liam.mccaffrey
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 02:56 PM |
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I'm at the end of my wits!!! Any teachers in the house?
I got made redundant 3 months ago and luckily landed a job straight away. Except it was the wrong job, I work all the hours under the sun and with
the travelling (3 hrs+) a day I don't see my son or my wife from week to week even though we're in the same house, when I am home
I'm so tired and stressed that its hardly worth it and my wife and I are at each others throats all the time. Essentially I don't have a
life other my work which I hate. I'm totally chessed off with my industry and I want out, I can't do it any more.
I want to retrain as a teacher or educator and was looking for some advice from people suitably knowledgable. Some of the most rewarding things I
have done in the past have been mentoring youngsters and teaching athletics.
[Edited on 9/10/11 by liam.mccaffrey]
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StevenB
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 03:18 PM |
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My wife is a teacher and while she says it is sometimes stressful
(exam times etc) she absolutely loves it.
She also worked elsewhere first and then retrained doing
a PGCE as a way of entering the profession.
She is paid more than I am, has about 3 times my holidays,
has a cracking pension and is fluent in French and Spanish.
Pretty much I'm as jealous as hell.
Check with local Unis for PGCE courses
and as the recent popular topic of broken Britain
centres around how boys have no male role models
there is a constant chatter of how primary schools
are too much a very female dominated field.
Some boys reaching secondary school
before they ever have a male teacher.
Do primary.
s
*
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snakebelly
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 03:26 PM |
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working in schools on a daily basis, not in teaching i must add! i also recommend primary, the kids are polite and eager to learn most of the time.
99% of secondarys i visit result in me wanting to committ mass murder they all grow horns when they move to secondary and unfortunately are very keen
to quote "human rights" whenever they are sanctioned. In todays secondary education sector foul language seems the norm even to teachers
and general unruly behaviour goes unpunished, just my ten penneth worth but looking at my diary i have visited over 80 schools so far this year so
feel that i am at least quoting from experience.
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whitestu
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 03:29 PM |
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Teaching is enjoyable - I spent 6 years as a teacher, but don't teach now. If you are strict with how you spend your time it isn't that
stressful.
Stu
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iank
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 03:50 PM |
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I tried it, did 1.5 terms of teaching practice (one in a rough-ish school, 0.5 in a good school) towards my PGCE then decided it wasn't for me
and went back into industry.
My wife is a teacher so I knew what I was letting myself in for, but even so it's not something you can really judge until you tried it.
So some things to think about:
It's either something you can do, or you can't - you will find out pretty quickly. If you really don't enjoy it move on.
My personal bug-bear - clever kids who just get on  , the less able who do their best and try The lazy and feckless  make you question why
you are bothering.
Don't do it for an easy life, stress levels are high most of the time. When you are starting it you will be putting 2 hours preparation into
each hour of teaching you do - which is a hell of a lot of unpaid overtime. Even when you are fully trained there's still a lot of marking and
prep to do (my wife works at least 2-3 hours most nights plus half a day at the weekend.) Double that if ofsed are paying a visit. Expect to not get
much free time outside holidays for the first 2 years.
Trying to fit in all the current pedagogy fashion into every lesson (differentiation, AfL, etc etc etc) is a soul destroying nightmare. Though some
just make it look easy.
DO NOT DO IT FOR THE PENSION. It's almost certainly going to be completely eviscerated in the next year or two and I expect a lot of decent
teachers to be going the other way.
Every parent went to school, and therefore believe they are an expert. Despite that they will still think the poor results from their lazy, spoilt
little git is your fault not their little princess/hero.
The government will pay a bursary to help you re-train (at least they did). It's quite generous IF you pick the right subject to teach.
The holidays are great 
Primary is however an easy life (comparatively) and one of the few positive discrimination for males areas you will ever find. But on a personal
level it's a huge responsibility as doing a poor job will screw up the potential careers/lives of all the kids you teach.
Good luck what ever you decide to do, but it sounds like staying where you are isn't a solution.
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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flak monkey
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 05:02 PM |
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I am seriously considering this option now as well, so I am interested in the opinions of people who are doing it. And how to actually go about
training to do it.
My mum works in a school as a teaching assistant and seems to like it most of the time. When I was at school I wanted to be a teacher, but when I
finished A-levels I changed my mind. Maths, Physics or Chemistry for me 
Sera
http://www.motosera.com
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v8kid
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 05:15 PM |
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Most private schools accept teachers without any formal education qualifications if you have professional qualifications to fall back on. You then can
gain teaching quals as you teach - in the NVQ mode so to speak.
Private schools also pay very well and have longer holidays. But they expect a pound of flesh whilst you are there!
My middle daughter got fed up being an actuary and went into teaching and 5 years on is now earning the same money with a tenth of the stress,
fantastic holidays and superb fringe benefits. Term time she works seven days a week but with fairly flexible hours so it aint as bad as it seems.
Still its not for me.
Cheers!
You'd be surprised how quickly the sales people at B&Q try and assist you after ignoring you for the past 15 minutes when you try and start a
chainsaw
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iank
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 05:54 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by v8kid
Most private schools accept teachers without any formal education qualifications if you have professional qualifications to fall back on. You then can
gain teaching quals as you teach - in the NVQ mode so to speak.
Private schools also pay very well and have longer holidays. But they expect a pound of flesh whilst you are there!
My middle daughter got fed up being an actuary and went into teaching and 5 years on is now earning the same money with a tenth of the stress,
fantastic holidays and superb fringe benefits. Term time she works seven days a week but with fairly flexible hours so it aint as bad as it seems.
Still its not for me.
Cheers!
