New career as teacher?

[baconsandwich]

Am thinking of retraining as primary school teacher. Am 45. Am I mad? Anyone else out there taken the plunge at this age? Do they even want mature teachers anyway?

no it's the best job ever, I agree, and if op is determined to do it she will
but you do have to go in with your eyes open, and if you are expecting a creative 8.3 job with long holidays you are likely to be disappointed fairly soon. training new teachers who drop out is a waste of everyone's time.

I just think that by constantly moaning about things that most professional people have to also put up with we do ourselves no favours and we put off people who could be excellent teachers. The fact that Scottishmummy says that all the teachers she knows hate their job is shocking.

I do find teaching creative. Again maybe it is different about secondary , I clearly made the right choice when choosing the secondary sector.

I like teaching, I've been doing it full-time since 1984.
But that's in spite of the hours and the paperwork.

I don't see how anyone could teach and hate it - you would just have to get out. If you enjoy teaching, it's a brilliant but relentlessly busy whirlwind of a job. It isn't a job you can do if you don't enjoy it, which I guess is why 50% leave within 5 years of qualifying.

Which is why I wanted to know the reasons behind the OP wanting to have a late career change.

' Feel more drawn to primary, partly if I'm honest because my own kids are primary age - better the devil you know and all that.'

seemed a very simplistic and misinformed response to me.

I think that existing teachers feel the need to jump on a thread like this because teaching is a profession where the general public perception of the job (lots of teachers needed, short hours, long holidays, family friendly) is at odds with the reality (ferocious job competition, long but somewhat flexible hours, long holidays full of planning, and family friendly only during holiday time).

It is a great job IF it is your vocation. Many of the 'less lovely' parts of the job will vary depending on what school you are in - details like whether heads insist on all planning being handed in in advance, the 'presenteeism' culture, the nature of the curriculum (creative curriculum vs QCA units, maths textbooks vs individual planning), the nature of the intake, the character of the head etc are school dependent and make a huge difference.

If the OP is drawn to teaching despite all that we say, has shadowed a teacher in class for a while (even better, worked for some time as a volunteer or TA in school) and finds herself excited at the prospect of running the class, has taked in depth to the PGCE provider about employment statistics etc then it will be the career for her. If she has had fluffier ideas about teaching, looks at the thread and thinks 'maybe it's not quite as I was expecting', goes into school and isn't excited by it, then it isn't the career for her.

(Ninah, apologies for the ill-thought-out comment about partners. I should have said 'partner or childcare or relatives'....whoever it is who is going to look after your child on the second day of their illness, because while a school will let you take leave of absence on the first day in an emergency they NEED you back on the second)

So liking the idea because her children are also primary-aged might not be quite enough?
Shades of Mrs Worthington's daughter?

'Don?t put your daughter on the stage, Mrs. Worthington
Don?t put your daughter on the stage
The profession is overcrowded
The struggle?s pretty tough
And admitting the fact she?s burning to act
That isn?t quite enough
She?s a nice girl and though her teeth are fairly good
She?s not the type I ever would be eager to engage
I repeat, Mrs. Worthington, sweet Mrs. Worthington
Don?t put your daughter on the stage'

I agree that the OPs reasons for wanting to teach primary are quite vague , although looking back I am not certain that my reasons for teaching secondary were more precise. When your children are around secondary age will you want to teach secondary? I think the OP should at least explore the secondary option. I do think people think that teaching secondary is much harder than the reality. Most teenagers want an easy life so they do as they are told. Many schools will also not have you teaching A Level straight away and even if they do support should be there.

I agree with the previous poster that most people who dislike teaching leave . It is not a profession full of people who hate the job, although many are overly defensive , perhaps with some cause.

Pros- Can be rewarding. Reasonable pay. Stable job (once you have one). Holidays with your kids. Good pension scheme.

Cons- Stressful and demanding. Long working hours (you will be at school from at least 8am-5pm every day). You will catch a thousand coughs and colds. Inflexible holidays.

And most mothers you meet will think they could teach because they have children/were a child/know enough to teach primary because they can count up to 100 and read.

Working hours can be what you make them, but depends on school culture. I arrive by 8.30 at the latest and leave anytime between 4 and 7pm. I have found it much harder to sort Childcare since my son started school - nursery was easy as it was 8 til 6 if necessary and next door to husband's office. School is twenty minutes from where I work and is. 9 til 3, so we have a complex arrangement of childminder, husband and my mum as I can never do pick up or drop off. Holidays Ok as long as I can ignore the kids to work or take them to school with me when I need to be in.

I am lucky in that my HT allows us to take leave for concerts, sports days etc.

DIW - delete 'most mothers' and replace with 'everyone - especially politicians'!

Again it may be different for secondary but I find people react in an almost awe like status when they find out that I teach, as if I am splitting the atom whilst lion taming. Even when I taught in really tough schools it was not that hard, yes draining, but no more so than a nurse and I suspect a lot better than being a social worker.

Again it is no the case that you will need to be in school every day from 8 until 5. Yes you will have to work at home , yes there will be long hours , especially if you are someone like me who does bugger all in the frequent holidays .

I just think that by constantly moaning about things that most professional people have to also put up with we do ourselves no favours and we put off people who could be excellent teachers. MollyBroom - it's not a question of putting people off. If someone comes on here asking for advice about a major decision, the more honest information they get, the better informed their decision will be, surely? Before training as a primary teacher I worked in banking, the civil service, as a management consultant (completing a part-time masters degree while working) and finally as a director of a £40m turnover international business. I'm not moaning about primary teaching, but I can honestly say that it requires longer hours than any other job I have held, and it is more all-consuming, in the sense that you never really switch off and you never feel you have 'finished'. For me, the rewards make all of that worthwhile, but for some people they would not. I prefer to tell it as it is and let them decide.

If people are put off by a bit of moaning by strangers on the internet, then they really aren't cut out for the chalkface.

Anecdotally,yes a lot of teachers I know dont like teaching.not a global generalisation of all teachers but accurate in that I know teachers who are tired,demoralized and wouldn't recommend it

And if some people chewin fat about teaching online puts anyone off it as career,well....you shouldn't be considering it if your that faint hearted that easily spooked

Ahhh - that's slightly different, imo. At various points in a term you may well find me tired and demoralised, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it during those moments - but I still love my job.

A lot of teachers say that they like/love teaching, but just wish that they could be left in peace to get on with it without the stream of nonsense spouted at them by the Govt (any Govt! - they've all had their faults) all the time.......

Well yes - steering around the stream of nonsense is hard at times. But that's what decent teachers do.

Feenie - true, but having to expend energy steering round the crap can get you down at times.

Oh I'm so sorry ASByatt, of course not! I totally agree - sitting drinking tea on my sofa instead of tearing around like an mad woman makes it easy to blithely talk about steering around the crap and how easy it is. You're totally right, when you're shattered and colleagues/parents/management/DFE are making your life 10 times more difficult than it already is it's much harder.

Definitely was not getting at you, sorry it came across like that!

The job situation in Scotland is abysmal, worse than England and especially in primary and Edinburgh's worse again - it's had a closed supply list for years.

Ah thanks Feenie that's kind.

Virtual flowers looking lovely - first lot I've been sent! Hope you're eating biscuits with that tea, essential to keep up at least some termtime routines I feel otherwise my body goes into shock in the holidays.......

Yes I keep hearing/reading how difficult it is to find teaching jobs in Scotland.

I'm a long way from Scotland! Still, I have a couple of friends who for various reasons left their teaching jobs thinking that they could pick up supply, but they've found that supply work has dried up due to the use of HLTAs/cover supervisers etc.