Half of young teachers considering quitting the profession
Scroll to see replies
Original post by throwmeaway123
Managed 6 months of PGCE training, and came in as a career changer rather that fresh out of uni. Having had a multitude of other jobs I can tell you that teaching was the worse. My previous job was long hours with a lot of responsibility and took over a lot of my life but I've never seen anything like teaching. I'm glad I tried it but also glad I left. You'd have to pay me 60k+ to do that kind of work again and i know I'm not going to get that in teaching.
I'm temping at the mo, doing an admin type role, earning more than I would as an NQT and can actually enjoy living as I leave work at 5 and don't think about it until 8.30 the next morning.
If you are thinking of it, there's no harm in trying as you can drop out at anytime. Don't push yourself to finish it though as I did and end up basically suicidal.
I'm temping at the mo, doing an admin type role, earning more than I would as an NQT and can actually enjoy living as I leave work at 5 and don't think about it until 8.30 the next morning.
If you are thinking of it, there's no harm in trying as you can drop out at anytime. Don't push yourself to finish it though as I did and end up basically suicidal.
I get all that. I too am a career changer but the wonderful thing about teaching for me is that I haven't been bored since last September. Work is hard but still achievable. It is about being hyper organised and prioritising what you need to do. But I understand that it isn't everyone's bag and it has been interesting to see my course peers attitude towards it change.
Its horses for courses. Something will give very soon. The funding cuts to education and the workload are somewhat of a perfect storm. There have been mutterings of a change in terms. I don't think it will be too long before the straw breaks the camels back.
Yep, yep it's true.
Teachers are dropping out more than the youngers are. They can't handle it. And most teachers pick up jobs in bad schools and detention units 1st because it's just a traditional bureaucratic rite of passage basically to test out their skills, and because it's easy to get the job there. If they "pass the test" which mostly includes faffing about all year, then they abandon the kids and move to a better school or job, ignoring how this damages the self esteem of the kids they left behind. For another new young teacher to pick up the pieces and to experiment in and probably not make it.
Teachers are dropping out more than the youngers are. They can't handle it. And most teachers pick up jobs in bad schools and detention units 1st because it's just a traditional bureaucratic rite of passage basically to test out their skills, and because it's easy to get the job there. If they "pass the test" which mostly includes faffing about all year, then they abandon the kids and move to a better school or job, ignoring how this damages the self esteem of the kids they left behind. For another new young teacher to pick up the pieces and to experiment in and probably not make it.
I'd recommend doing TeachFirst, to any new graduate. Yes, you have to be the 'right' graduate. You will be in the deep-end, but the job prospects after doing it are brilliant, should you no longer want to be a teacher. Definitely do not spend 9k and have no wage for a subject with a 
bursary...
It's a shame really. You would think that eventually things would have to change, but due to the constant supply of idealistic graduates wanting to teach, I don't think it will. I wouldn't recommend anyone to teach atm.
bursary... It's a shame really. You would think that eventually things would have to change, but due to the constant supply of idealistic graduates wanting to teach, I don't think it will. I wouldn't recommend anyone to teach atm.
Nah things wont change until everything goes through the wringer. I have seen this from all sides. My husband was an NQT last year, and is now no longer teaching. It just wasn't worth it. My young boys are in infant school, and while they are doing great, I worry about further down the line, when they're in senior school being taught by stressed, overworked, mentally and physically at breaking point teachers who care, but cannot do anything to help.
I would love to go and do primary PGCE if I'm honest. It's the 'obvious' route for me.....but it's a closed door as I will not do it to me or to my family. I'm currently doing a masters and I'm unsure about what to do next. I will HAVE to work as I'm currently in the Universal Credit system (a whole other story) but finding a job that will work for our family, offer me satisfaction as well as a good wage, is pretty much an impossibility. In days gone by, teaching would have been my pathway but I'm not that stupid to be honest!!
I would love to go and do primary PGCE if I'm honest. It's the 'obvious' route for me.....but it's a closed door as I will not do it to me or to my family. I'm currently doing a masters and I'm unsure about what to do next. I will HAVE to work as I'm currently in the Universal Credit system (a whole other story) but finding a job that will work for our family, offer me satisfaction as well as a good wage, is pretty much an impossibility. In days gone by, teaching would have been my pathway but I'm not that stupid to be honest!!
Original post by Trinculo
I would be pretty sure the rates and numbers of teachers leaving the profession aren't incredibly different from 10, 20 or 30 years ago.
The government are still touting rates from 10 years ago as the drop out rates are now so shocking. Something like half of all students don't make it to the end of NQT (more in some subjects/age ranges) and the universities are failing to fill the courses to train them in the first place for the 3rd year in a row last year. It's shocking, and the bursaries etc to bribe people into the profession aren't helping. All they're doing is enticing people onto the courses then they take an effective pay cut until the MPS catches up to their training bursaries and loans.
Original post by aimlou83
The government are still touting rates from 10 years ago as the drop out rates are now so shocking. Something like half of all students don't make it to the end of NQT (more in some subjects/age ranges) and the universities are failing to fill the courses to train them in the first place for the 3rd year in a row last year. It's shocking, and the bursaries etc to bribe people into the profession aren't helping. All they're doing is enticing people onto the courses then they take an effective pay cut until the MPS catches up to their training bursaries and loans.
Could this be because the quality of prospective teachers is falling proportionately?
