What is it like to be a secondary school teacher in a shortage subject?

[Zhx3]

I am currently investigating whether teacher training could be a career option, and would be interested in teaching at secondary level. My preferred subject would be Maths, but I could also consider Physics or Chemistry.

I've got a couple of placement visits booked with local schools in the next few weeks, and am planning on submitting the UCAS application if the placement visits go well, but I would really value the experiences of the teachers on this board.

Some background - I graduated nearly 15 years ago, and have been working in a multinational since (currently in senior management). I studied Engineering at university, and have good A-level grades in Maths (and Further Maths), Physics and Chemistry. My reasons for considering career change are partly motivated by personal reasons (I have a young family and would like to be with them during the holidays, and I would like to stay close to what they are being taught at school), but also because I think it must be rewarding to be able to touch peoples' lives and futures so directly (and hopefully positively!).

I seem to have lost my motivation at work, and that is partly because of the pressure and hours required, but also because I have lost some of my passion for what I do. I have been considering teaching for many years, now would seem like a good time to make that step.

I am under no illusions whatsoever that it's a tough and challenging job, and I don't know yet whether I have the mental fortitude to do it, so please tell me your experiences and share any advice that you have.

Thanks in advance!

[Zhx3]

Just revisiting this thread, having been reading in dismay some of the threads about holidays being misaligned with children, teachers desperate to leave in order to get better work-life balance, crazy working hours, etc. etc. Done some more schools experience too, which was very useful. I saw the range of yeargroups and abilities, the great students and the disruptive ones too. I'm trying to get some time at the independent school that my children will go to when they are older, just to make myself known and hopefully set up for a relationship in the future.

2 months left at work, the first month of my notice period has flown by. I am recruiting for an assistant at the moment, and there have been some promising candidates. I wish that this resource had been approved earlier, as it would have made such a massive difference to the team (and possibly changed my decision). I like to think though, that once they are in place, it leaves the team in a much better place for my successor and my assistants. We are all so overloaded with work at the moment.

I spoke to a teacher who had changed career, who said she never regretted her decision - I think her path is similar to mine. It's a big leap to go from my current job, which is relatively secure and where I am well regarded (people have said such kind things about me when they have found out I am leaving), to the possiblity of not being able to find a job after my training, and starting over with people who I may or may not get on with! And although I think I'll be a good teacher, I still need to prove it. But my friend sent me a great quote from Paul Coelho. It seemed appropriate on the day I received it!

"You had to take risks, follow some paths and abandon others. No-one can make a choice without feeling afraid".

[Zhx3]

Thanks! I have started studying the SKE, will be doing it in the evenings whilst I work my notice. Going to be a busy few months. I told the children tonight that I would be going back to school to learn how to be a teacher, and that would mean I could spend the holidays with them, and they were really excited . The eldest said she wanted me to be her teacher when she got to big school. We'll see how she feels about that in a few years time!

I can understand the point that text books aren't interactive enough, but I still think there's a place for them in terms of revision and study. Otherwise what materials do students use for revision? I guess that the notes they make in class must be used... but the quality of some of the notes I saw was not so good.

There are £25k scholarships available from the Institute of Mathematics, which would help a lot to pay for childcare next year, along with my fees. Need to get around to applying for one.

It's great to hear your experiences. My brain is currently hurting a lot, I am quite rusty! Struggling my way through a load of mathematical proofs at the moment, but very excited at my next school stint, which will be in March.

[knitknack]

I teach in a lovely, small, rural secondary with great behaviour (our bug-bear (bare?!) is low aspirations) and I teach my own children! So do several other teachers. It's great, I love it, my dc love it and I never have to worry about not getting letters or knowing what's going on. Plus they get their h/w done whilst il marking etc at the end of the day. If you enjoy teaching you'll LOVE being so close to them :)

My behaviour tip is an old one but IMHO the only one that works - positivity, INSANE positivity... If you genuinely love young people they'll love you back and the rest is just keeping them organised....

[GoodnessIsThatTheTime]

Textbooks weren't considered goodpractice at the school I was in. Not interactive enough, not tailored to class/differentiation etc.

[Hobnobissupersweet]

Fab, well done and enjoy it!

[AcaciaBeez]

Well done!!!

[Zhx3]

I got an offer at my first choice institution . Working up to handing in my notice, will do a combination of private study and tutorials for my SKE, once I'm released from work.

Thrilled but nervous at the loss of salary!

