primary teaching or social work??

[Mumoftwox]

I'm doing a general integrated health and social care degree after this year I can do a pgde in education and become a primary teacher or I can do Social work can anyone tell me pros and cons of these and what would be best as I'm very interested in both. I'm 26 and have 3 young kids 6 years 5 and newborn so I know whatever I choose it will be hard work!

Social work will be so much harder if you have young children. Lots more stress and unpaid work. If you love your job you'll put your heart and soul into it and at times break your heart. You give your all to other peoples DC and your own don't then get enough of you.

I also believe you need to do at least a year in child protection to be a decent SW. That's late nights and 2 AM hospital visits removing DC who are not being looked after properly.

I know a lot of teachers complain about stress but I've worked within schools and social work and social work is 10x harder. You have so much responsibility that doesn't work well with young children of your own. Your decision to act or not to act could be a child's life lost or a life lost to the care system.

You could do a nicer role like adoption, but it's still pretty heart breaking sometimes.

thanks for your reply, yes I have heard that alot my neighbour is a social worker and she said avoid as lot of unpaid hours and loads of paper work! I feel so stuck at a cross roads because I was really interested in social work and have previously worked within schools but my auntie is a teacher and says to avoid teaching it's so much work but really I dont have many other options with my degree!

I really really wouldn’t recommend social work

My mum is a social worker and really enjoys it, long hours and she has people calling her even when she's not working but it's clearly something she's passionate about. She does it for the children, always tries to do the best for them when the parents won't.

She also says that a downside is the dirty environments she visits often, smelly places/hoarder parents/neglected kids etc.

I’m a teacher and it is hard work and extra expectations. But a lot of it can depend on the school and the position they are in.

I work part time and it is a lot less stressful than when I was full time. Plus the holidays will save lots of childcare costs. You also have the option of working in the evenings rather than shift work etc.

Good luck either way!

If you do social work, you don't necessarily have to work with families. It could be the elderly

I've done both. The PGCE and the SW masters were both equally taxing- the difference being social work was two years, the pgce was 1.

I recommend teaching while you have young kids. The benefits to having the holidays off is IMMENSE.

Social work is a year round, 830-530 (at least) job. You'll work long into the evenings and your days off too. You'll be emotionally completely fucked.

I’m a teacher and wouldn’t recommend this career to anyone. However I would pick teaching over social work every single time.

I would choose either (teacher, but work closely with social workers). Surely those aren’t your only two career options?

I am a teacher (primary trained but work in SEN secondary now). DH is a social worker.

We both have about the same amount of work to do out of work hours (evenings, weekends etc.) I obviously have the benefit of the holidays, but he has a flexi time arrangement so he only works 9 days a fortnight which I'm sometimes very jealous of for the convenience of things that need to happen during working hours, such as dentist appointments, car mots etc. So I suppose there's benefits to both.

What I will say is pick the one you feel passionate about. Either job will destroy you if you aren't dedicated to it. We both enjoy and believe in what we do which makes it worth it.

Iv been a social worker for over 10 years , please can I ask that you discard fizzy poo comments they are massively ill informed , you in isolation do not make decisions to remove children it’s the court that make the decision you are the evidence gatherer and your recommendations are not always agreed with
It’s a lot of unpaid / unsocial hours but extremely rewarding , my best friend is a teacher and she seems to work outside more of work than I do , however as stayed I’m 10 years into the profession so have learned to work smart and implement good coping strategies / assertiveness to refuse work if I’m maxed out , this is more difficult as a newly qualified social worker starting out in a team and you may feel overwhelmed initially

Wrong , wrong , wrong stop giving false information are you a qualified social
Worker ???

They are quite different jobs. Yes both involve children although social workers can work in adult social
care too. They're not particularly comparable but both require dedicated, systematic, organised and determined individuals with deep reserves of resilience and stamina.
You should go for the one you are most passionate about as that will help sustain you.

I would choose either (teacher, but work closely with social workers). Surely those aren’t your only two career options?

Sorry, that should say I WOULDN’T choose either!

Why are you only looking at those two jobs? I’d have thought stress and dropout levels are high and pay and work life balance low??

Didn’t you have a massive thread on this a while ago?

@Smilebehappy123 actually my comments are relevant.

Op it's pretty hard knowing information to be passed on and knowing what that info will do. If you would like a full run down of child protection procedures I'm sure @smile will oblige since s/he thinks every detail on a forum is essential.

Being a primary teacher can be very stressful but it’s often balanced out by fun interaction with the kids and building positive relationships - I think social work is just as stressful but without that kind of respite, you would be constantly dealing with quite frustrating and upsetting situations.

They really are not fizzy poo you are giving the wrong information out , you are obviously not well informed in child protection practice so your best not commenting really , same as I wouldn’t comment in relation to a profession I’m not well versed in.

I'm not outing myself on here for what I do.

If that's what you think then go ahead. However, the majority of social workers who work with children and young people (and don't live in a sleepy village in a sleepy shire) find it hard to manage child protection social work and a young family. If you managed it then I wouldn't think you managed good relationship based practice. There are two types of social workers and I can see which one you would be.

Fizzy poo you are living upto your name, in the words of Jon snow ‘you know nothing ‘
Over 10 years doing the job I love and the positive feedback I receive I think far outweighs the opinion of a stranger whom won’t even say what they do for a living lol

You are basically saying that you can’t have both a good home life and be good at your job , it’s called work life balance , my clients get 110 per cent whilst I’m at work my young family gets all of me whilst I’m at home
It’s called setting boundaries and being emotionally intelligent , a hot topic in social work at the moment and many councils are asking staff to be aware of burn out and be mindful of their own mental health , you have basically said to me that because I’m not on my knees and overrun with work I’m
Not a social worker. Rubbish and a dangerous mindset, I’m a social
Worker who is aware that you cannot
Pour from an empty cup meaning that my clients get good outcomes because I am not burnt out , you really haven’t got a clue

I'm a teacher and would not suggest it as a family friendly career. The holidays are great, but I found I work through them and still have to go in over the holidays. I'm currently on maternity leave with my second and won't be going back into it for a few years as I didn't see my children during the week. I would leave the house by 6 and stay in school until it closed. I love teaching and miss it a lot but it doesn't suit my family life with two small children.

I'm a teacher and love it. I too considered social work. I am starting a new role in September at my school as the Safeguarding Officer so I will be working closely with social workers etc and doing a lot of pastoral care and promotion of wellbeing. I will still be a class teacher so get the fun, interaction side too. For me it is the perfect balance of helping people without it being overwhelming and not having to manage the really tough situations social workers get into.

Could you look at something like a pastoral or Support Worker role in schools? These are sadly being cut in some areas due to budgets but would combine the social work and teaching skills.Only downside is pay is a bit lower but possibly more manageable with a young family.

www.tes.com/jobs/vacancy/pastoral-support-support-worker-stockport-1233605

www.tes.com/jobs/vacancy/student-support-and-engagement-manager-warwickshire-1234476

www.tes.com/jobs/vacancy/pastoral-leader-leeds-1217151

You could also look into children or family support centre work.

I was a teacher for 29 years... then trained to be a social worker. I miss the learning and the kids, but l love the autonomy, being treated as an adult having holidays when I want to.. both stressful but I no longer have that Sunday night dread. There is also far more flexibility in roles and opportunities to earn more. Good luck