Retraining as a Teacher - has anyone?

[shanti]

Has anyone retrained as a teacher since having kids? What is it like? Am just considering doing it now.Also would be v interested to hear from teachers who are also mothers. What are the logistics like? All my childless friends who teach spend the first week of every holiday comatose in bed. Clearly you can't do this with your own children. What are the solutions? Very supportive partner? Superhuman strength? Vitamins? I just want to have realistic expectations of what it's going to be like, both training and working as a teacher!
Shants.

I have been considering teaching. I think i would be good at it (although dh disagrees). I would like to teach the secondary school ages as I really need a challenge in any job I do. I think some teachers do go on about how hard done by they are, perhaps these teachers are not really meant to be teachers otherwise they would do their job whatever and perhaps they should look for alternative employment. Surely if teachers have this attitude then it rubs off on their teaching ability. My sister works in the emergency services, long unsociable hours with loads of abuse (you can imagine what thats like on a Friday night with a group of drunken yobs) but I never hear her complain once as she loves her job. Ive done extra hours in previous jobs and not been paid for them but that was my job.
I think teaching is a very important profession, it builds the children into whatever they want to be tomorrow. But they have to be good and want to really do it, stamp their authority from day one and get on and enjoy teaching the children in their class. BTW I would like to teach History.

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Spot on with your second para, Batters. I was really upset to learn yesterday that the secondary school my boys attended has had a damning HMI report, when 14 years ago it was the best school in the county and people were desperate to send their children there.

The report named the Rector, yet parents have been voicing their concerns about him for years and years but no one would listen. His surname is Waite, and he was christened 'Terry' by the pupils, due to his invisibilty. And now he is retiring on a pension, while others, including many dedicated staff, are having to pick up the pieces. He wasn't even able to control his own daughter, who was a grade A bully. Several friends' children went through hell with her. That's the sort of thing that has disillusioned me, even though I know there are just as many good teachers out there.

I think it is very evident from this thread that bad teachers leave a profound and lasting impression on both the child and his or her parents. (Which is understandable.) However, it seems to me that in concentrating on bad eggs the good teachers are glossed over at best and ignored or treated with suspicion and contempt at worse. So, as it is Christmas time and I am trying to be positive in all areas of my life I would like to say that I can mention four outstanding teachers from my school days who had a profound influence on me. One in particular, I am eternally grateful to as she had belief in me when my own parents didn't. Without her encouragement and support I would probably have had a very different life....

Yes, I's like to say something positive, too.

Yesterday evening I happened to be in the company of five primary teachers. Ha! I thought, right, ply them with wine and see what they say....

Two of the teachers were young and female - one was just completed her first term of teaching, the other was in her second year. Both teach one of our local state primary (SE London) which has its fair share of problems.

Regarding the abuse of new female teachers:
They said of course children will want to test the boundaries of any new teacher. It's all about getting to know you. That's part of the job - you expect it. They will push you to see what they can get away with. You have to set your boundaries early so they quickly learn.
Once you're in your second year, it does get easier as there are pupils at the school who already know how far you will go.

Regarding the joys of the job:
I spoke to the young teacher who had just completed her first term. She was positively glowing with enthusiasm. She said she had absolutely loved it - she loved her pupils, the work was so rewarding, she loved seeing a child's face when something 'clicked' for them etc She was having the best time ever. Yes, it was hard work, but she was happy to give the necessary commitment and did not feel swamped by it all. She did say other teachers kept teasing her about her eagerness, though!

Tiredness: Well, all five teachers had been going strong all day. They had hosted their class parties and on Friday (today), the last day, they were going to perform an impromptu pantomime, as usual, which they hadn't reheased, in front of the whole school - always a laugh, they said, they were all so looking forward to doing it (I told you they were bonkers!)

And they were happy to stay with us till midnight!

Sorry about spelling, forgot to press preview!

PS Batters thanks for that info on job sharing

re parent's concerns: It must be better to have two less stressed class teachers rather than one stressed one, who has to go sick to catch up or calm down, leaving their class in the hands of a variety of supply teachers.

