teaching social work or councilling?

[Mumoftwox]

I'm doing a general degree in integrated health and social care I'm in year 3 so need to make a decsision soon about what I want to choose I could do my 4th year in primary education social work or can change to councilling. I have heard alot of negatives towards teaching and social work does anyone have any advice? thanks

[Mumoftwox]

still not understandy why people feel the need to comment negative comments. Says more about you than me I suppose. Go get something better to do thanks

[Mumoftwox]

thankyou I think throughout the year I will try volunteer in different areas and see what I like best

[Mumoftwox]

@TeenTimesTwo That sounds really good I have never thought about that. How do you go about doing that do you still need the PGDE qualification? thanks

[OttilieKnackered]

People aren’t just being horrible, they’re saying you may not be suited due to what you have shown to be your writing skills.

Not to mention your defensive and sarcastic responses. Teaching and social work both require a lot of resilience and a very thick skin, both of which you aren’t really showing here.

[TeenTimesTwo]

I have no idea about the qualifications needed.
However the Pastoral Care staff and my daughters school do a really important job. They have to deal with for example:

• kids in long term foster care
  
• kids with Aspergers / ADHD / etc
  
• young carers
  
• kids with parents very ill or recently deceased
  
• self harm
  
• anxiety
  
• all the usual falling outs
  
• ...

[IamHyouweegobshite]

Hi op, I'm a teaching assistant, I'm currently studying at university, Childhood studies, it can open lots of doors for me. At the moment I don't think I want to actually be a teacher, lots of teacher friends who are extremely dedicated, but exhausted from ridiculous hours and school politics etc. I'm thinking more of working with special need children, but have two years to decide.
Having a pgce is great and will open more avenues for you, but it's a hard slog. Good luck.

[Lilyofthefields]

still not understandy why people feel the need to comment negative comments.

Perhaps some people just like to put the boot in, but in this case I think it's more likely to point out the high standards required for professions such as teaching or social work when it comes to written communication.

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

Degrees are so expensive these days. And I think that some people I know who were much less academic than me at school have ended up doing better (earning more) than me because they have worked their way up after training from school or A-levels. My degree is quite specific, jobs in the area are now quite hard to come by without moving across the country, and it’a Public sector so poorly paid. But I
I can’t afford to retrain in a different area completely without starting from the bottom and competing with fresh and enthusiastic 16 and 17 year olds apprentices. Who may get to a certain level, realise they need a degree to get even further and then can get the finance to do it. Whereas I can’t, Cos I’m stuck with my first, now Useless degree.

I think that getting a degree without a very specific aim these days is extremely foolish. You’re better off working your way up on the job. Then you have the choice of either realising you need a degree in that area to progress, or retraining with minimal cost, in a new area..

[IamHyouweegobshite]

Oh and forgot to say, I have worked with many teachers, some are excellent at spelling, punctuation etc, some are quite poor, but great at other subjects.

[hatgirl]

Do you already have a nursing degree OP?

Not sure why you are doing an integrated health and social care degree if you are already a qualified nurse? Certainly for social work the course you are on now would be seen as an access course, you will still have to do the 3 year undergrad or 2 year PgDip/MA to qualify as a social worker.

Previous posters will have seemed very harsh but both teaching and social work in theory demand high levels of literacy and attention to detail. Certainly in social work you need to be able to be critically reflective, open to constant criticism and be emotionally resilient and professional.

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

Weegobshite: Childhood studies is a case in point. I’m sure it’s an interesting degree but what kind of senior graduate level jobs can it get you? I don’t think you can get SENCO jobs as you need to be a qualified teacher for those and a Childhood Studies degree doesn’t usually carry QTS, I don’t think?

I just think people sometimes think they should do a degree because it will open doors. But days, I don’t think it necessarily does.

[YourSarcasmIsDripping]

Teaching and Social Work are two professions where you'll always be criticised, a lot of time you'll feel like you're not doing enough or are good enough and you'll receive constant criticism(upper management, parents,media, friends ,family etc) , plus damned if you do,damned if you don't.


If you think the comments on here are too harsh and mean then you need to consider this, because many a time you'll try your best to help someone only to be spoken to like you're something on their shoe.