[Alexchallex]

Bare in mind that if your degree is not in the subject you teach, many schools won't employ you for example private schools. Both state schools I have worked at wanted someone with a physics degree to teach physics

[Zhx3]

I've got a couple of interviews lined up. I'm nervous!

Been swotting my way through a GCSE revision book to understand the syllabus, and visited a second school in the meantime. It was a really interesting experience, takes from some of the poorest parts of the country, the class sizes were quite small and from what I saw, discipline was generally good.

One thing I've noticed is the lack of textbooks - is this normal? The only textbooks I've seen have been in the A-Level class, otherwise it seems to be handouts, and there seems to be an awful lot of faffing, gluing worksheets into exercise books. Time seems to be so short that I'd rather not spend 5 minutes cutting and sticking!

I need to do a short presentation on a subject of maths that I love (I'm thinking algebra), also there will be an interview and some group discussion. I'll also be required to discuss current issues, so I'm thinking about speaking about the latest Michael Gove proposal to have the school opening hours for longer and also the new Maths curriculum. Need to do some research this weekend though.

[noblegiraffe]

Meryl's bottom set Y10 are awful! but they were only that awful because Meryl wasn't dealing with them particularly well. Thursday's programme was set in January, yet she was only just talking about putting them in a seating plan that split up the problem kids. This should have been done in September. I'm a bit about the support she has been getting if that had only just been suggested to her.

Teaching isn't just about getting your subject across, and it can be a mistake of new teachers to concentrate on planning more and more elaborate lessons to try to win the class over (Meryl spent hours on planning for example). Teaching is also about managing and taking charge of a classroom full of teenagers - IMO training spends a lot of time on the subject teaching side and not enough on the management side (it's not just behaviour management, put things in place like a decent seating plan and you will have less poor behaviour to deal with). Luckily there are plenty of excellent books on the topic. The Craft of the Classroom by Michael Marland is a good one.

[Zhx3]

I have been watching Tough Young Teachers, although not caught up with it last week. It's a good insight into the reality of teaching, and it has made me a little nervous - although it hasn't put me off. I think of how I might address the more challenging pupils like Caleb and his friend (Joel?) and I feel terror at the thought of having a class like Meryl's!

[Zhx3]

Hi!
Well, it took a few weeks for my references to come through, but my UCAS application was finally submitted last week and I'm hoping to get an invitation to interview soon.

I've got my 1st day at a different school next week, and I've booked a further two weeks at the first school I visited.

I was pretty happy and comfortable with taking this career change (it constitutes a salary reduction of >50%, which I must admit I am having a serious wobble about, even though we can afford it as a family). But work has thrown a complete curveball in the past few days - all of a sudden I have had approval for an extra person on my team and a reduction to 4 days per week as a result of that! In some ways I'm almost a little annoyed as it makes my decision harder now - I had been about 90% convinced I was going, but when I was setting the work plan for my enlarged team, the list of things to do looked manageable - which has not been the case at all since I started the job. This has been the cause of a lot of misery for me for a number of months.

I don't love what I do, but I do get on well with the people that I work with.

I'm going to continue pursuing both streams and see what comes out of it.

[BackforGood]

Have you been watching the Young Teachers programme on each Thursday?
The fact is, the BEST way to see if it is for you, is to spend time in schools - it is partly to shadow some classes, but, equally as valuable is to spend time with some teachers and get them to show you the kind of paperwork they have to produce and the meetings they go to etc. - unfortunately, the best part of the job (being with the students) is only one fraction of the work.

[Isbn999]

Hi zhx3,


Let us know how you are getting on!


(also wondering about a not so dramatic career change)

[Zhx3]

Thanks all. Did my first day in a secondary school today, and I felt really encouraged at the end of the day. Sat in on 5 lessons, and walked around the classroom during the exercises, helping the students individually. There were a few lightbulb moments, and a few smiles and "thank you Miss"s as well .

I think the struggle will be getting through everything in the time allowed.

And it was bloody nice to be home for 5! The children came barrelling at me when I walked through the door so early!

[MrsYoungSalvoMontalbano]

Overheard someone today talking about School Direct. Said she should have withdrawn £9k from the bank in tenners, and put them on the bonfire - that way at least she would have a half an hour benefit from the money spent...

[Phineyj]

I did GTP (the precursor to Schools' Direct, paid route) and while it was hard work, it was no more stressful than some of my previous (non-teaching) jobs. I teach in a superselective grammar and there is some behaviour management - there is everywhere. However, it isn't a million miles from the kind of people management you have to do in other jobs - with the big difference that you are actually supposed to manage students' behaviour! DH, who lectures, has to be much more indirect/sneaky.

