After reading a thread warning against teaching as a career!!

[SunsetOnTheHorizon]

I'm due to complete my degree and I am applying for a QTS+PGCE course for September 2026.

I am aware the teaching sector is a nightmare to work in right now (going by the recent thread).

But my main aspirations are to 1) work as a supply (once I've completed my ECT years) and 2) to work abroad 3) work in specialist schools not mainstream. Considering these 3 factors is it still a stupid idea to go into teaching? Thankfully my dh brings in the bulk of the income, this is something of a dream that I am looking to fulfill. Always wanted to teach, and didn't get round to it as I ended up raising a family. I currently work as a TA in a special school - that's why I am more inclined to work in one once I'm qualified.

AIBU to continue pursuing my dream considering the current climate?

@Shinyandnew1
Great advice!
I know someone who rolled her eyes when a few of us were complaining about reinventing the wheel after another ‘new’ initiative was introduced at the start of term INSET. She told someone that we were ‘negative dinosaurs’ and the school needed more fresh blood like her who were full of energy and new ideas. Fast forward 4 years later when she’s off sick after being placed on a support plan! Teaching is unlike other professions which have clear measures of performance/productivity. Teachers are judged based on lesson observations which are very subjective. This leaves it open to abuse and bullying. If a head or line manager doesn’t like you, it doesn’t matter if you are observed teaching the best lesson in the world, they will find fault with it and nobody is going to question them. Even if you get the union involved they will only advise moving on. For this reason, bullying and unfair treatment is more common in teaching than other careers. Anyone making smug comments on here such as ‘ignore the naysayers’ needs to remember that they are only one set of results or change of management away from being treated as badly as many of us who have left the profession. You would be very stupid to even consider teaching without joining the ‘Exit the Classroom’ group on FB. I never cease to be shocked by some of the awful behaviour reported there. Also check the statistics. Teaching used to be a career for life, for anyone starting now only a very small minority will still be teaching at retirement age.

In a good special school you can be sheltered from some of the madness and I know a few who have kept staff for a long time as they are very lively places. Obviously some special schools are toxic and abusive. But I would say there is a realistic hope of getting a job you enjoy which TBH isn’t the case for mainstream state sector.

This.

Absolutely.

The older you get the more expensive you get, the more they want you out.

Their = belongs to someone
There = over there.... Or stating something.

Thier = not a word (see above. Twice). Could be an issue in any application for teacher training. Although standards are pretty low these days.

Hope this helps.

Oh god, just seen 'distance family friends'... (do you mean distant?)

'theses' too.

The bar must be low. Really low. Please get someone else to check your application for a PGCE or your journey will/should be over before it begins. It's not fair on the children to dumb down their education so much. I'm amazed it passed the standard to be a TA...

Retrained to be a teacher in my early 50s. It's fine. I'm old enough to be the head's mom. A guy recently joined us who's just qualified in his 60s. We both have industry backgrounds.

In your first post, you wrote, "I don't mean to be cruel..." and by your third and fourth you were putting the boot in. Yes, one would hope teachers have a good grasp of spelling and grammar, but one would also hope they are kind and supportive, which you are clearly not.

Lots of Victorian/Edwardian primaries have plenty of stairs but luckily you know that will never apply to you.

I hate to break it you, but it is indeed true that some schools got rid of staff chairs and desks. As the PP said, trying to work on primary sized furniture is no joke.

But luckily you know that this will never affect you so all good.

This thread is getting quite comical. Especially the poster mentioning how the Head threw out all the teachers desks and chairs, and they all had to use a small chair.

Comical? We didn't think it was comical, no,

Or are you calling me a liar?

I think what people fail to appreciate is that a PGCE is all about learning how to deliver a lesson. Learning styles and theorists. Classroom management. It's not a further year of post-grad education designed to educate the educator about subject knowledge, English language or basic maths.

If you think I'm being harsh, what do you think the PGCE provider/those who mark the OP's assignments/observe early lessons will flag up from day one?? Yes. This.

In my day (PGCE 2001, mentor 2008 onwards), deploying their/there/thier (?) in the wrong context or your/you're was reason for a major issue/doubt regarding suitability to be awarded QTS. It's a problem and loss of marks at 11+ for year 6 children....

I'm surprised the OP got a job as a TA to be fair. I'd be livid if my child was 'taught' this in a school setting... Again, teaching isn't just talking, it's writing and being on show/display where every word is scrutinised.

That's teaching today. SCRUTINY

I know, I did a PGCE in the 90s and have taught ever since, I don't need a lecture on the rigours of the profession. My point was that you being spiteful - to someone who is not currently training, has not applied and is not your mentee - is not necessary.

Teachers are kind and supportive. Especially towards the children.

But babying people (grown adults) who cannot master basic English, forgiving basic mistakes, all of this is just dumbing down education. If the standard of teaching is at this base level, how on earth is that fair to children and other teachers?

Some people are just not cut out for the job. They are not academically at a standard high enough to enhance the lives of children through knowledge. They shouldn't be there.

And yes, I'm not delighted that the OP is considering a PGCE in a UK school, will be 'teaching' at this level (potentially) my children on a SCITT course or such like, and then intends to relocate abroad to a tax free international school. I am relieved that the one thing any top school in Singapore or Hong Kong etc will require above all else... is mastery of the English language (if through some miracle/political pressure the QTS standards ignore such fundamental failings).

Second that

You’re going in with your eyes open!

