Should I become a primary or secondary teacher?

[saladcheese]

Have been mulling this one over for a while.

Secondary School- get to (ideally!) share my subject- English- at a higher level. Would like having a range of groups to teach.

Primary- seems more fun, creative and colourful. Can do more of a holistic education. Less challenging behaviour.

Anyone done both?

I would advise going and spending a bit of time in each and seeing what you think. Most schools would be happy to have you in for a couple of days' observation.

hollow laugh at holistic and less challenging behaviour

Oh, you can have my job in primary.
I think I want to be a GP. You get to sit down in a nice office and deal with one person at a time and be calm and clean.

joins the hollow laughter...

I agree with EvilTwins - arrange to spend as much time as you can possibly spare in some local schools. (You have to do this to support a PGCE application anyway.)

I am a primary school teacher and I do know what the OP means with behavior.

At least my children are not taller and wittier than me.

This is the entire basis on which I decided not to be a secondary English teacher

I'm having the same dilemma. Im planning to move into teaching in 2 or 3 years when I move back to the UK.

At the moment teaching full time in a tefl academy abroad, my youngest class are 9, my oldest 16. I also teach adults. My favourite age group is the 11 year olds, although I do get on well with the 13 year olds. I find the older teenagers and the younger children really challenging! Would love to be able to only teach KS3 but that's not a possibility...

I've observed in both primary and secondary schools and was accepted onto a PGCE secondary 4 years ago but then DH got a job overseas and we went. I don't know how ill ever be able to decide!

I had exactly your dilemma. Went for secondary in the end - decided I would love doing the more in-depth stuff and you still get the more primary-style stuff with the younger ones. Spent some time in a primary as part of my training and definitely made the right choice.

As others have said - spend as much time as you can in different schools before you decide. I often look back to my idealistic pre-teacher self with a hollow laugh.

Umlauf - what about looking for a job in a middle school? Some counties still have them.
OP - definitely a week's obs in each stage will tell you a lot. I am CoG in a primary school and love the kids to death, but went for secondary teaching because I really enjoy the subject specialist aspect.

I've done both over the years (although only the odd day's supply in primary) and much prefer secondary. As others have said, you really need to do a bit of observation. I like horrid teenagers - and have discovered (to my shame) that I am pretty bored by small children and having to bring my teaching down to that level. I also hated having to teach every darn subject under the sun. Give me my own subject and a bunch of 14 - 16 year olds and I'm perfectly happy. Give me a class of 8 year olds and I want to tear my hair out.

(And I've always taught in really tough schools - but I have far less behaviour issues with tough teens than I do with chirpy 7 year olds I can tell you!).