Psychology/returning Teachers?

[ConfusedTutor]

I'm potentially returning to teaching in September to teach psychology. What's it like at the moment? I used to teach in a 6th form college in a different A level subject and didnt really have any behaviour issues. It was the dark ages though!

Do you enjoy your job? Are there any current things I ought to be aware of? I've looked at the specification, found some fb groups etc. I'll be too late for the training conference I'd seen, but any relevant training would be fab.

I'm hoping I'd just slot back into it with the first year obviously being hard to get up to speed with the content.

I also wasnt v tech focused (lack of interactive whiteboards in the department) whereas I know its moved to power points?
I suspect that will be the time sink !

Hope to hear from people :)
Thankyou!

How long has it been since you have been in a classroom? I've been t3aching for nearly 15 years and have seen a very significant change in, well, everything. I've worked in different kinds of schools, including very selective grammar, but you have high workload, high demands on your time and an increasing amount of pressure. This year has been my hardest by far, as my SLT don't deal with escalating behaviour (we are talking severe disruption, drugs, most recently knives) and there is immense pressure on marking, assessment and results. I could walk into an a level lesson and chalk and talk with ease (I'm science) but I would be crucified; you need a starter, introduction, your success criteria, assessments.... everything. Marking for them also includes 100 mark test every fortnight, and my class is huge.

Please think carefully. I am still in teaching as I can't afford to work for less, and some parts of it still bring me you, but damn is is a very different profession to 5 years ago, let alone when I started.

It’s bloody awful, I wouldn’t recommend it!

When were you last in the classroom?

Eeeek. I was expecting a mixed bag of responses. A level teaching was my favourite bit when I taught 11-18 so was thinking p/t A level only would be ideal. Id5kinda (maybe naively) hoped it avoided the worst of the behaviour issues as they'd be 16+?!

Either didn't realise it had changed that muh in 5 years. It was As/A2 when I last taught, but I do remember their introduction!!

We need the income after sahm so was hoping it was a good way back! There arent other p/t jobs in a similar salary.

Also with just A level theres some repeat in material and marking across the sets. Not teaching every year group ...

Hmmm.

Arg. Ignore typos from my phone. I can write irl I promise!.

DS is still doing AS-so that doesn’t tell me how long you’ve been ‘out’?

When I taught year 12 often sat 3 or 4 AS subjects at the end of year 12, had study leave etc then chose best/favourite 3 for year 13.
I may be wrong but I believe AS only exists as a standalone exam now, you cant sit it and count it towards your A level?

I taught for a long time, but have been out of schools a long time. I've taught GCSE psychology in another setting in that time "out" though.

I taught for a long time, but have been out of schools a long time

I’m just interested to see how long you have been out (not sure if you are avoiding that question?) as obviously telling you what things to be aware of will depend greatly on when you last taught.

If it was 5 years ago, the answers will probably be very different to if it was 20.

Closer to 5. Just dont want to be super identifiable given my interviewers could be reading this thread .

If I get the job I will be super committed. Just want to be aware what I'm leaping back into and no longer have friends in it.

It does seem a really good school, lots of staff still there, nice ethos. But you never really know until you're there.

I had a long talk with my colleagues about our post 16 kids the other day as I'm honestly worried about how they will cope at university. Obviously we have some highly capable and hardworking students but in general they are less independent, less willing to work hard, lacking in mathematical skills (I spent the other week teaching a class of students with A and B target grades to calculate a % decrease and they struggled) and much more inflated opinions of themselves and their abilities. Their attitude and behaviour can also be shocking; they talk over me, can storm out when I refuse to let them listen to their phones when I'm teaching and if I don't accept an excuse for not doing homework.

We also struggle with parents. They expect the world from us, including additional taught intervention if their child "doesn't get it". I don't have the capacity to reteach every a level lesson quite frankly.. I only get 4 frees a week and , in 1 parents eyes, am asking too much for them to come after school. I've also battled 2 parents this year convinced that their kid will be doing medicine and that it is our responsibility to get them into medicine. No is my response; these are C grade kids that scrapped a 6 at GCSE; they will not get into medicine but try telling mummy and daddy that.

Mary that does sound quite different to the A level classes I used to teach. Sigh.