Teacher training so far - Feeling pretty demoralised

[itreallyiswhatitis]

It feels like the system is set up so that you give someone a stick to beat you up with all the time. Constant criticism (or feedback), nothing is ever good enough, even if you pour your heart and soul and time and energy into it. It is inadequate in someway in some people's eyes, purely because it CAN always be different or it is being compared to what they would have done.

I get sent away to 'think about something and come up with a plan', then when I come up with a plan (that makes sense to me), it is pulled apart. Why not just tell me a rough idea of the direction I should go to start off with, rather than to pretend to be all 'open minded' and leave me to stab in the dark and tell me that I'm no where near.

What's the point if you give your best and it's not good enough? What's the point if it is a one way street?

Not feeling good about this today, just wanted to rant.

I had something similar on my middle placement when I was training. I had an observation coming up I asked for advice on what to plan and she said look in their books see what they've done. I duly planned a lesson based on what I'd seen then got ripped to pieces for it. Sometimes people who are mentors are just not that helpful and should never be allowed to be mentors.
However I would agree with what others have said; this seems to be the culture now of nothing is ever good enough. Yes we can just play the game and suck it up but until teachers start standing up against unreasonable expectations this will continue. I am also a career changer and I know this is not how it is in other workplaces with the endless demands and expectations.
Good luck with your training you will probably have to grit your teeth and get through it

Hello! I am an NQT at the moment and feel exactly the same as you, career changer as well.
My last mentor was wonderful and supportive, my new mentor (in a new school) sounds just like yours.
I am particularly fond of the lectures about how I need to be more positive with students and praise more, as they will get demotivated otherwise. All he ever does is rip anything I do to shreds.
I feel like I am being set up to fail and am contemplating just quitting and going back to my old career.

Oh poor you 70. Get your QTS! That's all that matters! It's all bollocks - his line manager will criticise him if he's not finding things about you to criticise. And so it goes on...

I teach adults now. Much less crap (but also less money!).

Have you been observed (properly) by anyone other than your mentor? What are the issues over which you disagree?

This 'find a weakness' culture needs to stop. I think teachers who are NQTs or training need to put these reservations to the Headteacher. I have been teaching for a very long time but I do answer back to SLT if they do a 'learning walk' and find something inadequate in my lesson. There is usually a good reason completely beyond my control. We as teachers need to stop being 'pupils' and frightened of SLT.

What I find most frustrating is being observed by one person and being told what you should have done. For next time you take on board all their comments and do as you were told, but are observed by someone else who tells you you shouldn't have done what the first person told you. You're not allowed to mention that you are acting on someone else's advice, as then you are seen as a moaner. You just have to nod and pretend to value the feedback.

I remember being given really insightful feedback about how I should have sellotape'd a plastic rubbish bag to the end of each set of desks to make the tidy up process quicker. I work in a department where we all swap classrooms every lesson. When the hell was I supposed to tape plastic bags?! It only took them 2 minutes to tidy up.

It's sad but you need to play the game or realise that teaching is not for you. To cheer yourself play bullshit bingo in your head during feedback and staff meetings.

Ha Ha at the sellotaped bags! I had an observation by the HT. It was a food lesson, there was and always is a bit of a hold up by hand washing sink. HT asked me why they had to use only one sink and then suggested I could send half the class to the toilets to wash their hands. Well that would be a good idea with year 8 students. And be really hygienic.

Brilliant! You totally should do that next time the head observes you!

This 'find a weakness' culture needs to stop

It's not just teaching, it's endemic throughout professions where work is reviewed by another. I'm convinced it's a kind of inferiority complex where people just have to find fault with others.

In accountancy, for example, audit files are reviewed by people who pick them apart for minor things like the occasional cross-reference wrong or missing, just to justify their existence - i.e. things that don't actually make a difference to the end result, but they can completely miss huge issues of immense importance.

I'm feeling unsupported and isolated today.

This and the politics involved is taking an emotional toll and taking over my life.

But bunny, the issue is that audits in other professions are to do with finding fault in the systems and procedures, in teaching, its very much personal.

It's the weekend now, queen, any chance for taking your mind off things?

Maybe the fact that I was told off in front of other staff for copying onto yellow paper when the spec clearly said coloured and that obviously means light green will cheer you up? I swear you couldn't make this shit up...

Wow, so yellow isn't a colour? The person doing the telling off wouldn't have looked good.