I can assure that plenty of teachers in Hong Kong have terrible English including the native English speakers

Poor Hong Kong children as well... :(

Maybe the OP will get a job there after all. As a TA she seems to know everything so best wishes :)

@SunsetOnTheHorizon I worked in a Victorian era primary school in London. It had four floors and no lift and we had a hall on each of the first, second and third floors. As Deputy Head going from my office to the year 5 and 6 classes on the top floor, it felt like climbing a mountain!

In my old school, the Head of Science wouldn’t let the staff sit down.

Well we need good teachers. It’s one of the most important jobs you can do! I know people who love teaching.
Good for you op 🙌👏

No sit policies are being adopted across some MATs.

My school hasn't gone quite that far - we still have a teacher chair but it's very much frowned upon if SLT walk in and you're sitting on it. We're constantly being reminded not to sit down during the teaching day.

The only time were actually permitted to sit down is when taking the register.

@Diamond7272 I don’t understand why you are being so mean?

There is a multitude of reasons why their spelling may be off.

Being a pedant does not make you a good teacher. We see threads on here daily about alternative provision, sen schools, teaching all sorts of children. It’s not as black and white as it was years ago. We need to be diversifying. An outstanding teacher at a grammar does not equal an outstanding teacher at a PRU.

Half the issues I see with teachers who come in from uni is that they have no experience (OP does), don’t understand that behaviour has deteriorated and you might need to move away from ‘set lessons’ Think outside the box.

I applaud OP and they seem realistic. I love my job after twenty years plus doing it. It’s not all doom and gloom and no furniture.

This is a mature response which is appreciated. I don't agree. But you express yourself well.

I think it's important to be pedantic. I am often appalled at the level of literacy and numeracy displayed by graduates with 2:1 degrees today. It must drive employers up the wall, especially in other professions such as law and accountancy where incorrectly using 'you're' and 'your' to a client just makes the £100+/hour professional look incompetent.

"I enclose you're bill for the hours rendered..." (errrr)

It reflects poorly on the firm and in my opinion is unfair on the employer.

I don't think I'm expecting too much that a qualified teacher can deploy their and there in the correct context.

Yes, the Department for Education is desperate for new teachers, but it's a pitiful day when a Year 6 child has a greater command of the English language than the teacher before him or her. Pupils need to have a reason to respect teachers and teachers need to lead by example to gain respect, especially in a classroom role with disaffected children.

I don't buy into this touchy-feely stuff of "follow your dreams OP"... It costs time, effort and money (indirectly, public tax) to train teachers, just as it does doctors, and some people should not be given the opportunity unless they have reached a threshold of competence beforehand. A degree from the University of Bognor Regis should not be enough... You need English, Maths, a presence... It's how it used to be - Before we became desperate and Simon Cowell encouraged everyone to 'follow their dreams' on a Saturday night...like children in a class, people laughed at the deluded people who thought they were great. They should never have been given the opportunity to be humiliated in the first place.

It made good TV, but it was wrong. Taking people who can't utilise 'their' or 'there' correctly on a PGCE course is exactly the same.

Set to fail. A waste of everyone's time.

Some TA's should be welcomed with open arms. Others should not.

@Diamond7272
I think you’re being a bit mean to the OP but you do make a valid point. Basic grammar and spelling should be essential criteria for those educating future generations. I remember a head of department who used to write emails telling us to ‘pick a pacific topic’ and ‘to focus on where students loose marks’ etc. It just made me think he was a bit thick to be honest.
I also remember being astounded during a training session where an English teacher was delivering a workshop comparing standards in grammar schools to those in non grammar schools. I asked if it was a fair comparison seeing as grammar schools were selective based on academic ability. It became clear that she didn’t actually know what grammar schools were and appeared to think they simply had a greater focus on grammar. 😳

There’s a difference between sloppy writing on social media and writing in the professional world. I agree though, that some teachers have woeful spelling, punctuation and grammar. What is more worrying is when they sell their efforts on TES resources or share on social media. I had a child tell me diegetic was diagetic and mise en scene was mis en scene and she showed me the teacher produced resource to prove it.

Hi OP I'm returning part time from mat leave soon, qualified in 2021. The trainee year (I did School Direct in a really tough academy) is absolutely brutal. I think if you can stick with it through the ECT years, it does get better. Returning for another year in the same school is easier than starting afresh - you know more of the kids and routines, you can adapt previous resources - but don't be afraid to move schools to find one that's a better fit. Move schools before you give up teaching entirely.

I did 3 years in said tough school, moved to one that is reasonable about wellbeing (as in not working teachers into the ground until they leave or get signed off - or attacked in school!). My first year in the new school I also found really tough, back to 14h days between work at school and work continued at home, and I was very close to quitting. Returning for another year there was much easier.

Find more experienced teacher friends and get their perspective on whatever is going on in the school. There's a great book by Bruno Gomes (Teacher Workload: How to Master It and Get Your Life Back), goes into different ways to make your life more bearable.

It does get easier and a big part of it is getting quicker at everything as you get more experienced, unconscious competence, figuring out what you can get away with not doing in that particular school and learning to care and do less. I have definitely not mastered that last one and there are a lot of perfectionists in teaching. I still worked through my lunch breaks all through my pregnancy and was on my knees giving kids feedback and encouragement right up to 38 weeks. And trying to tick all the boxes for the scrutiny we're still subject to. Tbd how I cope now I'll be prioritising my child and juggling nursery!