Does anyone regret doing a PGCE/Becoming a teacher?

Umm...i teach social sciences A level

Kids achieving
Helping them to see the world how it is and not how they are told it is
Witnessing when a kid understands something for themselves
Enabling them to get into uni/work
Banter with the kids
Banter in the staffroom, joking about we are just about hanging on in there
End of term drink ups

Lows
Increasingly manegerial management
Surveillance
Competition in FE sector
Working out of hours -don't do much if this anymore
Working way out of subject - or not have a job
Being part of a casualise workforce - common in fe these days
Not being paid over the holidays when hourly paid
Blagging through something you know nothing about but are being forced to teach

Re social sciences: can you teach sociology if your degree is in psychology and vice versa?

The reason I ask is before I take that big step into teacher training I am weighing up whether to do a psychology masters in the hope of having a subject that I believe will open doors for me in fe (my current potential fe subject at the moment is beauty therapy because fe doesn't do food tech and I don't think I could do music or drama).

Are many fe contracts casual hours? Is it more competitive than secondary school? Oh and are part time jobs more likely in fe? (I think I would actually prefer this!)

I am certain I'd be happier teaching in fe than school but I've been advised to train in a secondary pgce to keep my options open.

What is your degree in?

The overlap between soc and psychology is overdone in my opinion.

i'm a sociologist who has taught psych, politics and economics - the overlap is much greater in the last two.

its better to teah out of subject with another teacher who is a specialist in that subject....or else you will get really stressed as you cannot know that new subject.

i don't understand the beauty and food tech comment - you have gcses in them?

to be honest fe is finished. tories cutting fe budget 25% this year. A levels will go...need a new job :-/

BA Drama, MA Music, completing and MSc in food, NVQ 3s in nails and beauty, considering an MSc in Psychology to give me something that is more theory based than practical to teach (both because I enjoy the subject and because of the ergonomics of teaching practical vs theory).

My sensible head is telling me to do psychology for there being more teaching jobs out there in it (from my googling anyway!) but I am damn interested in sociology so want to check that I'm not ruling that out.

I'm also infuriated at how the tories cast fe aside

training courses like beauty/hairdressing and food tech are quite big in FE.

I'd get a secondary PGCE, gives you more options

Thanks I could teach cooking as a life skills type course I suppose but I'm not a trained chef so couldn't train others in that.

A lot of the people who taught me beauty are back working on makeup counters

I was so determined to do ptlls/dtlls a few years ago but yeah pgce secondary sounds safer.

I'm thinking that if a lot of people aren't happy in a secondary school re behaviour etc then fe is seen as an upgrade. I'm sure it's not perfect but I've always thought of it like that.

Teaching is a wonderful career; every day is different.

It's tiring and you get the normal 'you only work 9 to 3' crowd but, yes, I can highly recommend it.

Good time management means you can minimise work you take home but you will still work long hours. Preparing lessons, marking, reports, meetings and all the admin are vital if you are going to be a good teacher. It does become easier after a few years but a good school will support you at the start of your career.

I love seeing students develop as people as well as mathematicians ... good teachers change lives for the better.

Thank you so much for this encouraging and honest account. I'm set to start the PGCE this September, and though I'm hugely excited - teaching has always been my passion - as it creeps forward I'm becoming increasingly anxious, primarily because of the doom-filled warning teachers and trainee teachers keep giving me (not to mention the horror stories in the media). As somebody with so much passion for it, it's even giving me doubts.

One such example from last week, I met a friend of my friend's at a house party and the conversation went something like this:

"It's really hard, I wouldn't recommend it"
"Thanks but I'm determined to work hard. I'm really excited!"
"No, I mean it's really hard. It's rubbish"
"Right.. but..."
"No. Really, really hard"
"I'm looking forward to the cha-"
"Really hard"
"Okay, I think I got your point"

It's confusing because I've never really known a career path where so many are so determined to scare off the new guys. That's not a jab at teachers, and I'm sure the workload is challenging, tiresome, and the system will get you down. But really... what worthwhile career path doesn't have those negatives? Right now I feel gullible, despite my research and experience in schools, I feel like a whole score of teachers are laughing at me like "Poor fool! She doesn't even know".

So thank you once again, you've made me feel slightly better

As long as your teaching

if your put in a

make sure your emotionally ready

and quit there job

in them kind of environments

I really hope you're not an English teacher.

seriously your coming off as a jerk.

Was that one on purpose?

Were you seriously expecting to make that many errors on a forum full of teachers and not have someone to pick up on it?

Don't tell me you're a teacher, no wonder the educational system is going down hill, people with your attitude and patronising comments don't deserve to be teachers, teachers are supposed to be kind, compassionate and motivating , which doesn't seem to be coming across and therefore people like you shouldn't be working with children and shaping peoples lives, sorry if I'm wrong but it doesn't seem like you got into teaching for the right reasons, which is why I want to go into teaching so people know they got someone who actually cares about their education & lives and not some stuck up person who just there to get there pay check and can't even teach , I think you need to look in the mirror and grow up, I'm not going to comment anymore on your stupidity and immature behaviour

Don't tell me you're a teacher, no wonder the educational system is going down hill, people with your attitude and patronising comments don't deserve to be teachers, teachers are supposed to be kind, compassionate and motivating , which doesn't seem to be coming across and therefore people like you shouldn't be working with children and shaping peoples lives, sorry if I'm wrong but it doesn't seem like you got into teaching for the right reasons, which is why I want to go into teaching so people know they got someone who actually cares about their education & lives and not some stuck up person who just there to get there pay check and can't even teach , I think you need to look in the mirror and grow up, I'm not going to comment anymore on your stupidity and immature behaviour

You also have no idea why the original replier to your comment went into teaching and to say that they can't even teach is redundant when you have never seen them teach...

If you're aiming to be a teacher than grammar really does need to be a focus - obviously there's time but it's a good habit to spell check your stuff, even on an internet forum.

However, if you have such a reaction to being called out on your grammar on a forum full of teachers, then, I feel like you could get a brutal shock when you enter the world of teaching.

You also have no idea why the original replier to your comment went into teaching and to say that they can't even teach is redundant when you have never seen them teach...

I can only judge that individual on the bases on how she/he been responding on this forum