To retrain or not

[welshmummyto2]

I am thinking about retraining to teach. I would be a secondary school History teacher. I am wondering what hours I can expect to work? I am also disabled with a chronic disability and quite a lot of pain most days, so I would be interested to hear from people with any disability that teach successfully.
Thanks

I teach English and work from 8-5 in school and probably another couple of hours every night. Plus a few hours at the weekend.

Don’t do it.

What do you do now mummy

Why not @Being?

I work in a museum.

Sorry for follow up question... why do you want to train as a teacher? Working in a museum sounds lovely!

Because it is what I am most passionate about.
I am also thinking of training via Teach First.

I may be wrong but I didn't think Teach First was for more mature applicants. The clue is in the name... But I have my issues with TF anyway...

It is easy to be passionate about teaching when you aren't one. I would suggest getting some work experience under your belt/ school visits to see how you respond to that.

Not going to lie - being a teacher with a chronic disability is very very tough. Absence , for example, and teaching aren't happy bedfellows.

And it is truly exhausting.

10 hour days would be fairly standard I think. I don't know any disabled teachers, but I would have thought that a condition that leaves you in a lot of pain would be exacerbated by the physical and mental stress of teaching.

I can't see how, if youre in chronic pain every day, that being on your feet all day rushing from classroom to classroom carrying the weight of 32 exercise books and all your equipment, will be at all sensible???? My back aches every night. I am sat down for maybe 50 minutes a day. The rest of the time im stood up or moving.

To andwrt your wuestion i get to work at 8.30
And leave atm at 5.30
But after half term
Until may will
More likely be 8.30-7pm. Then about four hours at a weekend. Im part time/

Honestly? You must be crazy! Go onto the TES and look at the forum there. Look at the Staffroom here. Teaching is tough enough if you are young, able-bodied, a natural comedian and really thick skinned. Everyone else is trying to leave.

It is really a very tiring job. I would strongly advise you get some experience first. Perhaps seek a one-week work experience placement?

Teaching is great, kids are mostly fab. The problem is now that you're not trusted to teach. You're watched constantly, books inspected, trained in new ways of delivering content with never any time to implement the training. No where near enough time to do everything that SLT expect. Mark everything according to the latest policy, following up poorly behaved students, planning lessons, running intervention, running revision classes, etc etc

I am terrified for the future, the mental health of teaching staff is dreadful and the pressures now put on the children are such that their mental health is suffering too. My children are still primary age but eldest is already worried about doing well and getting a job. He's not got those worries from us but school.

I arrive at work at 7.30 and leave at around 6pm every day. Once I've fed my kids and organised homework, reading, dishwasher, bedtime and lunchboxes, I do another hour or two most evenings.

Many schools are horrific now about being sick. At my last school, we had to have a 'back to work' interview after every single period of absence (being sent home from work early one afternoon would count as one period!) My colleague with ME ended up being continuously referred to Occy Health due to having medical appointments and absences and they virtually sacked her in the end. Union was involved but it didn't end well.

I really would say it's a job where you need to be healthy, ready to give 100% all of the time and prepared to work 50/60 hour weeks. If that sounds like a fun challenge-go for it!

I wouldn't recommend teaching to my worst enemy though at the moment.

Oh, and on hours, I am contracted for 3 days. I work 8-4:45 at school and an extra hour at home in the evenings (except Friday). At the moment, I work at least 10 hours on my days off, although this can be as many as 20. So, I do 35-45 hours a week as a part-time teacher. This should slacken in the summer term once Year 11 have left.

As your first question was about what hours you could expect to work, I would simply say that most of us are probably working around 60 hours a week.

I am a HOD - Secondary History.

I have taught for almost 30 years and would expect a trainee/NQT to be having to work longer hours than myself (purely because you get better at cutting corners with the length of experience I have).

Planning lessons takes a long time when you are inexperienced. As does producing resources/marking.

Nor me. I had PTSD after leaving teaching.

It's the constant observation that's so difficult. The classes are often easy (in my experience, though I appreciate some have some right buggers in their classes.) The senior management team with their clipboards are what drives you to drink. The observation that occurs without notice. The stats that are expected. The fact that "just because your students get great results and turn up to every lesson doesn't mean you're a good teacher." The fact that once you hit 50 you are edged out. It's fucking horrible.

I say that because it’s a miserable job. No trust in our abilities to do our jobs and nothing we do is good enough.

I have never been more miserable than I am right now.

There us no age limit for Teach First, but normally you'll need a first or 2:1.
It is a 2 year PGDE programme unlike the PGCE which is one year- it is a hard course!

I left due to ME/cfs that couldn't be managed with school. (Same story as above!) I don't thinknteaching is compatible with many (any?) chronic conditions.

It's intense. All day and then work in the evenings and being "on" constantly.

Id love to teach small groups.

I think one of the worst bits about teaching is that despite all the recent Ofsted guidance saying they don't judge lessons, the SMT still do (even if they don't tell you-they've told each other) and there is an overwhelming feeling that you are only ever as good 'as your last observation'!

And if management get a bad grade in an OFSTED, they take it out on the teachers! So where I worked (college) management got a 4, teachers got a 2, so everyone was inspected until they they were crying, even though we weren't the ones being criticised.

I'm currently doing school direct in primary. I work 8-6 at school and have worked tonight from 7:30 until now. I know it's different when you're training but I'm already shattered 5 weeks in!

I teach primary and I have a chronic pain condition- I manage working 2 1/2 day’s a week- I’m still permanently exhausted. I work 7am-6pm minimum and at least one of my days ‘off’ planning.
Think really hard before you start - could you shadow a history teacher for a week?