People's experiences are putting me off becoming a Teacher

Hi everyone,

I was planning to apply for PGCE 2020, but unfortunately most people around me that have gone through it are telling me to think about it a little more. Most have had different problems and I fear that I may go through similar experiences. Honestly, at this point I feel like I should not even apply because it sounds awful. I feel like I would start the course and it will have an impact on my mental health.

I have multiple worries atm and I haven't even applies to the course yet, it pretty stupid, but I feel like it is my anxiety

I am scared that I would quit and in the end I just wasted my time
I just wanted to know how bad it actually is
I need to hear something positive for a change

Hi everyone,

I was planning to apply for PGCE 2020, but unfortunately most people around me that have gone through it are telling me to think about it a little more. Most have had different problems and I fear that I may go through similar experiences. Honestly, at this point I feel like I should not even apply because it sounds awful. I feel like I would start the course and it will have an impact on my mental health.

I have multiple worries atm and I haven't even applies to the course yet, it pretty stupid, but I feel like it is my anxiety

I am scared that I would quit and in the end I just wasted my time
I just wanted to know how bad it actually is
I need to hear something positive for a change

Every teacher will have their own experiences of teaching, some good, some bad, some terrible.

I posted a thread in News and current affairs that refers to a recent large-scale report on teacher wellbeing in the UK, which gives an indication of the pressures many teachers are under, and no doubt this is one of the drivers of the worsening teacher retention.

Report: Record levels of stress ‘put teachers at breaking point’

Every teacher will have their own experiences of teaching, some good, some bad, some terrible.

I posted a thread in News and current affairs that refers to a recent large-scale report on teacher wellbeing in the UK, which gives an indication of the pressures many teachers are under, and no doubt this is one of the drivers of the worsening teacher retention.

Report: Record levels of stress ‘put teachers at breaking point’

VERY misleading graph

The trend is a very worrying thing given we need more teachers, never mind just trying to hold on to the ones we currently have, which we aren't.

I assume it includes Teach First, but I don't know of the effect of TF in terms of increasing teacher numbers in service in the long term. I think getting teachers in and keeping them in the profession is preferable (and more cost effective) than focussing on recruiting those that in general from the start do not intend to stay.

- Teachers are now more likely to drop out after their first year in the classroom than at any time since 1997.

I did a PGCE and am now an NQT and had absolutely no problems at all. I'm yet to have done any work at home

VERY misleading graph - scales are chosen badly.

How many did Teach First? All in all - not very helpful at all.

From what I see at the chalk face those dropping out went into teaching for the bursary or chose TF [which does not properly support trainees].

I'd love to see some proper analysis about the route into teaching vs drop out rate. A 'proper' PGCE prepares people much better than some of the modern variants.

Little secret, I had absolutely NO prior experience before I went on the secondary PGCE, but I knew I liked the idea of teaching, it’s just in my DNA to lead people. But, I would decide on the age and I would strongly recommend experience.

FWIW I agree with you about teach first- I know some people who've had shocking experiences, and also it's a route not designed to encourage retention.

However, Teach First usually only make up about 10% of trainees (source here for the past couple of years, I can find others if you want: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/759716/ITT_Census_2018_to_2019_main_text.pdf ), so probably not enough to skew the figures that badly.

Fully agree with all these points. The large bursaries for shortage subjects are a bit of a double-edged sword.

I do agree with this to a point, but equally, who would you get training to teach maths/science etc without the bursary these days? Bursaries can also help attract career changers, who are sometimes better equipt to handle the reality of teaching these days. Anecdata, but during my PGCE, a lot of those who dropped out were people who'd come straight out of uni.

Anecdotally, I think many ITT programs are saying the general quality/number of applicants has gone down, and they are having to accept people they would have rejected in previous years just to make quota.

I don't disagree with what you both are saying, but I do think there's more to it than just people going into teaching for the bursary and then realising they can't hack it. I think the 5 year retention stats are worrying- and 5 years ago, bursaries in most subjects weren't anything like as big as they are now.

Did you lie on your application then? You have to spend a couple of weeks in a school before the course starts.

Yes but if the vast majority of that 10% drop out it will skew the data.

Yes, you've got a good point. But I know too many people who took the bursary and the student loan for a house deposit, rather than having any intention to teach.

I'd prefer to see a wider rollout of early years payments - An extra £8000 tax-free over the first three years of teaching would do more for retention than a £24000 bribe with no handcuffs.

I do agree with you about the quality of ITT applicants. Some of them are proper dross, who've clearly been rejected from every grad training programme they applied to and are doing teaching as a 'last resort'. This is part of the problem.