What are the pros and cons of being a secondary school teacher?

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pro - some intelligent conversation, possibly friends with some (compared to primary school kids), good holidays, good-ish pay, teach what you want and like and are good at
con - can be nasty, loud, difficult, angry, may be stronger than you are so could hurt you if they are violent

Reply 21

DJ AgnieszkaA

cons -
**** pay
cant do anything about kids causing trouble in your lessons

pros -
holidays
would be quite easy job, and fun if you liked the subject you were teaching, which you obviously would

Reply 22

allaboutdrama

Pro: When your teaching makes a student enjoy the lesson.

Reply 23

infernalcradle

this is a summary of things I have heard from various teachers...

Pro: decent holidays, (if you are at a decent private/grammer school) amazing school, get to teach a new generation,

Con: **** pay (unless deputy head+)very time consuming, sometimes students are douchebags,

Reply 24

SiaSiaSia

Pro:
- Good hours
- Quite rewarding (especially if you're good!)
- Brilliant holidays
- School trips
- Teaching something you like

Con:
- Some students
- Some schools
- A lot of marking to do
- Little pay for the amount of work put in
- PGCE/NQT you're basically a dogsbody

Reply 25

Muffinz

The holidays aren't that good - you have the same holidays as all the damn kids. The prices of plane tickets etc will all be elevated during that season. Anyway, you might find that you have to do lesson preparation or teacher training during the holidays...

Reply 26

Mr M

Study Forum Helper

Why on Earth do you lot think school trips might be a benefit? Have any of you ever arranged or supervised a school trip? The teaching unions all agree teachers should avoid them like the plague.

Reply 27

annab1684

The teachers at my school love some school trips, FACT. Especially when they're on them. Who wouldn't want to go abroad for a week?
Risk assessments are a running joke at my school: 'I have to tell you that you're not allowed in the sea, but during free time, I won't be anywhere near the beach,' 'Ok, Sir, sounds good to us'
:p:

so obvious.

annab1684

Of course.

And they will also enjoy a long stretch inside due to gross negligence. It's just an extended holiday* after all init.

* Usually unpaid.
* Usually in their free time.

Reply 30

annab1684

Mr M

Of course.

And they will also enjoy a long stretch inside due to gross negligence. It's just an extended holiday* after all init.

* Usually unpaid.
* Usually in their free time.

Whoever you are, I don't really think you have the authority to speak for the feelings of all teachers on all school trips.

Reply 31

usainlightning

Pros
Contrary to popular belief the pay is actually pretty good ~£35,000 for an ordinary teacher, £55,000 for HOD and £150,000+ for heads in deprived areas.
Great Holidays
Superb job security
Great final salary pension
Good working hours

Cons
Lower set students can be nasty little *****

I think the workload (and type) depends a lot on subject, e.g. art is a lot of visual assessment where as something like english includes a lot of time consuming essay marking. My aunt was an english teacher (A level) and she said the workload was insane!

Reply 34

Angelil

re: school trips - my colleagues do seem to like them on some level, but EVERYONE says they are bloody exhausting. This is not to mention that it is usually better than the alternative (having to come into work anyway, which is pointless [given that the few students who are not going on the school trip usually don't bother coming to school] and annoying [for those of us who live more than an hour away from our workplace]).

Reply 35

raspberryswirl

Pros:

Every day is different
Kids can be hilarious
Job security (once you manage to get one)

Cons:

You would have to take your holidays during school holiday time; with inflated prices and loads of kids everywhere
Some kids will be absolutely vile to teach

Reply 36

suicidaloverbusiness

Mr M

Of course.

And they will also enjoy a long stretch inside due to gross negligence. It's just an extended holiday* after all init.

* Usually unpaid.
* Usually in their free time.

Your a maths teacher aren't you and I can't help but notice that you just used the word 'init'. How old are you? I have never heard an adult ever use slang.

Reply 37

Mr M

Study Forum Helper

annab1684

Whoever you are, I don't really think you have the authority to speak for the feelings of all teachers on all school trips.

Would you agree that Chris Keates does have that authority (she represents 274,911 NASUWT members)?

"The NASUWT attacked the growing compensation culture, saying teachers were increasingly being blamed - and threatened with legal action - over accidents.

Chris Keates, the union's general secretary, said society had become 'increasingly litigious' and no longer understood the idea of a genuine accident.

She added: 'It also fails to understand that perfect judgment, total attentiveness and faultless foresight are beyond human capacity. In the best ordered activities things will occasionally go wrong.' Mrs Keates said an assessment of the 'educational validity' of an outing should be made before it goes ahead. If it was not deemed to be of educational value, it should be shelved."

The teacher who allowed you to go near water unsupervised is a fool.

Paul Ellis was convicted of manslaughter after 10 year old Max Palmer drowned in a river in the Lake District.

Mark Duckworth was convicted of manslaughter after 13 year old Gemma Carter drowned on a beach in France.

Reply 38

Mr M

Study Forum Helper

suicidaloverbusiness

Your a maths teacher aren't you and I can't help but notice that you just used the word 'init'. How old are you? I have never heard an adult ever use slang.