My son is now being taught by two job sharers. Too early to say how it will go. I admit I was initially a tad worried - pure fear of the unknown - but I have faith in the school. I know it is a very ordered and tightly run place. That makes a lot of difference.

Tigermoth, my DD's godmother is a young teacher. Her first job was in a primary school with the most awful social problems. Out of a class of 30 children there were three fathers, the rest were single mothers, struggling on their own to bring up children, with no input from the fathers. About a third of parents were drug addicts. Many of the children had to be taught to use cutlery at school dinners and some needed to be toilet trained. She regularly had to attend Children's Panel meetings (not sure if there's an English equivalent) where some children had to be taken into care.

And she loved it!! When she took the job we feared for her because she had a very sheltered upbringing herself, yet she took to it like a duck to water. The children responded to her ways so positively. Some of them even called her 'Mum' because she was fulfilling a need in their lives. The only thing I've ever heard her complain of was the vast amount of money she spent on Full Marks Lotion because she caught nits from the kids with monotonous regularity!

She's now moved to a promotion elswhere, but that experience has been the making of her as a teacher and any child who has her is indeed a fortunate child.

Frankly, I have never been so appalled by any of the threads on here. Despite what you say robinw, you ARE teacher bashing and doing it in the most deplorable way; namely tarring every teacher with your low opinion because of a bad experience.

I've been a primary teacher for 15 years and the majority of the time (like any job), I love it. But I get SO sick and tired of people harping on about how great it is to have long holidays and go on free school trips (mucky farms and woods,whilst fun aren't exactly my idea of a great freebie!!). If it sounds so great YOU do the job!!!!! If the long holidays are so great, then you too at some point in your life, had the chance to make the decision to become a teacher. Just think about why you didn't. Not the job for you? And yes, in my experience, I am regarded as cheap childminding! I had a child who was left at school for nearly an hour after the end of the day and when I rang home to let someone know (home was a 5 minute walk away), I was told that I'd have to hang onto the child for a while longer as it wasn't convenient to come and collect him just yet!!!!!!! And this is not an uncommon occurrance!

Mel,

We can all say we want to be a teacher, wanting to and being able to are two totally different things.

My particular reasons for not doing it were;

1. failing o'levels.
2. starting work soon after I left school (after staying on a year to do a business studies course).
3. once you start working you get used to the money, it's hard to go back to having little or no money.
4. mortgage to pay (since age 19yrs)
5. alternative routes into teaching weren't available then.
6. don't think I'd have had the confidence then to stand up in front of a classroom full of children.

My reasons for wanting to still go into teaching;

1. not the money, although it would make a difference (it's better than I get paid now even on the unqualified scale).
2. It's the only career I've wanted since primary school.
3. The holidays - double what I get now.
4. The Government has finally got their B*sides into gear and made it possible for those without O'levels/A'levels/Degrees to have the chance to do what they really wanted to do.
5. I have alot more confidence now, anyone who knew me at school wouldn't know me now.

On the last point, what do you think about the Registered Teacher Programme?
Studying and working wouldn't be a problem for me as I've been doing that for the last three years.

I'm currently thinking of training to be a teacher for special-needs children. Does anyone know anything about it? I would need to do it part-time as dd is still at home. I do have the option of putting her in a nursery when she is 2 but I only want her to be there part-time. I was wondering if the Open University did anything like this. Anyway, I'd be grateful for other people's experiences/opinions.

Lisav, currently it is not possible to train to be a special needs teacher in the UK. They abolished the course for this in the 1980s, reasoning that in order to teach children with SEN you must first have experience of teaching the "normal" child. So the route in is a long and winding one- education degree or other degree + PGCE, followed by a couple of years teaching in mainstream schools + (possibly) some specialist courses then transfer to special school or SEN department of a mainstream school. HTH.
Another option is SEN assistant- I did this for a couple of years and found it incredibly fascinating and rewarding, though v.badly paid.

