in sick and coming back to a list of complaints about the work I’d set. I ended up on antidepressants and needing therapy. The only part I miss is the children; they were truly wonderful and I had lots of fun with them. But the negatives by far outweighed the positives and it took me a while to get back to myself.

No, I wouldn’t recommend anyone go into teaching right now. I’ve left teaching after nearly 20 years and have never felt better. I wish I’d left sooner.

I do wish people would say "my experience was.." rather than "teaching IS like this" "you will be working 50/60/70 hours a week". My experience is nothing like that. I've worked in six different schools and only had one member of one SLT who was an arse. I got to see my kids nativities through colleagues' kind swaps and ive always shared resources with colleagues, Facebook groups etc. Marking can totally manageable with careful planning and time management. So much is school dependent.

I really wouldn't. I have been doing it for thirty years now and the workload and stress is worse than it ever was.

1. Micromanaged with excessive box filling and recording on various systems.
2. Numerous pointless meetings squeezed into the day.
3. Minimal ppa so that to keep your head above water you need to work at home on the weekend.
4. I can't drink water at work because I don't have enough tome to gp to the loo as frequently as I need to. I have taken to wearing tena to protect myself. No toilets close enough to my room to allow me to drink water in class. It is literally that bad. Some days when I also have a duty I have to run on the bell to the loo and then run to my classroom to get there in time.
5. Verbal abuse from kids commonplace. You need a very thick skin as they will say all sorts to you.
6. Curriculum is very dry and you are expected to teach to a very prescriptive formula. If it isn't working then you are to blame not the resources or curriculum.
7. Lack of parental support. Parents of challenging children will in the main blame you for their child's behaviour. It will be because of your teaching or your personality.
8. Increased numbers of children with send especially ebsa, asd and adhd with little to no support for the kids beyond ehcps which list impractical strategies that don't help and can't be implemented because you don't have any help.

Wow. Please don't become a teacher 😳

People have already pointed out why teaching is stressful - many threads on here and in the staffroom, too, if you need more information.

I'd question your reasons for going into teaching. If your heart isn't fully in it you will not last long, and you will certainly not enjoy it.