Do you join teaching from industry and regret it?

[loler]

I'm considering going up my job as a H&S Manager for a large multinational having previously worked in government (so I do get bureaucracy!) - I look at the job my DC's teachers do and I think it looks such fun - yes I realise that there is the planning/paper work side but the bit with the kids must bring loads of joy.

So I mentioned my plan to a couple of teachers and they've showered with me with a tirade of 'do you relises's' - is it really that bad? Are you glad you've left the boardroom behind? I'm thinking of primary, it really can't be that bad can it?!

I think it is outrageous that people are telling you that you would be wasting yourself on teaching and it makes me do angry when teachers are so negative about their job that they put off well qualified , bright , entrants,

I have 2 degrees, one of which is from Oxbridge the other a first and a masters and my job stimulates and stretches me every day. Not one qualification is wasted . I am not saying that to brag but because I am so annoyed by that statement .

And yes, since becoming a teacher I have not made an assembly, school play or sports day, but I have 12 weeks off with my children

Did PGCE at 49 after working in banking, civil service, management consultancy, marketing director or a charity, non-exec roles. Lots of international travel, did a masters while working full time. None of this was as hard as my PGCE year. The killer was the amount of POINTLESS paperwork. I actually like writing lesson plans - I think through writing. However, the hoops of evidence collection and cross-referencing to the national curriculum you have to go through which make absolutely no difference to your practice or to the children you teach are almost soul destroying.

I am now 3 years into teaching primary. I love it. I am lucky to be at a school where paperwork is pretty minimal. I also asked for and got a 97% contract which means I can leave an hour early once a week to collect my DCs or bank time for Christmas concert etc. This coupled with the PREDICATBILITY of the hours and the holidays means the job is probably marginally more family friendly than my previous corporate role. However, overall I am doing massively longer hours than I was before in the private sector in a very senior role (that paid 3 times more ).

Until I went into it I mercilessly mocked teachers for being out-of-touch-with-real-world whingers. The teachers you see as being negative are, I think, probably just trying to give you a bit of a view of the iceberg that is under the water. While primary is a joy, if you have a choice, I think secondary gives a better chance of work-life balance.

My hubby hasn't gone to an assembly or sports day, and he isn't a teacher. He has gone to plays and concerts when they have been in the evening.

My experience of going to assemblies when I was a SAHM was of badly behaved parents and grandparents and out of control toddlers. I am ecstatic to miss out on these.

Exactly knowsabit , it isn't just teachers who can't attend school events in the day time , however most of them don't have 12 weeks off and the flexibility to leave work at 4pm and work when the children are in bed.

There is no way I want my daughter to be the only child in the class not having someone "there" for her. I know many SAHM in my area, and also quite a few that either work flexi-time or are able to take leave for first few mornings of school etc. Or have a flex-timing husband or one sufficiently senior that they run their own diary. It could well be our area but it is a genuine concern of mine that if I return to teaching my daughter will be the only one taken to school by a childminder on her first week of school, only one without a parent at important events etc.

Perhaps this would be different in a different area. Admittedly being available for the holidays is a huge draw! At the moment returning to work would cost more in childcare than I'd be paid so I'm waiting a little longer to look. There are some starting in January locally that would be tempting, but childminder not available until September and that would be first week at school.

Anyway - I'm derailing a thread replying to a comment above - I'll compose my own in due course!

I do love the job though :)

I left a career of 18 years in a utility firm to do my PGCE. I found some aspects far easier than my younger colleagues owing to general life experience and highly-honed office skills, but other aspects are much harder than you can imagine.

My in-school hours are usually 8-6, plus work at home most nights and at weekends. No-one ever does those hours consistently in 'industry'.

Yes, the joys of working with children are immense. The lightbulb moment when they 'get it' is just magical. But I type this at 1am and I've just finished sorting out next week's maths...

I don't regret my career change, but I do often wonder about my sanity. All teachers are slightly bonkers though. We must be, otherwise we wouldn't do it.

I've taught for a great many years and whilst I still love being in a classroom with teens I would have to say that the paperwork/planning/inspections etc have become more and more ridiculous as the years have gone on.

What I do find interesting is that none of the teachers who have responded have mentioned the VERY high levels of unemployment currently in teaching. There are far too many qualified teachers chasing far too few jobs. Whilst not wanting to put anyone off a career they are interested in, can I suggest you log on to tes.co.uk (the main teaching website) and just check out the threads for 'unemployed teachers'. It makes sober reading. I would hate for you to re-train and find that you cannot find work. It is currently very, very difficult to find work as a teacher (assuming you are in UK)? Good luck.

I was made redundant from a good job (financially, awful psychologically) in industry.

I loved the PGCE - found it quite demanding but really fun. NQT year was harder in terms of stress. Since I started teaching, things have got worse in the UK - pressure is higher and support lower. I had children, and found FT teaching to mean that I wasn't performing very well as a mother - I had a lot less time with the kids than DH (industry professional). DH became a SAHD, which made it easier on the family, but my relationship with the kids was suffering.

Teaching in UK secondaries is really draining, and sometimes quite dangerous. I have some experience of primary, and find it a lot more draining but more rewarding too.

I came to the conclusion that I could no longer prioritise work over my family, so realised I had to make a choice.

We emigrated - I now work in an international school, and the change is unbelievable. DH is still a SAHD but the school community is such that he knows all the staff and their families, and is really enjoying the community feeling. DD is at school with me (is 3-18 school), so I won't miss her plays etc. If she gets upset (hasn't yet) I can just nip down between classes to her classroom.

