Considering returning to teaching - does it work alongside being a mother?

[SleepWhenImDead]

I taught nearly 10 years ago and I left after my induction year as I really didn't enjoy it and thought there were other things I would enjoy more. Fast forward 10 years and I'm older, a mum of 2 (toddler and baby) and considering how to make family life "work" in the near future and beyond up until the boys leave school (i.e. termtime, vaguely schoolhours friendly).

Does being a teacher work alongside being a mother? Do you have patience left for young children after being with them all day? How do you find the time to do marking/ planning? I would love for it to work as I've got the qualifications to do the job, I just need to find the motivation! My experience was with KS2 and would be looking at that again, if that matters. There's also a chance that I may teach at the school DS1 will go to - experience of that would be useful too. An important consideration is that DH is out of the house 7.30am til 8pm meaning childcare Mon-Fri is solely my responsibility.

well I will watch with interest as I am hoping to train, ta-ing atm
Full on, knackering .. but you know that already
I am lone parent and still have time for my dc at the end of the day, but I don't have the masses of paperwork, marking or meetings that would go with KS2
If you didn't enjoy it ten years ago, I doubt you'd enjoy it any more now tbh

The thing that may he an issue is lack of jobs in some areas. I dont know where you are but in some areas there is huge vompetiti

Sorry Phone posted before i was ready!
Huge competition for jobs and you may struggle as your commitment may be questioned. It is difficult to manage workload and family life. I don't go it as I am a SAHM who does a bit of tutoring. This for me is a happy compromise!

that's a relief I thought for a mo vompetiti was a professional term i had yet to encounter
why would commitment be questioned? the time out of profession you mean?

It worked for me when I only had an older child - at school age, but when I had more chn ie younger ones, I found it a struggle as FT teaching is such a commitment. (currently prowling for a PT job )

Also if you didn't enjoy it first time around, are you sure it would be a good choice IYSWIM. Maybe try doing some supply to see if you like it?

Lack of commitment due to leaving teaching to do something else. Coming back to teaching when you have small children and want the holidays off is a bit of a cliche. Often people like these have no real desire to teach and you can tell! Not saying this is you op but the generalisation. If you didn't like it then it is unlikely to be any different. If you were a shortage subject at secondary you would be more likely to find somebody willing to give you a chance because they are often desperate but the numbers of unemployed primary teachers mean this is unlikely.

what about someone who had never considered it until they had dc? I kind of fell into ta-ing, totally adore it and want to go on and train
the competition is scary even for training places, so I dread to think what it's like for jobs

Black coffee as long as you are passionate if is ok. Where I used to work we had lots if peole coming in for a days observation before pgce interview. We got fed up with the ones whose answer to why do you want to teach was that it fitted around childcare. They had no other reason and were clearly there for the wrong reasons. Being secondary maths they usually got a place but often didn't finish. Teaching is a challenging job and youhave to want to be there. It sounds like you do so you should go for it!

What didn't you like about it before? Think carefully about which aspects you didn't enjoy and maybe talk to existing teachers about whether they feel these are better or worse than when you were teaching.

If you can find a job in a well-organised school which has managed to keep a handle on workload, then it can be compatible with having a family.

However, I have been teaching about ten years and unfortunately I do feel that the workload and pressure is significantly worse than when I started:

Huge pressures for every child to be making expected or greater than expected rates of progress - yes, even those with problems X, Y and Z.

The curriculum is all over the place - the National Strategies were changed a few years ago but now their future is uncertain, the Rose Review was brought in then abandoned, lots of schools are re-writing their curricula from scratch to be more creative...

Ofsted is shorter but insanely intensive.

The 'going the extra mile' stuff of enrichment activities, fabulous classroom set-up, numerous trips etc. is now the expected norm. All of this adds on the stress because you also have to be meeting the progress targets etc...

Sorry if I am putting you off but this is how I see the situation.

I found teaching unbearable with small children.

The lesson planning/marking/bringing work home was a drag, and the hours really weren't any more 'family friendly' than any other job.

that's reassuring tinsel, thanks

My hours when teaching: 6-7:30 dressed, sort out children's breakfast and dress dc3, get to work. 7:45-5:30 teach, 20 mins for lunch. 5:45-7:30 children's tea and bedtime. 7:30-8:30 dinner with dh. 9-12 plan/prep/mark. This is a good day. Work all day every Saturday. This does not include when reports are due. That works out at 50+ hours a week.
If you are sole child carer 7:30-8 you would have to have wraparound child care to drop child off at school (though breakfast club might work) and pick up. My dh works 60 hrs / week and we found it untenable. Sorry to be a bit grim, but that was my reality. I do take my hat off to teachers who can make it work.

I'm sure it does work for lots of mothers as there are lots of teachers who are mothers. Most of the ones I know enjoyed and were committed to their teaching career before starting a family and even they found combining work and family challenging at times.

Like some other posters I would be concerned about your motivation to be a good teacher, you left the job after only a year because you didn't enjoy it and now want to try to get back to a career you hardly started. Not saying it's impossible but I think you would need to show that you have changed and understand what you are getting into.

What type of work have you done in the ensuing years and why are you not thinking of returning to that?

