Going into teaching and stuck deciding which age group would be best?

[ThisMauveMentor]

I've spent the last six years in academia (humanities, specifically literary studies) and am thinking about moving away from it into teaching. It's what I probably would have done had I not wanted to do the PhD, but I have no idea which year group to train in.

I have experience with Primary and Secondary school kids, and have a PGCE offer for both a General Primary and a Secondary English course. The deadline for accepting one of them is approaching, and I still have no idea which to accept. Obviously I know I like and would be good at teaching English, and it would be the most practical as a career change, but I also feel I'd love the novelty of working with younger kids, even if it would be comparitively more of a jump.

Has anyone got any tips for deciding which route to go down? Or are there any questions I should be asking myself? What kind of a person is best at teaching each age range?

Thanks!

I'm Cambridgeshire-based :)

Good to know. I think I just need to consider what I want to do best, rather than constantly worrying about what is practical or what I'd be good at. The thing with academia is that it's hard to enter it and harder to stay there, especially after you've left, so I've spent a lot of time feeling like I have to plan out every tiny detail of my career so that nothing goes wrong lol. Knowing that I can always try supply teaching helps to ease the stress a bit!

Also - I did go on to train as a teacher and without being a massive downer I would honestly not be too worried about your career in 10 years, cos there is a a not inconsiderable possibility you will not be teaching in 10 years. I always think people should give teaching a go if they are interested, but I also think you need to just see if it suits you before doing too much career planning.

My experience of teaching (secondary school) is that those moments when you feel like you are actually generating understanding and see the lightbulb go on in their eyes are very rare. They are magical, but few and far between.

The job is 60-70% what is euphemistically called 'behaviour management', which is done whilst trying to 'deliver' the actual lesson content then supervise them working, another 25% what is broadly admin (marking, lesson planning, entering data into the school system), and about 5% real "teaching", i.e. engaging with pupils' minds.
If you can get on top of behaviour, the whole-class question-and-answer sessions can be satisfying, if you have the knack for questioning.

One-to-one tutoring was far more satisfying, but didn't pay the bills.

That's my main drawback with secondary, to be honest. I'm used to lots of deadlines and intense pressure, but I've also generally been offered a lot of flexibility. I'm not sure I have the conscience to constantly act as though exam results matter to the extent that schools make them seem. My current career has been hugely results-obsessed ofc but at least those were my results which I was working towards for me.

Primary can be exam-focused too, I guess, especially in Years 5 and 6, but comparitively less so to GCSE and A-level.

I can only comment on primary (although my teen children really like their English and history teachers at secondary so there’s evidence you can inspire and connect at this level), so…

SEND is sky high at the moment. You will need to be an expert in strategies for all extra learning challenges, especially for ADHD as you will
definitely have at least three in your class - the year group in which you will initially have a choice but may be moved around seemingly at a whim in following years, despite developing in-depth subject knowledge and efficient and effective relationships with your team. You may well not have any additional classroom support for the extra SEND needs (including chairs being thrown/recreations of Grand Theft Auto in a Y3 classroom) but you will also be expected to deliver full primary curriculum whilst managing the behaviour resulting from unmet need. And don’t forget to take subject responsibility - there will definitely be a cry of joy for an English specialist as that is a hefty weight and no doubt under scrutiny when OFSTED make their way.

Does it go without saying that I am one of this year’s c40,000 who have left the profession? If you have any faint dreams of having any kind of work/life balance, I really wouldn’t venture towards primary education these days.

Good point, honestly. I think chasing acolades and funding all these years has made me slightly obsessive about planning and employability haha. The one definite thing about teaching either age group is that there will always be a job somewhere for me to do and to return to.

Primary education is obsessed with data, target setting, and relentless testing and tracking to check attainment levels. Even as a statistics nerd, it’s utterly boring and, crucially, nothing to do with the joy of learning or the actual children. Be prepared for many meetings about this.

My mum has worked with SEND kids in a state primary her whole career and I've heard some of the horror stories. It is awful, and TAs are so underpaid it should be criminal. That and the lack of work-life balance does worry me. I'd quite like to not leave a second career lol.

Do you know if the work-life balance is any better or worse in secondary?

True. I don't really mind dealing with data and all that stuff myself. But constantly assessing the kids and putting exam pressure on them is maybe less of my cup of tea.

@ThisMauveMentor It’s not just schools that want results at secondary, it’s parents too. At primary, most parents don’t see sats in the same light as it doesn’t frame DCs educational future in quite the same way.

Not all primary schools assess all the time - there is respite. Plus you get to do much more within the primary curriculum.

Neither would I accept that you will leave either! Plenty do see this as a long term career and want to excel at it. Going in with your eyes open matters. I’ve met many teachers who love teaching and in a school that meets your expectations, I don’t see why you would not be happy. You need strong leadership, decent parents and dc and sufficient support in the classroom. My neighbours are teachers and love it. Lovely schools though! That’s key.

Good point! I don't intend to leave if I do end up liking it, but I feel like I also have to keep in mind the possibility that I won't or that I might need to readjust some of my plans accordingly. I've heard so many different things about the work-life balance and, though I enjoy fast-paced work, it's hard to judge how well I'll manage until I've worked full-time on the job.