I have never been sworn at or felt physically threatened by a student.

If you are teaching sixth form Physics and Maths you are likely to end up in a strongly academic school. Have you seen this new UTC? No idea if it's anywhere near you, obviously:
greenwichutc.com/about/

I have taught in two schools and visited a number of others - they are very different in atmosphere, even if on paper they look similar - choose carefully!

[Crushinghard]

Actually, I would advise against TeachFirst. My teach first colleague who is in his NQT year plans to leave teaching this summer. His route was incredibly hard. 16hrs of lesson from day 1. He is completely burnt out. Schools Direct is far more gentle and you still get paid.
I heard recently that 40% leave teaching in their first 5 years. I'm convinced it is because many don't really know what they are getting into. They think school is like it was when they were at school and are horribly shocked.
Get A LOT of experience in a school. As much as humanly possible. None of it will be wasted.

[Zhx3]

Thanks Magrat! I could certainly relate to the teachers mentioned in the article. I like the idea of small groups in the classroom, with the teacher walking between the groups. I can completely relate to the one-to-one and more meaningful, personal relationships. I didn't put it into my personal statement, but I would like to be "that" teacher that children can approach if there's something troubling them.

At work I've had to stand up and present/deliver workshops that I've designed in front of 40-odd people, some of whom are very very senior and can pick your work to pieces easily. I've always dreaded doing that, but generally the feedback has been very positive.

[MagratGarlik]

I'm a Myers-Briggs type ISFP, so similar to you. I found this article very interesting and could relate to quite a bit. Worth a read.

newteachers.tes.co.uk/content/how-introverts-can-thrive-teachers

[Zhx3]

Hi Bubblesmonkey,
I'm likely to have at least 2 days' schools experience under my belt before being called for interview, with the remaining required 8 days already booked. In an ideal world I'd leave the application until after I had more experience, but because the local HE provider has stipulated a deadline for applicants needing to take the SKE, I need to follow that. Having discussed with my Premier Plus advisor, we agreed that I should stick to the deadline (have explained reasons for early application in my personal statement). If the schools experience turns out to be a horrible shock, I'll probably withdraw my application. But I hope not, I have tutored children before (many years ago), and loved seeing their lightbulb moments, and the obvious progress that they made. I accompanied some of their parents to parents' evening (English was not their first language), and loved to hear the teachers talking about the improvements they had noticed.

Thanks for the link, BoundandRebound, it looks like an interesting (and potentially very rewarding) scheme. The requirement for flexiblity to work anywhere in a region concerns me a bit - there aren't many schools listed which are very close to where I live. Will definitely look into it though.

Thanks to MrsYoung, NobleGiraffe and "Fourarms" - for providing a variety of experiences! I'm a Myers-Briggs ISFJ profile, and I am a bit worried at the thought of not being able to control a class - I'm not extrovert by nature and relatively softly spoken - but at work I can command an audience.

And thank you anchovies for all of your help regarding Hibernia!

Premier Plus advisor checked through my personal statement and sent it back saying it didn't need any changes to it, and was good to go! I was shocked!

[BoundandRebound]

I'd look at teach first if I were you

www.teachfirst.org.uk/

[bubblesmonkey]

Also, don't even consider going to an interview without experience in a school beforehand. Seriously, I remember interviewing (day-long process) alongside people who hadn't been in a school for years and there is no way anyone would give them the job because they simply had no idea what they were letting themselves in for.

[bubblesmonkey]

I teach science and am currently on school direct having had a little unqualified teaching experience beforehand.
I love teaching science. The workload is very heavy and it does take over your life, but it's a great job. Am really enjoying the school direct route as well and very glad I didn't go for the PGCE. For starters my fees are paid and I get a salary, but also you just teach from day 1 and learn so much on the job. I haven't had the best support, but if you have a 'get on with it' spirit you'll be fine.

[MrsYoungSalvoMontalbano]

I teach in a school where behaviour is poor and many parents disinterested. However, it is very rewarding to see teenagers who have be disengaged 'switch on' to a subject, and behave well in your classes! It is not always easy - but nothing that is worth doing is easy. Don't be disheartened by the doom and gloom of all those repetitive 'I'm going to quit teaching if Gove does one more thing' threads that spring up on here - there are many positive teachers out here who do not feel the need to whine - we are getting on with the job and enjoying the challenge.