Would you train to be a teacher?

[Iwantacareerchange]

I'm currently working as a paediatric nurse (27yrs) but the NHS is now in such dire straights with serious lack of staff both nurses and doctors and equipment/medication that I and most of my colleagues now genuinely fear a child on our ward will die and we will loose our registration. Also the NHS is being broken down and privatised, lots of areas have been taken over by profit making companies this depresses me money is coming before the health needs of our children. I took a career break when my children were little and have a good class degree in area that apparently there is a serious significant teacher shortage and "Get into teaching" are always emailing me. Today I spoke to them and have arranged various visits to schools etc to see what I think.
So the 64 million $ question would you retrain as a secondary school teacher?

No. Here's why:

1. Teaching is also beset by government-caused problems, and
2. You can't spell 'lose'. Please. The teaching profession really does not need any more teachers who can't spell.

No. What everyone else said. It's bloody awful being a teacher these days. I do supply, private tutoring and adult ed these days. It's nothing like what I'd get paid as a full time teacher but at least I'm not a gibbering wreck. Dh is a deputy head. I don't know how he hacks it.

If you like acute how about a paediatric intensive care?
You need a change, that much is certain

You'll only last in teaching if you are doing it because it's the only thing you want to do, you won't last in teaching if you go into it seeking a reprieve.

You just won't last.

You're arguements "for" are about what you're getting away from, not how much you'ld LOVE teaching.

So. You won't last. You just won't. You'll be back to square 1 but more tired and broken then before.

No. I am a teacher. I wouldn't recommend it.

What about being a school nurse? Keep an eye on TES jobs for roles in your area - here's this week's.

www.tes.com/jobs/search?positions=Matron%2FNurse

If you like the idea of teaching or training how about a role like that within health care, an nvq assessor for care staff, teaching health and social care at FE level. If you have a good level of education university lecturer on nursing course? Running training courses ? Just ideas off the top my head that you would need to research to see if any of them are feasible.

We are now expected to work way beyond our 37.5 hours as we have link roles that are exceedingly time consuming, endless on line mandatory training which we have to do in our own time but can only be done at work and loads of other stuff. Most parents are stunned by our ridiculous working environment how hard we're working and how we now so obviously struggle to get anything done. They are also stunned that that I'm still at work at 8 pm when they saw me at 7 am and that I've not eaten/drunk/peed all day. We work ridulous shift patterns coming off nights straight onto long days with no break and then no break back into nights. We can't get our AL when we want it due to staff shortages but we also have a use it or loose policy. We quite often have parents who were teachers on the ward and they frequently comment on the ridiculous way we are now working and when I tell them I have another degree many have advised me to think about teaching. As one said the other day "I thought teaching was bad but having watched you for the last three days it's much worse for you".

Well I'm leaving teaching. Yes it's great having the summer hols, but impossible to achieve a work life balance the rest of the year. I have prioritised my family recently, and tried to work only 8-6, and therefore have felt that I'm not doing my job properly. When I joined there was more money and opportunities to take on extra paid responsibility. I gave up paid responsibilities to focus on my own kids only to find that I was now expected to do the same work for no extra pay or time.

I left the NHS to do a PGCE!
As much as I'm really enjoying it, it is just a different level of work. You never feel like you have done enough.
Working in the NHS (community health practitioner), I worked long hours but went home. Now I'm averaging 10 hours in school, with at least another 1-2 hours at home!
But, I'm enjoying the challenges!
My salary will be over 25% lower as an nqt. It is tough, but rewarding!

Don't be a teacher because it's less awful than your current job. There must be loads of jobs that are less awful. Plus if you are bored rigid by other less acute types of nursing then surely teaching isn't going to interest you?

While nurses face many challenges that teachers don't have, nurse's over time is not in any way shape or form comparable to teachers over time, you can easily double your hours with unpaid work when teaching! not just on a bad week: week-in-week-out!

