Is it wise to change career into teaching now with all its problems?

[Mamalovey]

Hi all, just hoping to get as wide an overview on this as possible.

1. Is it wise to change my career into teaching now, despite current funding, resource issues in the UK? I would be teaching DT secondary and have been accepted onto a pgce course

2 I am currently 13 weeks pregnant so would need to ask to defer my pgce until after I've had baby, so starting 2024 rather than 2023

1. Would I manage a pgce year with a one year old in tow. I also have a 4 year old, no parents on either side to help and my other half has an intense job too.

1. Would I manage a new teaching job after my pgce with 2 small children? I tend to put my all in things and I worry I won't be able to manage with the priority of my children and the priority of the children I will teach, esp with the lack of resourcing in schools at present

Really trying to gauge if teaching is the right path for me, given my situation. I currently have a stable though not ideal job. I am in my forties. Many thanks

Teaching is not family friendly, so no, I would not advise it.
The training is full on, and your first few years you will be working long hours and won’t have the energy to be your best for your own children

Thank you for your insight

And even beyond the first few years, you'll likely still be working long hours.

Would your DC be in nursery/school, presumably? Who would do drop offs and pick ups for you, e.g. if you get into placement/school/work for say 8am (or earlier)?

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

A lot of ITT providers will not be able to offer courses from 2024 because the DfE have refused to accredit them. So the first step would be to 100% confirm that you can defer your place!

In terms of doing a PGCE with two young children, I do think it would be difficult, and you would need good childcare in place. Would your husband be willing to pick up the slack during the weekends? Some weekends you may spend Saturday "working" on your PGCE/placements and then Sunday doing job applications unfortunately.

ECT is also more demanding than the old NQT, and IMO, difficult to do part time, so you'd be looking at 3 years of full time work, albeit with the holidays- and during the PGCE these may not exactly match school holidays, either.

I think a lot of teacher parents with young kids feel their own children end up coming second, at least in term time- how would you feel about that?

I think the training would be very hard but DT is a good subject to get into. There's plenty of spaces. I know lots of schools in the northwest area are in desperate need of DT teachers.

FYI I am considering leaving my permanent position because management are literally causing me to have a mental breakdown but if it wasn't for that I love the hours, the holidays and I have enough money to work 4 days a week so I think in a lot of ways it's a really family friendly job. Just don't train in Performing arts! X

I entered teaching as a single parent of 3 at the age of 40. I genuinely love it, it has very much worked for me but in the early years I had my mum’s support and solid childcare arrangements through primary. You need to accept that other people’s children will always come first and sometimes you’re helping out when you should be running out of the door to pick up your,own.

Hings are tough in schools right now, with no sign of things changing.m we need teachers. You won’t know unless you try.

I'm going to be honest and say no. Schools have operated on the fumes of the goodwill of teachers for several years now. Things are just beginning to fail as that dries up. I would perhaps wait until true rock bottom arrives. There may be some positive changes after that. Maybe.

Thank you so much everyone, this is all massively massively helpful. I think it has to be a family decision, as it affects all of us. My first born is now 4 and I still want to come home in time from work every evening so I can see him before he goes to bed. I want to have my weekends free to spend time with him. I'm no stranger to overtime, working mad hours and having to manage childcare around that, but I think having to care for a whole other group of children will be a whole other bag that I'm not sure I will be able to divide my attention between. We won't have family around much, and my partner is often away over weekends and other periods. We don't think we can make it work, without compromising the time that I have with my child and soon to be newborn. I am going to ask for a deferral from the offer that I've got just to not lose it for now, but my feeling is I'm 99% sure it's just not the right time for it.

Thanks again for all of your insight.

It's such a shame you feel this way, teaching should be so much more family friendly, but the first few years especially are very intense.

Obviously you don't want to lose your offer but there are places that offer part time ITT/PGCE, so that may also be worth looking into?

Thank you, I having fully looked into part time, but I don't think I can handle not having any income for potentially 2 years, with children and mortgage to worry about.

Don't do it.

I'm leaving teaching forever at Easter because of all of the reasons in this thread.

It should be the best job in the world, instead it destroys your confidence and forces you to sacrifice your family during term time.

Totally inflexible too in many schools. My son is 18. I've only ever seen one of his sports days. I never saw a school play. Ever. I regret all the sacrifices I made. I'll never get that time with my family back and schools replace teachers just like that. You're replaceable at work. Not at home.

Thank you, appreciate that perspective. I'm grateful Ii do have the flexibility to take time off to see a school play for example, might not be always but it's possible. Understand that teachers simply have to be at school and will miss out.

From every thing you've said about your situation and what you want, I think you're right not to do it. Having little family support, and your husband often away, would make it incredibly hard I think. You wouldn't have the free time you want to spend with your children. When they're older it would be easier, and hopefully education will be in a better place then too!

I would not. I am a single parent and I only manage it because I live so close to my sister who is super hands on and does the childcare before breakfast club and pick ups of after school clubs when I have twilight sessions, late meetings, parent's evenings, open evenings, option evenings, out of hours cpd etc. I'd say at least once per fortnight I do not make it home in time for bedtime, and the other days I make it home just in time to get ready for bed. I can imagine a subject like DT will also result in you having kids back to catch up on coursework which is also time consuming. You also need to consider your commute and how long you'd be willing to drive. The ECT programme has made it less lucrative to hire a newly qualified and of course they can only hire you providing there's someone willing to be a mentor.

I would not recommend this career (do as I say not as I do) lol!

Thanks for recent comments. Doesn't sound like I can make this happen without a whole lot of stress, not seeing my kids, and wrap around childcare which we would struggle to get in the first place. So...I have decided to call it quits for now and find something else to pursue after mat leave!

I think you've done the right thing. I career changed at 40, and both my kids are older. It works OK because my partner does the majority of drop offs and pick ups, along with two local grandparents. I simply can't pick up any childcare slack. It also works because my kids are old enough not to need constant attention at the evenings and weekends, when very often I am working. It would have been virtually impossible to manage if my kids were tiny, and even now I feel very torn about the sacrifices I'm making.

I was a full time secondary English teacher for 34 years. I now do supply and only 2 days a week if I can manage it.
I live teaching. I hate being a teacher though, and wouldn’t wish it in my worst enemy. Don’t do it.

@ECT22 sounds intense! Thank you for your insight

@cardibach supply teaching sounds like a good way to go, once you've got the experience to do that job. Don't think I'll be heading anywhere near that as a new teacher though,... thank you for your thoughts!

You’re definitely making the right decision - please don’t do it! I’ve been teaching for 16 years, started as a young single 22 year old and it was great pre kids. I’ve since gone part time ( hasn’t made a difference to workload just less pay) and have just about managed because I’m lucky enough to have my mum look after the kids the three days I work. I’m just about to return back from maternity leave after having my third child and I feel nothing but anxiety! Teaching, apart from the holidays, really isn’t as family friendly as one might think. I’ve found it gets even harder once your own kids go to school. Now my second has started reception, I’m dreading the feeling of guilt for not having time to help with spellings, reading etc because my evenings are taken up with planning marking etc. Don’t do it!

Aww..@Spiderhead84 I'm so sorry to hear that and thank you for your insight

No...teaching is toxic now. I'm in my 29th year and LOVED my job for the first 20 years. I'm beyond exhausted now and broken...completely broken. Don't do it!

@SpringIntoChaos I'm so sorry to hear this. Thank you and I wish you a better thing to suit you, hopefully in the not too distant future.