[Mumoftwox]

Yes I understand. I just feel there is nicer ways of saying things without being rude and trying to make someone feel stupid. I dont actually care what these people think of me anyways I just dont understand why people try and be nasty! I understand my spelling wasnt great and if I would of read over it again I would have noticed however I didn't think I had to have my grammar spot on to write in a forum lol. I have done Access to nursing then HND care and administrative practice (which is 1st year nursing) I then decided to go into Health and Social Care degree rather than continue nursing as I have Rheumatoid arthritis and lupus which makes it difficult for me being on my feet all day. So complicated lol. Thankyou for your help.

[Mumoftwox]

Yes true am not particularly sure what doors my degree opens hence the reason am starting to panic now. At my induction my lecturer said it could lead on to social work, teaching, nursing and working within the police force. One of my friends is transferring over to counselling at a different university after this year. I went for this degree thinking there would be more options, but in reality its actually much more complicated.

[Tableclothing]

I would recommend spending quite a bit of time reading up on various possible careers on the prospects.ac.uk website. It is really good.

Personally, I left teaching 7 years ago and will never go back (so maybe I'm not the best person to advise there).

Social Work is one of the most stressful, most thankless jobs you can do (yep, even compared to teaching).

Counselling has its definite upsides compared to the first two, but it takes a very long time (and a lot of money, because you have to pay for your own counselling at the same time) to qualify. And because it is so popular jobs are scarce and pay is low.

I think your best bet would be to try to arrange some work experience for yourself in each of the areas you're interested in, make a lot of notes and ask a lot of questions (do your prep first so your questions aren't daft).

All of these areas have many other jobs in the periphery which might really suit you and which don't spring readily to mind, and getting a toe in the door might reveal some of them (e. g. Someone might give up on the idea of being a child psychologist, but consider becoming - a CBT therapist, a counsellor, a family therapist, a mental health nurse, a learning disabilities nurse, a lady therapist, an OT, a SALT, etc etc)

[Tableclothing]

Whereabouts in the country are you?

[Tableclothing]

It might be worth having a look on NHS jobs just to see what's out there.

[hatgirl]

Also to add, spelling punctuation etc aren't always the be all and end all, one of the best social workers I know is dyslexic and gets additional support to check work before it goes to court etc.

It's about attitude as much as anything, and as OttilieKnackered says being defensive and sarcastic won't get you through your student placements no matter how good your SPAG is.

[Benjispruce]

I thought you meant teaching social work. I guess you meant teaching, social work or counselling?
Commas are everything op. Sorry to be the grammar police but it’s so important if you’re thinking about teaching.

[Lilyofthefields]

I understand what you are saying, I think. That there's formal and informal contexts for writing? It's not a case of your grammar being perfect, it's just that your posts aren't reflecting a level of written communication that would be required in these professions. It's difficult to know how people can make this point kindly without causing offence.

Reading your final points (in the post I can currently see) I'm sorry to see that you had to move from nursing due to medical reasons. I'm not sure about social work, but I think you'd have similar problems with teaching which is just a long, long day on your feet.

[selfishcrab]

'Counselling has fewer employment opportunities and lower salaries.'

First part is true, second part not true.
If you want to teach counselling the most important part is to have the skills and experience, so if you choose this path it will take much longer.

[ilovesooty]

Another year on top of what you've done won't qualify you in any way for counselling.

[Lilyofthefields]

First part is true, second part not true.

Do you think so? Counselling jobs seem to go for about half the salary of a teacher, and that's if you can find a paid position.

[IamHyouweegobshite]

@curly. I have to do a 4th year to gain qts, which obv if I so wished I could aim for teaching etc. I'm mid 40s and am doing a degree not necessarily for senior level jobs, I want to better myself and with my degree, I can go into teaching, working with young children with mental health issues, sen etc. Whether or not my degree constitutes, to scholarly people, as a decent one, I couldn't really care less, I work full time, have 3 kids, one of which has asd and I'm doi g something fir myself, which I never thought I would be able to do.

[Perunatop]

Based on your experience it sounds as though teaching might be a good option, perhaps part time given your medical conditions. Just ignore overly critical people, and try not to take it personally.