Please contact your university tutor- I think that all SchoolDirect routes should have university input too? I tell my PGCE trainees that they will be constantly told what to do better or what to do 'differently ', and part of the problem is that teachers are wired to be providing feedback aimed at improving students' work all of the time, so they do the same when they work with trainees. However, as others have said they should absolutely be emphasising what you're doing well and giving you enough guidance and support to keep you motivated.
It's also still very early in the academic year so don't expect too much of yourself. It would be strange if they weren't constantly telling you what to improve at this point...
Teaching involves a hell of a lot of different skills in action at once, and you can never be perfect at it. You can also be a great teacher in many different ways, and sometimes there's a clash when a mentor (or other teachers) & trainee have very different teaching styles. How would your Mentor react if you were open and frank about how you need to hear what you're doing well, and how you're progressing? Sometimes they just don't realise the impact they're having.
I work with literally 100s of teachers in a core Secondary subject and lots of them love their jobs. It can take a while to find the right school for you, but there are good ones out there.

n accountancy, for example, audit files are reviewed by people who pick them apart for minor things like the occasional cross-reference wrong or missing, just to justify their existence - i.e. things that don't actually make a difference to the end result, but they can completely miss huge issues of immense importance

I'm reading this thread as thinking about career changing to become a teacher. As an auditor, I had to defend myself - we most certainly don't care about the minor stuff and let plenty of that slide.

OP I really feel for you. It sounds so negative. What were your reasons for wanting to make the change to teaching?

'Emotional toll' and 'taking over your life' are pretty much in the job description for teaching.

It's a thankless, all-consuming job. I got out but then lured back but luckily the school I'm in now is supportive and caring. There are nice schools out there where you can enjoy your job a bit, you've just got to find them.

OP there will be lots of ups and downs. This may be the career for you or it may not but if you enjoy the teaching itself and the planning/thinking through how to deliver the lesson then stick with it. At this point that is the most important thing, and for that you will be able to put up with all the other stuff.

Don't assume that the feedback defines you. Look at it honestly - during my bad observations, I knew that the feedback was fair and where I thought it wasn't, I ignored it. You need a lot of self-belief.

I once got feedback on a lesson observation where the negative was that it seemed a bit inappropriate for me to be teaching Dracula on such a sunny day. Because obviously I should plan two sets of lessons a day so I can teach the one most befitting to the weather...

But, equally, I HAVE to find a fault with every student's work. I HAVE to set a target every time I mark and give them a task to address this target in order that they can demonstrate progress. It's extremely artificial and a box ticking exercise but it's just the way teaching is.

Mentors and managers make all the difference in this job. It's demoralising and isolating if you aren't supported - but it's such a great job if you are looked after, encouraged and appreciated. I love where I work because I have a brilliant manager and a really supportive department. Without that, I would never have lasted. The PGCE year is so tough but if you can stick it out, get QTS and find a job somewhere better it will be worth it .

I did a pgce, university based and had two very different school placements, the first was fantastically supportive and the second much more critical, like I couldn't possibly be a good teacher whilst I was still training. I feel for you as it's a long slog in a school which feels unsupportive, but in my experience there are a lot of schools who are unsupportive even once you are qualified, I thinking finding the right place to work is critical to your enjoyment of the job.

I'm 64 now and think of my year of 'teacher training' placements as the most demoralising time of my entire life. Good luck

I do enjoy the planning and the children ( most of the time) , the teaching Delivery i am aware needs improvement ...that's fine with that, I've got areas of improvement. It's fine.

I think I have to be careful not to get into a negative spiral and put this down to a bad week, wipe the slate clean and see next week as a clean sheet. I need to focus on the QTS and try not to think about anything else.

Just remembered, at my lowest point I got a card from a friend, who'd been through the training, which said "Remember, you only have to do this once". It helped me get through it.

I am a School Direct coordinator. You will have one of these although they may not be in your placement school. Contact them and ask them to meet with you. Explain what you have said here and that you feel overwhelmed with negatives and need some help in identifying your strengths so you can build on them and creating some smart targets that are actually manageable. The coordinator will act as an intermediary with your mentor and will be able to remind the mentor of their role in supporting and developing students and not simply criticising. Once you have agreed targets in place you should be observed against these alone with advice focussed on how your teaching meets them or what you could do to meet them more fully.

Only when the first targets have been met I.e. You have two or three things you are positively good at, should another two or three be set. No one can become simultaneously perfect in every aspect of teaching and the scattergun approach to feedback is unhelpful and demoralising.