You can do that in any school. It's called the GTP route, it's not the easy option IMO - very much getting chucked in at the deep end,
finding a good school and mentors to take you on is essential.
http://www.tda.gov.uk/get-into-teaching.aspx?ilewa=10000437&WT.srch=1&gclid=CJGNuaWV3KsCFQIKfAodcz9iOw
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 06:02 PM |
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Did a PGCE 21 years ago, never regretted it.
Mind you I have been in an OK school, both when I was full time, and now the same school as supply/contract work.
I will say I wouldn't have the patience to go back full time, learn the new odds and ends etc, but if I hadn't "left" I doubt
it would be an issue. The job is constantly evolving. There is a fair amount of paperwork/admin and rubbish bits, but the feeling of actually doing
something worthwhile is amazing.
Oh, and I do secondary. Can't be doing with the snotty/smelly little ones. The older they get the better I get on with them. They respond well
to cynicism, sarcasm and humour. (My chosen method of discipline.)
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D Beddows
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 06:19 PM |
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I'd actually love to be a primary school teacher - being a huge target for chav parents looking for paediatricians to beat up cos they
can't spell/read/understand and 'Non Existant Claims 4 U' type lawyers on my case if I tell the kids they're being naughty
puts me off more than somewhat though 
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bobinspain
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 07:49 PM |
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Liam, we've corresponded previously.
I could drone on for hours with my thoughts, but feel it better to make a salient point. It is this: most teachers, and I've met many, know
nothing but the education system that spawned them. If you have a scintilla of altruism in your soul, then you owe it to kids to give them the benefit
of your experience of 'real life.'
If you're driven to teach, then do it. Not only do you owe it to yourself, but you have much more to offer than graduate teachers. You have a
natural advantage over full time academia-bound, blinkered teachers who know nothing or real life.
I've 'instructed' and given an untold number of presentations. I was never a 'teacher', and nor would I choose to be.
They're dim and insular.
Imagine retiring at 60/65, never having 'left school'. I rest my case.
[Edited on 9/10/11 by bobinspain]
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trextr7monkey
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 08:15 PM |
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Hi Liam,
After a degree in agriculture and a couple of farm based jobs I worked as a lecturer in an agric college for a couple of years, this was followed by
5 years on the road selling pigs when we first relocated to the Lakes. To try and get more sociable hours for family life and following on from the
alleged shortage of make role models I traned (PGCE) for primary including nursery aged kids, the training can only give you the basics, the personal
style and how to cope with the avalanche of bureacracy is left for you to fathom out yourself,
I taught infants for 10 years and really enjoyed it and then took NPQH training which was in preparation for headship, when I had just started getting
interviews the job in the school where I was working came up but the governors designed a job to stop me applying; so impressed was I with their
attitude to staff development I quit and took the first job that came along in a local secondary sink school.
I picked up the fag ends of 3 subjects - all the kids who wished they could have left in the previous year, we'd had crazy kids when I went to
school but they weren't stoned or drugged up and wouldn't throw chisels across a workshop, quite an eye opener.
Anyway a couple of weeks into the job a vacancy arose at local private school where my kids went, I finished the 2 terms there and made the move to
escape the madhouse.
I have now worked there for 10 years single handedly running the DT dept, assisted by 2 old guys who both have engineering back ground. The weeks
are full and busy, we get good results with a fairly basic set up, compared to the state sector, but the holidays are good, classes are small- there
are much harder ways of earing money.
Various perks exist such as foreign trips, expeditions, a nice tidy workshop to refurb those kit car bits in out of hours, free argon, big welder, 10
big lads to help to carry the big bits etc.
I never thought when I decided to become a teacher that I would finish up where I am now but as with most things in life if you dare to make a change
things can only get better, I would say if you want to do it give it a go but it certainly isn't for clock watchers. Feel free to message me if
you want to know more or want to come and have a look.
atb
Mike
[Edited on 9/10/11 by trextr7monkey]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14016102@N00/ (cut and paste this dodgey link)
Our most recent pics are here:
http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p211/trextr7monkey/
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 9/10/11 at 08:28 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by bobinspain
. I was never a 'teacher', and nor would I choose to be. They're dim and insular.
Imagine retiring at 60/65, never having 'left school'. I rest my case.
[Edited on 9/10/11 by bobinspain]
Well, thats me being called dim and insular
Seems Bob knows diddly squat about teachers.
there are those who are rather jobs-worth and go through the motions. However, the majority I have worked with have been far from dim, or even
remotely insular. Many are talented, way more so than lecturers and higher ed people (think there was something on the news about the std of
University teaching) and work to an audience who make their feelings known.
bumping into ex-pupils years down the line, you realise what a good job we do.
Nope, majortity of teachers are firmly planted in the real world, dealing with real problems. Rather an important job if you think about it, rarely
done for adulation and never for the lure of an upmarket repmobile.
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liam.mccaffrey
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| posted on 10/10/11 at 05:32 AM |
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Thankyou for your support and advice guys, appreciate it. I'll let you know how I procede.
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panichat
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| posted on 10/10/11 at 06:35 AM |
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Has anyone mentioned creativity?
If you like creating stuff - cars, art, written or spoken word - and enjoy problem solving you could find teaching very rewarding.
I am 10 years into a teaching career (having formerly been a bus driver and working with ex-offenders) and I find each day throws up a range of mental
and practical challenges. You have received a lot of excellent advice from other people but I'd like to add that very few teachers pick up a
book and teach from it - most accept the challenge of analysing an educational need, devising a strategy, creating resourses and delivering a lesson
in a dynamic way. When it works it is great and when it doesnt you can work out why it didn't and refine your technique.
Have you thought about volunteering at a local school for a short period - you will get a very good idea about the job by watching what goes on in a
classroom and most PGCE courses require that applicants do at least 5 days in a school before the course starts.
Good luck
Dave
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