I loved teaching. I had been a school librarian before so knew the systems, I thought. However I had a real passion for English and enjoyed helping children try to achieve their best. I have a good sense of humour which helped. I enjoyed learning new ways of teaching and actively sought out how to use them . I loved my higher English classes but also got a real thrill when children who had been written off by others just 'got' something. One of the poorest boys I ever taught who had many issues suddenly understood alliteration and looked for it everywhere. That gave me joy. You will find happiness in most children if you look for it. I wish you luck whichever path you choose

I left English teaching and changed to primary. It’s much more fun, way less marking and less violent behaviour.

@ThisMauveMentor Do you know any teachers in good schools? Ones where you might work? The ones I’ve met down the years who haven’t enjoyed it aren’t that keen on dc and didn’t really know what job they did want. Others I’ve met, friends and professionally, love the job. They do take decent time off too and they earn that. I think you need to analyse if older dc make you tick or the breadth you will encounter with primary. I’m in a grammar county and the grammars have pretty good staff retention. So do consider what type of school very carefully.

My advice would be neither of those!
As you've studied to PHD level I would have thought that teaching A Level or undergrad would be more satisfying for you. You'd be teaching students who have chosen to study the subject at a higher academic level and you have excellent subject specialist knowledge to enrich their education!

Whichever level though, be prepared for a lot of prep and marking which will eat into your personal time.

@Lovetosurf we do have PhDs teaching in schools. There are of course huge 6th form colleges in some areas but if op likes dc, then bright engaged ones can be found lower down the school. The issue might be the narrow diet and teaching to the exam.

Don't go into secondary teaching because you like English. Go into it because you like working with teenagers. If you would prefer to work with younger children, go into primary. You won't get too much Shakespeare time, although you might be able to teach some (Year 6 loved Macbeth!).

Universities are all shrinking, huge lay offs, especially in Humanities. It must be why op wants to get out.

I’ve been teaching undergrad (and postgrad, but mostly undergrad) as part of my job up until now, alongside research. I’ve enjoyed it, but academia isn’t a very stable career path for the foreseeable future, so I’d like to settle down with my partner and worry less about research output, funding, whether or not I’ll still have a career in two years’ time, etc.

I’ve loved the teaching part of my job the most, so I figured teaching would be a good stable job for me which wouldn’t keep me alone in an office all day. The main thing I’ve enjoyed about teaching at university level, though, is the autonomy I’ve had over the course content, which wouldn’t really be possible in other age ranges.

If I wanted to teach at A-level, I’d have to teach GCSE for a good few years, as the positions are fairly competitive (everyone wants to teach A-Level because it’s cushy!), and I’m not certain that working my way up into another long-term career payoff or worrying about more promotions and opportunities would be much more relaxing than academia haha.

To be fair, given my qualifications I could probably get an A-Level position easier than some, but it still might require a couple of years of job searching. People don’t tend to quit A-Level teaching often!

Yeah, my partner and I are both academics, and it’s exhausting keeping one job, let alone two. There’s constant competition for grants, and if one of us got made redundant, we’d have to take a massive pay cut while that person looks for another job in their niche literary field. Then, even if they found one within a couple of years, we’d have to cover commuting costs to that person’s new institution which, at best, would be within 50 miles of home.

It’s just not worth the stress. I think ultimately we’ll both be trying to move away from research but, in the meantime my partner is hanging on for a bit while they sort their options and I’ve been applying to PGCEs.

I have a few friends in teaching who seem relatively happy, but ultimately at the moment it all depends on how the PGCE itself goes and the kinds of places which have vacancies. I live in a fairly nice area, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find decent places. I can’t think of any schools I know of that are really bad, but there are a couple with dodgy OFSTED ratings.

I think you should opt for Primary. With your experience in academia, you could make the jump from Primary back up to Secondary some time down the line if you wanted too. It’s far harder to go from Secondary to Primary.

@ThisMauveMentor schools that are inadequate are usually barred from having trainees or NQTs. You won’t be in an awful one. As English isn’t a shortage subject they might well have various candidates for English teacher jobs but you will probably have a different cv. You might well appeal to a more academic school.

I see where you're coming from.

I wouldn't let anybody fool you that teaching A Levels is cushy though!

I've taught in dedicated sixth form colleges with a full timetable, which meant that every evening, I was prepping the next day's five or six lessons and doing marking. I also spent an Easter holiday assessing and benchmarking 60x 5,000 word essays and in my world, that's not cushy.

Teaching really would be the best job, if contact hours were reduced so that teachers could plan/assess more thoroughly and for better work/life balance.

It's certainly worth giving it a shot, as it can be really satisfying in terms of student progress and 'lightbulb' moments.

You will have an element of choice. You will choose an exam board, choose your KS3 texts. An in depth knowledge of Shakespeare can only be a good thing. You will be teaching young, bright minds. Brains at their best. So plastic and ready to learn. You will teach many different topics and skills, abilities and age groups, people from different backgrounds. You will have to think on your feet, react to situations as they change. Teaching teenagers is dynamic and fun. You are the master of your classroom, you have a lot of choice over your style of teaching, how you engage the kids.
Teaching secondary is anything but boring. Marking is the boring bit. And the admin, emails, lesson planning, CDP, hoops to jump. I thought teaching would be easy, but 17 years later, the fact it isn't is still what I love most.