The school is better resourced and far more laid back. There are no league tables, no OFSTED, no unnecessary observations, no unnecessary paperwork. My job is now truly family friendly, my colleagues aren't stressed and everyone enjoys their job. Now I love teaching, but it has taken a total change in atmosphere to achieve that.

If the UK could shoot Gove and his followers, recognise the excellent job done in schools and offer support rather than criticism, take away the hours and hours of endless bullshit and 'initiatives', I would say go for it.

Rather than getting some experience observing lessons, I would suggest you properly shadow a friend you know teaching for a week. Make a not of what they do with their time, before and after school as well as in the classroom. Teaching is incredibly stressful int he UK and can be disastrous for your health, especially your mental wellbeing.

Think long and hard before leaving a good job for drudgery, lack of respect and frustration. It can be brilliantly rewarding, but on balance, life in the private sector (in school or in industry) is massively less stressful. I say this after (many years ago now) leaving a job where I had to work very long days, weekends, travel and was hideously bullied by my boss).

"most of them don't have 12 weeks off"

Sigh. Does it really need to be pointed out that a lot of teachers have to WORK during holidays?

Yes it can be done from home and yes some teachers somehow manage to avoid ever working during the holidays (which I will never understand), but this "12/13 weeks off!" perk pops up in every discussion and it's not quite like that for many of us. It depends on your level of responsibility and how paperwork-heavy your role is. I use holidays to catch up on work and plan.

OP don't forget FE.

With a business background and H and S there are a lot of things you culd teach at FE.

One thing I love about teaching - when something goes 'ping' and a student clicks. This is so rewarding, espetially if it somethig they have struggled with since school.

I could not teach in primary. I just couldn't. Secondary maybe.

I've never left work at 4pm.

I do very little in the twelve weeks as si most of my colleagues. I suspect it is very different for secondary than primary . The fact remains that what little work I have to do can be done from our house in the South of France while the children play in the pool, needing no childcare ,

How is teaching in a UK secondary dangerous ?

I used to get pissed off though by other staff saying "oh she used to be an xyz" before.
Well she might have been the queen of England but I wanted to be a teacher. And the fact he was a copper and left might equally have meant he was crap at it !

I do very little school work in the holidays. No more than a few hours over the whole year.

I can work from home in the holidays, but spent three weeks of the six week break working (planning, writing schemes of learning etc). I worked between 9 and 4 every day. In term time I leave school at 5pm and often do another hour or twos work at home.

Some might consider having to separate 2 6ft sixteen year old boys, one of whom is throttling the other, both of whom are fizzing with rage, dangerous. I did this this week, but don't want to overblow this, it is quite rare, but does happen.

This is not directed at you OP, but something which occurs to me is, should those considering teaching stop asking "How will teaching benefit me, fit in with my life?" and start asking "How can I benefit the students? Can I engage 30 recalcitrant 14 year olds/ 5 year olds for 50 minutes? Do I actually like kids? Do I love my subject and can I convey my enthusiasm for others?"

Young people deserve teachers who are fully committed to them, not people who want to downsize or have a "naice" little job. Sorry if that's a bit judgy, it really isn't directed at anyone in particular.

I don't think it is unreasonable to ask what will I get from a career. I am aware that I am making a great contribution to society but I don't see why teachers have to be martyrs or saints . I also get great holidays, lots of time with my family , great pension and a buzz from my job.

I am not criticising you lizzie but if you are in secondary and spending 3 weeks of full days writing a schemes of work something has gone wrong. Are your colleagues pulling their weight ?

Derceto - don't worry, I can see you are not being critical, you have asked completely fair questions, and I agree, we shouldn't have to be Saints or Martyrs, nor should we expect to be hailed as such. I also wholeheartedly agree with your earlier post, that we should be encouraging people with excellent qualifications to enter the profession, it's awful to think that people are being told they would be wasted in teaching. We need them!
Perhaps my earlier wording was too strong, I should have said consider what you can offer students as well as what you will get out of a teaching career - of course we should choose a career that suits our family set up,rewards us appropriately both emotionally and materially. I am a bit jaded by seeing people come and go, mess up a term's education for students, only because they haven't thought through if they actually like young people and are willing to put in a lot of work. It's probably better if I don't even mention Teach First...
The 3 week stint in the holidays was to write schemes which were patchy before, and as we have NQTs joining us and I wanted to ease their preparation time. So I suppose that's a one off - they're done now. (Looks nervously over shoulder for SLT approaching with new project).
I joined my school just after a new SLT took over, it has transformed from a Special Measures hellhole to Outstanding, with excellent attendance and exam results. They have achieved this by being ruthless both with staff and students, but it is a far better place now. The workload has been backbreaking, but should ease up now we've got everything in place. I'm not trying to be saint/martyr again - just trying to put my workload into context. The area we are in means students have very poor life chances, and I am proud of helping to improve them. But it is hard - I don't know if I'll be able to sustain it forever. But if I move to a new school I'll be able to take some of the good practice with me. Sorry this is long, just wanted to explain why my workload might seem particularly harsh!

Thanks lizzie, I agree with much of your post. There are short periods as a teacher where you have to work crazy hours to help the place move on . I hope that comes to an end for you soon .

Those NQTs sound lucky to have you,

Thanks, Derceto, I am hopeful that we are over the worst of it. The management ethos is a bit "do it our way, get out, or die" so I do worry about the NQTs and everyone else, but equally there is training and development of a quality which I have never seen elsewhere. Perhaps if when I have my breakdown I could recuperate at your place in France?

Thanks again - loads of things to think about.
If I have found out one thing - it's that teachers obviously feel strongly about what they do (whether that like it or loathe it!). And I will never mention the 'holidays'