Can we talk about the 40% PGCE drop out rate? Anyone here dropped out?

Thank you for the honest response. When you were having that really horrible first year, did you tell people around you about it? Did your friends know? Did they know how hard it was for you? That you considered/consider quitting? Everyone I know in teaching seems really unhappy but never talks about it. Then I read stuff like this and wonder if it is right for me.

For me, it started as 'I don't know what else to do, it's either this secure career choice or I fleet around in minimum wage jobs or unemployment'

but since getting teaching experience it has turned into 'Hey, I can actually see myself doing this'. Now I enjoy it and want to do it. But I wonder if I have enough passion to see me through the tough times.

Jesus Christ, this is so depressing. I don't know what to say. I volunteer in two schools: one wonderful, the other one not that wonderful. In the wonderful school, kids are nice and while the lessons are fast paced and really dynamic, I see myself standing there delivering the lessons (which I will soon do as a volunteer ). In the not wonderful school, I see myself as more of a game changer, as a crazy optimistic which is going to show those bored kids why I think my subject is the place to be. No boring irrelevant stuff but things that make you thrill and chill and laugh and cry. If I am ever a teacher in a tough school, I will want to get those hyperactive bad-behaved kids sat down to listen in an informal way why I (not as a teacher but as a person who has been a student like them) think they should listen to what I have to say. Because what I have to say is something they will like, something they will love. I will infuse interest and motivation within them.

Certainly a sobering thread, guys! P:

I don't think I'm under any blinding illusions as to what will happen when my course hopefully begins, because I try not to have any real expectations. I am determined to make it as easy as possible for myself by cutting off all distractions and making sure my partner, working elsewhere, is on board for the year emotionally and understands the limiting timetable I'll likely have. I'm not imagining a first classroom too much, and I'm not attempting to envision myself changing the lives of the children I come into contact with. Equally, obviously, I'm ignoring any thought of dropping out or bowing under pressure. I know that I can take a great many terrible times and experiences because I have before and will again, and I think the money and time being put into something such as a teacher training course is far too valuable to give up before its over. I am determined to take each day as it comes, to absolutely freaking relish the good things, and to have a really brilliant cry about anything bad - and then to go to sleep and attempt to forget/overcome it somehow the next day. Full-picture realism is the only thing I want to be thinking when I start... so hopefully I will.

Thank you, though, for all the honest responses here. I think it's very good to have this side of the argument available. I especially value the opinions of current working teachers towards the education politics going on, so feel free to embellish on that! I would enjoy reading further thoughts.

Ok that sounds so soppy and 'Hey I'm young and positive!!!' lol. But I just wanted to post a positive experience in amongst all this negativity.

xxx

It's great that you feel like this and we certainly need fresh blood. I think your experience as a nursery teacher is very different to the secondary school experiences I have been talking about, where the stresses and flashpoints are very different. I hope you continue to be happy and positive.

Thanks!

Yes, well I feel like I have it easy because it's like... Nursery is great! EYFS is great! I find it so much easier. But I can't tell if it is actually like that or if it's because I am so passionate about the ethos etc that it removes other stresses? I know some people say they wouldn't be able to handle the way of EYFS or the tininess of the children, but the idea of the older ones scares me a lot!

xxx

Thought I would share with you my experience too. I did the PGCE last year. It was very hard, stressful. I didn't have much time for me all year and I did have moments where I thought 'What if I can't do this?!' (though never thought of quitting). But it was also fun, inspirational and exciting.

at the end of the day even if you did hate it it's a year of your life. The most likely alternative is you'd be unemployed or struggling in another poorly paid job you hate.

If you can't handle a bunch of kids trying it on and giving you a bit of verbal then I do think you need to toughen up a bit mentally and maybe go and sit in a state school that has a bad reputation and try and see things from another perspective.

I went to a horrendous state school myself and I myself was no angel and I had my moments but maturity does come and with hindsight I know why I had those moments. I often got bored and detached from lessons that were just monotonous and I became distant to the teacher and their methods. I'd then fidget and get distracted and do something to keep myself awake during the lesson.

If a pupil asks 'why do we have to learn this crap?' then answer in the right way and put a bit of back information on it and try and add your own story on it so that its not just 'because you have to do so'. The thing is, loads of secondary school pupils are craving to be addressed like adults but feel they aren't by their parents maybe or the school or even the system and government and we've all been through that phase when we were younger of having an attitude.

Im looking forward to my PGCE and whilst I will at first be nervous about getting up in front of a class to teach I will learn and be dedicated to not only the task of expressing my subject knowledge further afield but also supporting them and helping them gain an understanding of what matters and how things are.

I was nervous when I first got in a car, the roads full of other drivers tailgating me trying to bully me into speeding up and doing what they wanted. I overcame that and I will use my passion to become a teacher to overcome the hurdles that teachers face on a daily basis. Of course its not going to be easy but thats life, its never easy.

You go into a corporate scene and you'll have adults stabbing you in the back trying to climb the career ladder and make their big break. They'll do that behind your back and they'll tell your colleagues things about you or talk about you at the table at lunch to try and get their cliques going. Thats just life. Be prepared for people to say bad things about you.

At least school children are straight up with it and will tell you its crap if its crap and be honest. Its good to be a good talker but I see nothing wrong with asking them 'what would you prefer? why is this not coming across right for you?'. Listen to them and reason with them and understand that they are human beings who should be respected. As a teacher you have a lot to learn as well and there will be children in that class who learn at home about the subject you teach and know more than you.

