Should I become a teacher or go to a masters?

[lostandconfusedmh]

After burning out from my previous law job in the city due to mental health issues, I’ve been recovering at my parents' place since being let go in July. Thankfully, I’m feeling much better now.

I’ve secured a job as a trainee teacher in my hometown, but I can’t help feeling a bit bitter because I had a very high-paying job before. I graduated with a 2:1 in law from a Russell Group university in 2022.

Now, I’m at a crossroads: should I take the teaching job or finish my master’s? I have offers from:

• A former Russell Group university
• A business analytics course from the University of London
• An MSc in Finance at SOAS

I’m considering these options as a way to re-enter the corporate world, as I no longer wish to pursue a career in law due to the culture. However, the teaching job is also appealing because it’s less stressful than working in a Magic Circle law firm, and the summers off would provide a good work-life balance.

The downside is that the teaching job is at a rough school with poorly behaved pupils, which adds another layer of complexity to my decision.

Ah... I think OP must be a troll.

I'm sure yiu could make a three bullet point list for law too.

That aside, it's not an accurate list.

can someone explain to me quickly why teaching is so stressful?

Do not do Teach First full stop, would be my advice.

I have nothing good to say about that programme, and I've trained many many teachers over many many years.

Do you understand HOW you get that performance and those grades out of recalcitrant, demanding teenagers? At all?

I have encountered many people who slag teachers off,mainly for the holidays.

I have never heard anyone suggest it isn't a demanding, tricky or stressful job at all. That's weird.

Lordy. I'm not a teacher, never have been but is that all you think they're responsible for? What about safeguarding for one?

Yep. That's it. It's piss easy: come and join us.

I'll introduce you to Bob and his mates. Then we'll see how easy it is.

can someone explain to me quickly why teaching is so stressful?

Can you explain what a teacher's working day looks like? You sound like you don't a clue. Have you done any research at all?

Why quickly-what’s the rush?

Come on, you are considering choosing this as a career-do it properly! Spend an hour on that Facebook page I mentioned and read what actual teachers say. You could ask your question there.

You don't sound clever enough to go into teaching to be honest, and flakey, and like you don't even like young people in "rough" schools (what even is that?)

Stay home with mum and dad and do some growing up first rather than go in to teaching, fail the course and let a load of young people down.
If you couldn't cope with the initial stages of a legal job (training contract?) you won't last 2 months in a school on Teach First 🤣🤣

Teaching is low status and low pay and high stress-basically the complete antithesis of what seems to motivate you so scrap that idea.

If you have the privileged position of parental support then make the most of that. Do a masters that opens rather than narrows options and allows you some time to reflect and have a social life and think about what you want. Not as in pie in the sky but practical grounded thinking such as EveningSpread advised-well worth re reading her post and asking yourself questions like that.

My niece got let go from a very prestigious company’s graduate program. She was taken on by another company with less prestige and competition where she is much happier and earns more.

Have you managed to talk to other people who also ‘failed’ at that company? Some places are infamous for chewing young people up and spitting them out.

Take some time. Don’t ricochet

That’s pretty much it, yep. Like as a doctor you’re responsible for:

1. Medicine
2. Bandages
3. Using your clicky pen correctly.

Even if 'all' you are responsible for is grades, what do you think happens if children don't achieve grades because they have had too much time off school, because they have undiagnosed adhd, because they are living with abuse in the home, because they are constantly distracted by the child next to them or because they have social anxiety?

You fail, that's what happens. Because the responsibility lies on you to make these children achieve even if they can't. Are you resilient enough to cope with that?

Oh you went on to suggest teachers have low responsibilities whilst I was taking the time to post. If you are a troll it’s very poor taste wasting people’s concern and time.

She doesn't need to because Teach First have seen her qualifications and offered her a place even though she has no idea or interest. Because that's their recruitment strategy. And they'll dump her on a school, and she'll either sink or swim.

This post makes me think that you’re not a genuine poster, however I will give you the benefit of the doubt and treat this as a genuine question.

The problem with being responsible for grades and performance is that that is far more complex than it sounds. You may be teaching hundreds of students per week. You might also be teaching outside of your subject specialism for some of the time due to budget constraints and staff shortages. The big stress is that you are responsible for grades of kids who are behaving poorly, not working hard, or who have shit lives, trauma, no quiet place to work, no time to study because they are caring for younger siblings or a disabled or alcoholic parent. You are expected to deliver grades for kids who have a million things holding them back and making that harder.

It involves learning hundreds of names, writing hundreds of reports, marking hundreds of books, planning and delivering dozens of lessons each week. And that’s before you start with dealing with behaviour, detentions, extra curricular, trips, writing up safeguarding concerns, attending meetings and parents evenings, then all of the paperwork and observations associated with the training and ECT process.

I am now an assistant head and have been in the profession for 15 years and in that time I have unfortunately seen a number of trainees and NQTs/ECTs who don’t make it because they came in completely naive about the work involved.

You've forgotten having a pretty pink stethoscope

I'm not even clear what the OPs subject will be. Possibly a lot of content to learn too since it's unlikely to be Law.

See also how soul destroying it is having to prioritise those things on your list to the point of having no time or energy or freedom to actually make a difference to the lives of some of these kids who desperately need far more important things than an overstuffed curriculum and total focus on high grades.

Knowing what they are living through and aren’t being helped with because despite being aware of horrific details the police, ss, camhs and anyone else with supposed authority or responsibility is doing nothing other than saying they’re on their radar.

It's emotionally draining as well as stressful and it can make you want to despair for the present and the future.

I think all the parents on this board need to read this thread to really understand how desperate schools are to get a warm body in the classroom. The idea that someone with poor MH, clearly has no idea about what the job entails, has no passion for the job, doesn't have anything positive to say about the children, was picked just weeks before term is due to start. The OP clearly is not suited to teaching, and yet parents will have to send their kids every day to sit in front of her if she goes down this route. Not only that, but Teach First is predominantly disadvantaged areas, so disadvantaged children will be impacted.

Safeguarding
Break duties
Lunch duties - you get 20 minutes to eat though
Bus duties
Planning 23 lessons per week from scratch - no textbooks
If you have 30 in a class and 5 lessons in a day that’s 150 books to mark every night in different colours of pen
Risk assessments
Health and safety
Meeting all additional needs - dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD
Writing reports
Parents’ Evenings
Awards Evenings
Open Evenings
Summoning a First Aider if someone has just arrived in your Maths lesson from a PE lesson with a possibly broken bone
and so on.

And don't forget, they get a mini tea break between every patient 🙂. So chilled.

And doesn't have a degree with a subject on the national curriculum, so will lack subject/content knowledge.

And doesn't have a degree with a subject on the national curriculum, so will lack subject/content knowledge.

Please don't remind me. I'm still recovering from a "maths" trainee with no maths degree. Or A level. And a pretty terrible GCSE. That was teach first.