Just an additional thought - your comment about being solely responsible for childcare in a couple family- I think you will find many people will think that is an outdated attitude for a woman with a career / work outside the home. Your children will invariably be ill on occasion and teachers don't have the flexibility that some have regarding covering sickness e.g. working from home / making up work at the weekend. I do think your DH needs to understand that if you return to your previous career it will impact on him and part of that might entail sharing the care of your children when they are sick.

Thanks for all your advice everyone. You have voiced concerns that I already have, hence my asking the question in the first place! I left teaching to go into academic research (education-related), and also spent a few years in a business which sold to schools. I guess ideally I would be doing something education-based but not teaching exactly. I absolutely hate the academic environment - horribly competitive, not at all friendly, dull as dishwater and removed from society. The business world I did like but the hours are your standard 9-6ish the whole year round.

I didn't enjoy teaching as I felt like I was playing a role of "an extrovert me" - I am not a natural "look at me, listen to me" kind of person and prefer 1-to-1 and adult communication. I guess that probably hasn't changed. I didn't enjoy the staffroom side of things - other female teachers weren't very friendly to me, I got on best with the head and caretaker (both male over 50!).

I don't think I was really considering a return to teaching full time in the near future, more like part time in 18months-2 years. I was considering volunteering at a local school next year, taking small groups or short lessons just to see how I liked it in comparison with the past. It's a very tricky time to be considering a return to work, especially when it's not something I've come straight out of. To be honest I don't really want to go back to work, but we are bursting out of our house and can't move unless we have 2 incomes :(

Have you considered adult education? It might suit your personality better. Or tutoring?

Yes I have looked into both, but with adult education it seems you're paid pennies and tutoring is after-school and weekend, which is the opposite of ideal. Unless I'm wrong?

Yes, it works.

Like the OP, I gave up shortly after qualifying but returned almost 10 years later.

You are on a bit of a treadmill during termtime, but never have to work more than 7 weeks at a stretch.

If you can find a job you love, you won't notice the hardships too much. You will enjoy the hard work and feedback.

Sounds like selling to schools suited you, have you thought about looking for something similar you could do part-time? Alternatively, if you are good with figures, have you considered training to be a school bursar / financial manager as I think there will be increasing opportunities in this field in the future.

I'm a full time teacher with a 2 year old and it works perfectly for me' because I love my job (secondary though) I am begging you not to return to teaching because picking up the pieces of someone who does it for the holidays and short working day (ha ha) is the worst part of the job. Why do people think this is an acceptable reason to teach, would you be happy if you were your child's teacher? Sorry if I sound harsh but i've had to cope with timetable changes, new form groups, extra lessons after school all in the name of picking up the pieces from people who were doing the job because they didn't know what else to do or thought it was an easy option

Teaching is not remotely family-friendly - during term time. The only bonus (and yes, it's a big one) is the holidays, as long as you never need time off at any other point in the year.

A friend who i trained with didn't want to go back full time into teaching after having kids but got a job home tutoring students who were school refusers or who couldn't attend school due to health reasons.
From what i remember she basically picked the hours she would turn up to teach the child and the pay wasn't too bad either! - i'm sorry i can't actually remember the name of it, but it is something official organised by the LEA - maybe this would work out for you?
I'm going to have to return to teaching, prob after only 6 months maternity, and i'm sure it's going to be very, very hard!

I agree with Clam - the hours are just not family friendly at all.

I only work 2 days a week, but on those days, dh takes dd to the before school club at 8.15 (I leave at 7.15am). She then goes to after school club until about 5.30 - 6.00pm. I also work for a couple of hours on each of those evenings once dd is in bed, plus a few hours at weekends.

I'm sorry to sound harsh, but it also really doesn't sound as though you are truly committed to teaching, or actually want to do it. It sounds like to you are trying to find something that will fit around your children, and work for you. This is absolutely not a good enough reason to go into teaching.

Littlefish - not harsh at all, I need a good dose of reality to make sure I'm not thinking about something I will regret! Thank you for your experience. I may look into that laurieleigh, it sounds interesting and perhaps just up my street as I like teaching 1-to-1.

I cannot imagine teaching f/t, but as you say you would like to do p/t; I wanted to reply quickly before I went to bed!

I qualified in 1997 and taught full time for a few years before having DS, I found being f/t hard work and seemed to live for weekends and holidays. I went down to 2 days a week after that until I had another baby, when I did 1 day a week (all at the same school). This was brilliant, though it didn't pay very much! I went back to 2 days a week after a year or so and although I had another maternity leave in 2009, I went back again to 2 days.

I like my job, but it can be a logistical nightmare organising the children for just those days. I am lucky in that my parents do my childcare and will have them if they are ill and I need to work, as DH commutes and is out of the house from 7.30-7.30 each day. The actual 'teaching' is brilliant, but the job has changed tremendously in the last ten years and SMT seem for more bothered about whether your curricular targets are highlighted in the right colour on your planning or if you have written the LO on the board each lesson, than what you are teaching!

My advice would be to get yourself into a local school to do some voluntary work (I wouldn't particularly want to do this at my own children's school, but that's your call) and speak to some teachers there. I don't think teaching is easy with children in term time at all BUT I have friends who work part time but all the year round and watching them try to find childcare for 13 weeks holiday (yes, I do offer to help where I can) is a real struggle and I love having the option to be with my kids for the summer holidays, rather than seeing it as week after week of problems.

Good luck