What skills do teachers have that are truly transferable?

[DakotaFanny]

I know this has been done to death but please help... I'm an English teacher, 20 years experience, good at my job: I love the kids, love seeing them sparkle when they get something and love working with teenagers. I have held various in-house management positions, including head of year, second in subject etc etc.

I have to get out.

I'm not wanting to turn this into a teacher bash, or even a teacher clap on the back. It's just become an insurmountable task which is making me unhappy, turning me into a bad mother and making me feel angry pretty much constantly. It's not the classroom, it's EVERYTHING else.

What's killing me is that I just don't know what else I could do- I don't want to tutor. I don't want to sell educational books. I am in the Midlands so I can't write them. I really want a fresh start, but I have responsibilities and need to be earning £30k+. Who on earth is going to take the risk on someone without experience and pay them anything like that amount of money?

Please tell me what skills I should be playing on and in what kind of field I could look....ideally I'd like to do something hospitality / retail based but, beyond being a teenage bar-maid and waitress, have no experience in either!

I am, however, very hard working, bubbly, enthusiastic, committed, confident. I can run a team. I am happy to be led. I think I would be worth a risk but accept that you might be mad to take one on me.

I just don't want to do this any more and it breaks my heart that, after 20 years of hard graft, I feel like I have absolutely nowhere to turn.

Hi there, I have been pondering this question for the last few months. I quit in July and have done a bit of tutoring and teaching adult learners.
I have thought about university admin as that might be a good environment- organising exchange programmes / international office stuff, which I could leave behind at 5pm. I haven't seen much about that's appealing or suitable. It's hard to credibly repackage yourself as there's always someone else out there who fits the job spec perfectly. And the pay is not as good!
Let me know how you get on! Could you do some editing work?

Working in an outfit that runs ESL courses? Or any kind of extra-curricular residential course for overseas students? Or a residential facility for UK pupils?

I like all these ideas but how do you even begin? How do you get into editing? How do you find residential courses. Yes, I think the major feeling is that, even if I could do it, there'll be someone applying who has already got experience.

How do you feel now you're out Brook?

Look up residential facilities near where you live and go to visit them to get a feel for what they do.

Project management
Written and spoken communication
Improvisation
Supervision & team leadership
Soft people skills
Critical analysis (just had PE with DS's English teacher!!)
Administration
Quality assessment, quality control, reading gobbledigook & learning which boxes to tick...

Probably
MS Office, basic graphic design, some procurement

I'm thinking HR, recruitment. Junior position with nice company that offers opportunities for progression.

Dakota funny you should ask; now that I'm out I feel I'm missing out. And here's the weird part: I miss being with the kids, the buzz, the feeling you get when your lesson plan was just right, and they got it; the feeling of being part of something important - now that's a big one... being part of a department (let's face it, we are not all that different to each other); now I feel a bit on my own, sitting about with a lot of useful but wasted unused skills. I collect my young children from pre-school & Reception but I don't think that's beneficial them as they loved their childminder when I worked. I guess I'm saying I'm an under-utilised resource! I don't think about the stress of observations, planning, reviews etc. Why not? That was the main reason I left!

Mmm, interesting! This is one of the things I fear and the main reason I wouldn't want to tutor because I think I'd desperately miss the team thing.

And the good days....which are brill.

Arghhhh, I'm never going to leave, am I?!

Would you/ could you go back Brook? Not to the same school but somewhere new? Such a difficult one because, in so many ways, to do so would be a shame and I really don't think the grass is greener in other schools (although the school I work in IS a tough one- behaviour and management wise- so could relieve that pressure by going somehwhere 'nicer')....i hope you find your happy path.

?thanks for the feedback.

Dakota sorry I'm coming back a bit late to your post. In response to your question, yes I think I might go back to school but a different type- not one with lots of behaviour issues as that's too draining. The problems with these more junior positions outside of teaching are a) low pay; b)iffy pension; c) no school holiday childcare; d) job might be very boring and day until 5pm might crawl by... but I'm sure people out there have found something interesting. Would be good to hear from them!

Good luck finding a nicer school with better behaviour - I've given up after two moves and am out. Not sure what to do next. I want to retrain and work in the NHS, but I suspect that would be a frying pan / fire scenario.

The NHS has a recruitment crisis at the moment and are recruiting a lot of spanish and portugese nurses who need english support, perhaps you could work in a NHS training department?

There may also be roles in sexual health education since you have a lot of experience with teens (not that they're the only ones who use the services)

Still sort of teaching, but for health providers not education providers

I would LOVE to teach sexual health...or work in a pregnant teenagers unit- think both of those jobs would be rewarding and I think it's so important that they feel listened to/able to talk openly to adults. I think I'd be good at that...

Great idea! Thanks.