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Blimey! It's very scary reading the low opinion some people seem to have of teachers - not just that but the aggression shown. I am currently on maternity leave and have a 21 week old dd. I am the 2nd in English dept at a successful (but inner city) high school. I have also worked in other jobs after uni but before PGCE so I could be said to have experienced both sides of the coin.

When I started teaching I LOVED it and actually enjoyed spending lots of my free time planning, marking, etc. Mind you, I was living at parents' home, no mortgage, no kids, blah blah blah. If you'd have asked me whether to become a teacher I'd have thoroughly recommended it. I worked hard and was rewarded with quick promotions and have acted up as Head of Dept twice, both for a year at a time, due to HoD's illness.

Now 9 years later - very different story. It's not that I don't like it any more, but my priorities have changed so much. When people ask me what I do and I tell them they nearly always pull a face and say "aren't the kids awful?" but I always still stick up for the kids I teach. I love my subject and my colleagues BUT it is a hell of a job, esp. if you want to do it well and also if you get some responsibility. I don't want to get into the "my job's harder than your job" argument - it's all relative depending on your own experiences and tolerance levels. All I know now is that I don't think I can physically hack my old job back, stress-wise and time-wise; plus I want to spend more time at home watching my daughter grow up and being there for her as much as I can.

I've negotiated 3 days a week from the middle of next month until July but I know the Head wants me back full time in Sept as HoD. It ain't going to happen! What I'd say to anyone considering teaching or in fact anyone who wants to slag teachers off - try it for yourself. If you undertake a PGCE you will very soon see if you can cope with all that's required of you. It's a very rewarding job in many ways but, in my opinion, juggling this and a family is a difficult path to take. Part-time and job sharing has to be the way forward in this climate with so many people leaving the profession: it now needs the govt. and the schools themselves to recognise this.

I was a teacher for one year after my PGCE. I taught physics in a grammar school. While I was working there I saw colleagues kicked and hit and in one case set fire to. There was regular sexual abuse of the women teachers from some of the older boys and bullying was rife amongst both children and teachers.

I found that the teachers who complained were not supported. In one case a pregnant teacher was repeatedly kicked in the stomach by a 16 year old boy, he received a 2 day suspension and she was bullied into not going to the police as it would not look good in the papers if it got out. She left the job as she couldn't bear to go back into the classroom.

Teachers do not have any sanctions to use to prevent bad behaviour and with large class sizes they do not have time to give the children the attention they need to learn good behaviour.

I left teaching and within a year I had doubled my salary although I was working far fewer hours. I am not remotely tempted to go back to it. In the outside world if someone even shouts abuse at you let alone hits or kicks you you can go to the police and have them arrested. Teachers are supposed to put up with this kind of thing as part of the job.

I have found a couple of colleges that do provide Post-Graduate Certificates/Diplomas and MA's in Special Educational Needs. I don't know if that would enable me to be a teacher at the end of it though. I was hoping to gain some experience at a few schools voluntary as well.

Teaching Assistant sounds ok ScummyMummy, but how badly paid is it? And would I be able to work flexible hours?

Being part of a different profession that like teachers is always getitting publicly knocked I have great sympathy for teachers.
Noticed on the news today some kind of pay rise for teachers - dh was also watching, and commented "still not as much as a train driver I see" !

It's good to read some support for teachers on this thread. Ailsa - I wouldn't change my job for any other and would say to anyone that if it's what you really want to do,go ahead. But don't expect any prizes for doing it! You'll always be in the wrong for something no matter what you do. Damned if you do and damned if you don't! Training and studying whilst getting paid, is probably the best way to do it, if you're used to working and studying. It will completly take over you life while your training though.
Sorry robinw, but you obviously have an enormous chip on your shoulder about teachers - the low opinion of ALL of us sticks out a mile. Of course there are problems out there and there are stupid people who try and pretend there isn't, but you can't change it from the outside. You seem to think that standing on the outside and shouting long and loud about how awful we/the system is, is the way to deal with it.