Change career TO teaching

[smalalalalalala]

Hi there

I'm 35 and looking to change career from marketing.
I'm from abroad and would look into teaching my native language.

Am I crazy to go into teaching while everyone is trying to get out?

What is the life of a modern foreign language teacher?

Do you have a degree? If not, you would currently need one to go into teaching.

If you'd want to teach in an English state school, you would likely need your main language to be French or Spanish (possibly German) these days, but you would usually need to offer a second language too. Some schools may accept a more diverse range of second languages. You could get some support with improving your second language, but you would need something as a starting point.

You then need to talk to your local ITT providers to see if they will accept you.

Schools are often crying out for MFL teachers, so once you qualify, it will likely be relatively easy to find a job.

However, being an MFL teacher is difficult- often students in the UK don't value languages. This can mean a lot of your timetable is KS3 students who don't really want to be there. It can be hard to get A-level teaching, as A-level classes are often very small.

My school has a large sixth form, but we've just dropped an A-level language as there was very small uptake for September, and we can't justify a class of 4 students.

Don't do it! That's all I'll say.

My native language is French. I have a master's degree, from France, not related to teaching, nor French language.

I've only studied Spanish for 2 years, I don't feel competent to teach it - barely feel like I could do French.

I've seen job ads for French teacher so there is a demand, but I maybe split between several schools?

How many hours of teaching a week should I expect

Give me details please, can MP if you rather stay under the radar

Why do you want to teach French, instead of a subject more closely related to your degree? With marketing, you could do something like Business Studies. I suspect you'd be a better Business Studies teacher than a languages teacher, if you don't have a passion for languages....

You must know we have a recruitment and retention crisis in teaching, particularly secondary? It's not an easy time to join the profession. Have you had experience in a British state school? To be accepted onto a ITT course you will need that, you can observe lessons and speak to teachers about the realities of the job. Underfunding is severely damaging our state school system. Say you get a job teaching French. Then the school can't recuit a Spanish teacher, or a Spanish teacher goes on long term sick. You then need to set work and cover classes for the Spanish teacher. In your cover lesson, you're sworn at by one of the students. Then after starting at 7.30am and a full day teaching, you have parents evening until 7pm, where a parent complains that you're picking on their child because you gave them a detention. Then, because you didn't get your planning time in the day because you were covering Spanish, you get home at 8pm and spend another hour planning your lessons for the next day. After spending Sunday planning and marking too. Sound fun? If you're OK with all of this, please do sign up! This is the reality, particularly for a new teacher, when planning and marking takes longer. If you go into it with your eyes open, and you're willing to take the rough with the smooth, there are fantastic parts of the job. I do worry that from your previous question that you seem a bit unaware of the reality though? You really need to get some school experience and see it for yourself.

Tbf, in the scenario above, you are well within your rights to refuse to set cover for the Spanish teacher's classes, particularly as an ECT.

I know it happens, but it's not acceptable and anyone in that situation ought to be pushing back strongly.

The adverts for a French teacher may still expect you to teach KS3 Spanish in reality.

But talk to your local uni and ITT providers because they will know the situation locally better than me.

During your first year you'd probably teach about 20/25 possible hours. In your second year you may get some timetable reduction still. By your third year it would probably be 22-23/25 hours (you'd get 5 PPA hours over a fortnight).

You'd be in school 195 days a year and over those 195 days they can direct you for 1265 hours - so that includes meetings, parents evening etc. The majority of your planning and marking etc would be completed outside the 1265 hours.

True, although you're only safe from cover in the ECT years ime, not many have the balls to stand up to SLT and refuse. Maybe you weren't covering the Spanish teacher, but traversing the school to find a working photocopier, then cueing for said photocopier behind 3 other teachers in your 45 mins of PPA time. After rebooting your computer three times to send your worksheets to print, because that doesn't work either. The reprographics person was made redundant in 2012 and the school can't afford enough photocopiers and the computers are now all ancient. You need to print because loading up lessons is taking too long on the ancient computers, so the kids are misbehaving whilst they wait. Teachers move classrooms multiple times a day, so don't have the opportunity to load everything at the start of the day. SLT have therefore directed that all teachers have printed starter work for the students ready in every lesson. It's a non-negotiable.

Have you done a pgce? You will need to do this before you become a teacher so look into that.
There is a shortage of MFL teachers so I think definitely worth doing it. It would help your application being able to speak or at least grasp two languages. We had a vacancy for a MFL teacher specialising in Spanish last year and took us over a term to recruit. There isn’t many supply teachers out there too that can teach it.
Good Luck!

Don't do it. Just have a read on this forum