You sound desperate, and I do agree you need to leave your current job, but you've latched onto teaching for all the wrong reasons and you're not really listening to the reality of it even though you did ask. it's not your escape.

you can easily double your hours with unpaid work when teaching! not just on a bad week: week-in-week-out!

^^ This! It's honestly never ending. In work for 7.30. Leave work at 6. Barely see the kids. Sit back down in the lounge/kitchen at 9pm and do easily 2 hours a night. Repeat. 6 days a week (you can sack your Sunday straight off). Countdown to 'holidays' permanently, but then spend most holidays actually working.

Simple answer 'no' holiday s are not worth the term time exhaustion , I work 4 days in secondary and don't see my kids for 4 days that's how it feels . Core subjects are the worst what will.be your subjet

The only way to truly know is to try it

Did school nursing for a while, they by the way apparently have the lowest job satisfaction of any branch of nursing.
It's just not my cup of tea.
I did my degree because I wanted to teach, but when I finished my degree I just couldn't juggle my children and retraining as DH works abroad a lot (nursing is flexible), but they've now gone off to uni and I was reluctant to leave something I love and TBH am very good at.
I am passionate about my subject, I love talking about it, I'm very articulate, apparently I'm very funny, and I've taught both adults as in student nurses and childrenIve had good feed back. I've even helped friends children with their homework/coursework and every time the feed back has been "why don't you train to be a teacher you make everything so interesting". Two friends who did their degree with me think I'm a "natural teacher" and they also say I have an air of authority about me which they think would make me good at controlling a class.

What are your reasons for thinking about teaching, apart from wanting to leave the NHS? As other posters have said, several of the problems you describe are also found in school teaching as a career. Are there opportunities to teach nursing in higher education?

Can you arrange some work experience?

it's one thing to be passionate about your subject, it's another to be forced to deliver a curriculum that sucks the life and enjoyment OUT of your subject. Teachers no longer have much autonomy to teach their subjects in interesting ways.

An air of natural authority (whatever that is) means nothing. You clearly think teaching will be a breeze. Go ahead. Have zero flexibility. Work longer hours. Enjoy it.

A private school might be less of a pressured environment, although teaching a core subject is always going to be stressful I suspect. You might even be able to work in a private school without doing a PGCE as they don't have to employ qualified teachers.

This is very helpful. Thank you.
It's very hard to know what to do. I definitely don't want to do practice nursing/community/hospice work it's just not my bag.
Two friends tried NVQ assessor/FE and tell endless stories about how awful it is.
If I gave the impression I was thinking of teaching because of the long holidays that's not what I meant. We can't take holidays for most of the year as we don't have enough staff to cover our leave our trust reserves the right o cancel AL up to two weeks before you're due to go. But if we don't take it we loose it.

schools don't want teachers who busy themselves with making it interesting

schools want teachers who can tick boxes, who follow the curriculum as go through the motions and meet targets, they want teachers who spend their time producing plans and schemes of work that are OFSTEAD ready, not plans and schemes of work that are full of innovation and fun!

it's sad.

Two friends tried NVQ assessor/FE and tell endless stories about how awful it is

& they're generally considered the "easier" branches of teaching..

Never in a million years. I work in a fairly good school with a nice HT but have never felt morale so low. Everyone scratching the surface of the million and one things it's decreed that we have to cover and not doing justice to any of them.

The prospect of HMIE on the horizon too. I'd like to know what they'll say about our attempts to cover everything with less and less support for challenging pupils and constant interference and shi-stirring from parents.

It's dire

Have you tried looking at other trusts? You might find you have a different experience elsewhere.

What subject would you teach?

Ottilie why be so hostile? Where have I said teaching will be an absolute breeze? There are few if any jobs out there in the public sector there which are an "absolute breeze". As I said above it's parents I meet at work who are teachers that have encouraged me to rethink again the idea of training to be a teacher, most seem to think I'd be good at it and enjoy it and it would be better than what I'm doing now.
I've read everything that's been written and it's significant food in thought. That's why I started this thread because I don't want to jump from the frying pan into the fire.I'm in my 50's I need to think very carefully about any massive career change.