I may be fortunate in that my subject can be both academic and vocational (computer science) so I'll most likely be able to take them into the computer room, get them involved in things and alleviate the boredom somewhat from a normal classroom setting. I think a lot of pupils get bored and speak out because they want to test teachers. I will happily cater to different learning styles because I myself struggle to take things in from just having someone in front of a whiteboard speaking. Different approaches reach different people and keep them interested.

YouTube videos to show things, props such as devices and hardware, group sessions, get pupils involved and if they make a mistake so be it because thats life.

I remember one teacher I had for history and she said to us at the beginning of the year 'if you do all your work in the week then Friday afternoon we'll watch a film in that lesson'. She said to us that life is about working hard and playing hard and that if you put in the effort you deserve to reap the rewards. Everyone worked their socks off in the class, people got involved in what to some is regarded as a boring subject (I love history however :P ) and we watched a film every week. I ended up with an A in History and most others in my class had at least a B or above in a state school that had a bad reputation at the time.

Be someone who cares and be someone willing to go that extra mile to make a difference. You put in the effort and you'll reap the rewards as well when you get pupils thanking you for believing in them.

If you can't handle a bunch of kids trying it on and giving you a bit of verbal then I do think you need to toughen up a bit mentally ...

If a pupil asks 'why do we have to learn this crap?' then answer in the right way and put a bit of back information on it and try and add your own story on it so that its not just 'because you have to do so'.

You go into a corporate scene and you'll have adults stabbing you in the back trying to climb the career ladder and make their big break. They'll do that behind your back and they'll tell your colleagues things about you or talk about you at the table at lunch to try and get their cliques going. Thats just life. Be prepared for people to say bad things about you.

I see nothing wrong with asking them 'what would you prefer?

IThere will be children in that class who learn at home about the subject you teach and know more than you.

I'll most likely be able to take them into the computer room, get them involved in things and alleviate the boredom somewhat from a normal classroom setting.

I will happily cater to different learning styles ...

YouTube videos to show things

I remember one teacher I had for history and she said to us at the beginning of the year 'if you do all your work in the week then Friday afternoon we'll watch a film in that lesson'.

You put in the effort and you'll reap the rewards as well

Really good post. What are you going to apply for?

Other people are not expected to put up with abuse in their workplace so why should teachers? Anyway, we are talking about issues that are rather more serious than "a bit of verbal".



They are not seeking an answer - it is just a deliberate attempt to derail the lesson and needs to be quashed. A suitable response might be "I'll glad you asked that. Stay behind at lunch and we can have a really long discussion about it."



I don't recognise this at all.



No need. They would prefer to discuss celebrities and play with their phones.



I've yet to met one.



They go to computer rooms all the time so it is a "normal classroom setting" for them.



There's no such thing.



Banned by most school networks.



Banned by most school leaderships.



The likelihood of a successful lesson is not proportional to the effort made by the teacher.

He said 'Computer Science' in that post.

Thanks for sharing your experience, it's good to have some positive experiences in the thread. I am concerned I might not be 'cut out' for it, as teaching isn't my first choice in career, although I do enjoy it, I don't know if I have enough passion. I feel like it's either, I teach, or I am unemployed or working low pay jobs that I hate for the rest of my life. Teaching is stable, and the pay isn't terrible. That's the sad reality for me.

Why did you initially go into teaching, may I ask? & what was your job/degree background?

Other people are not expected to put up with abuse in their workplace so why should teachers? Anyway, we are talking about issues that are rather more serious than "a bit of verbal".

No need. They would prefer to discuss celebrities and play with their phones.

There's no such thing.

I'm not doing a PGCE but I have a friend on Facebook who is. Reading the statuses she posts that her PGCE friends reply to have honestly been enough to put me off of the idea of teaching for the rest of my life (not that I had any thought to go into teaching). While they all admit that some days makes it all seem completely worth it and they keep encouraging each other with "it'll be over soon", I've slowly witnessed the happiness completely drain from them all and it's devastating. She was quite nervous yet excited about it at first but then she posted something the other day along the lines of how she can't bring herself to get out of bed and she's been crying all day. Not a one off occurance for either, I don't think. I'm sure if you really care about it then once it's all over it will be worth it but this genuinely seems like the hardest year(s?) of their lives. I don't know what being a fully qualified and practicing teacher is like, especially in comparison to the work of the PGCE students. I've heard it gets harder but at the same time easier. If the course doesn't accurately represent what it's like to be a teacher then why is the course the way it is? Does it need to be so demanding? Surely it's not as terrible when you're an actual teacher?

It would not hurt you to be a a little bit more optimistic/enthusiastic.

Have you ever worked in another customer facing role?

People face abuse every day in various jobs, the difference with teaching is that you don't have to put up with it, you deal with it in the way you and the school choose.

This is a bit presumptuous.

Other people are not expected to put up with abuse in their workplace so why should teachers? Anyway, we are talking about issues that are rather more serious than "a bit of verbal".

They are not seeking an answer - it is just a deliberate attempt to derail the lesson and needs to be quashed. A suitable response might be "I'll glad you asked that. Stay behind at lunch and we can have a really long discussion about it."

I don't recognise this at all.

No need. They would prefer to discuss celebrities and play with their phones.

I've yet to met one.

They go to computer rooms all the time so it is a "normal classroom setting" for them.

There's no such thing.

Banned by most school networks.

Banned by most school leaderships.

The likelihood of a successful lesson is not proportional to the effort made by the teacher.

There might not be learning styles for individuals in the model that people talk about (kinaesthetic, visual etc) but surely you can see the value of using different methods to teach things? For a start it takes away boredom. Secondly it engages pupils more if you find something they enjoy doing. Thirdly presenting things in different ways gives then more opportunities to understand... Have you never not understood something until you've seen a diagram? Or figured out what someone meant when you read it written down a few times?