I'm pretty sympathetic towards overworked doctors because they pull some ungodly hours and given the risks associated with a medical mistake, it's hard to justify, but I don't buy this one little bit frankly. The day officially ends at 3:30 sure there is some additional marking and administrative work but compared with a job in the private sector where you're pulling 40 hours as standard and may be asked to take on overtime without all the holidays teachers get, it sounds cushy.
The only downside associated with teaching is the low earning ceiling, the usual complaints of a tough lifestyle have no validity.
The only downside associated with teaching is the low earning ceiling, the usual complaints of a tough lifestyle have no validity.
Original post by Trinculo
Could this be because the quality of prospective teachers is falling proportionately?
Having seen my own husband who was told that he is an 'excellent' teacher all through his training, pull out, it's the system that's at fault, not him and others like him. He wanted to be a teacher, and still does. He is fully qualified to do so, and was begged to stay by his pupils when he left, but the conditions are appalling for everyone involved.
Original post by l'etranger
I'm pretty sympathetic towards overworked doctors because they pull some ungodly hours and given the risks associated with a medical mistake, it's hard to justify, but I don't buy this one little bit frankly. The day officially ends at 3:30 sure there is some additional marking and administrative work but compared with a job in the private sector where you're pulling 40 hours as standard and may be asked to take on overtime without all the holidays teachers get, it sounds cushy.
The only downside associated with teaching is the low earning ceiling, the usual complaints of a tough lifestyle have no validity.
The only downside associated with teaching is the low earning ceiling, the usual complaints of a tough lifestyle have no validity.
If people stuck to the 3.30/4pm end to the day, then the whole system would literally grind to a halt. In my opinion teachers should 'work to rule' in order to fully highlight what they actually do. It's what people in other professions do if the management start to take liberties. The issue is that it's the future generations that are in their hands, and ultimately it's people of a caring disposition who are drawn to teaching. These people are normally quite soft, easily manipulated to do more than their fair share, and easily cowed to believe that this is 'just the way it is'. In actuality, if everyone upped and left at the bell, the school would fail in every way possible, in the eyes of the government, parents and ultimately the children for whom it is responsible.
I do not profess to know the answer. More pay to cover extra hours. Bringing back admin staff in school departments, doing an extra year at trainee level to allow people to build experience and lesson plans......but all of these things rely on one thing. Money!! Which as we know, there isn't any.
Original post by aimlou83
Having seen my own husband who was told that he is an 'excellent' teacher all through his training, pull out, it's the system that's at fault, not him and others like him. He wanted to be a teacher, and still does. He is fully qualified to do so, and was begged to stay by his pupils when he left, but the conditions are appalling for everyone involved.
Just because your own husband was rated as excellent, doesn't mean that prospective teachers are generally.
I can tell you that teaching definitely is not an 8 to 3:30 job. Heck it's not even an 8 to 5 lol I guess it does depend if youre in secondary or primary- personally I think Primary workload is a lot more just because there aren't any textbooks to base your lessons off, you can't reuse your planning from previous years if you change year groups, on top of the fact that nearly all primary schools work on a topic based curriculum now. That means if the topic is romans then across all subjects apart from maths, you do work related to the topic. Every year the topic changes so you have to plan again which can be a pain in the a*** if the topic goes from Brazil to volcanoes cus its just completely different.
When I worked in a 2+ form school (theres more that one class in any year) we shared the planning out so my hours were usually 7- 6 weekdays and then an additional 4hours on a saturday. When I was in a one form entry school I was working 7- 9 weekdays and then another 6/7 hours on a saturday cus I didnt have a TA so had to make all the resources myself. Thats close to 80 hours a week- By the end of that year I completely burnt out so have actually moved out of teaching completely.
My friends who are still teaching love spending time making things for the kids and planning stuff out, making it all exciting for their new learning etc but ive realised the best teachers dont really see what they do as 'work'. I had issues with my work life balance but because they dont see it as work and they really enjoy doing everything it doesnt bother them too much. If you do get bothered by the ridiculous working hours then you just become miserable which then leads on to you being a mediocre teacher and thats completely unfair on the kids.
My friends who are secondary teachers usually work 7- 6 weekdays and barely do anything at the weekend unless they've given out an exam/test- then theres a s*** load of marking for the whole weekend lol
All in all, if you really have a passion for teaching and you are100% sure this is what you want to do then I say go for it!
But just beaware it does take a lot of time and effort and there is a lot of pressure from the government, schools and ofsted to do really well. I think as long as you know what youre heading into, you wont get any nasty shocks about the profession. You'd be surprised at how many people dont do their research and think teaching is an easy job with lots of holidays!
When I worked in a 2+ form school (theres more that one class in any year) we shared the planning out so my hours were usually 7- 6 weekdays and then an additional 4hours on a saturday. When I was in a one form entry school I was working 7- 9 weekdays and then another 6/7 hours on a saturday cus I didnt have a TA so had to make all the resources myself. Thats close to 80 hours a week- By the end of that year I completely burnt out so have actually moved out of teaching completely.
My friends who are still teaching love spending time making things for the kids and planning stuff out, making it all exciting for their new learning etc but ive realised the best teachers dont really see what they do as 'work'. I had issues with my work life balance but because they dont see it as work and they really enjoy doing everything it doesnt bother them too much. If you do get bothered by the ridiculous working hours then you just become miserable which then leads on to you being a mediocre teacher and thats completely unfair on the kids.
My friends who are secondary teachers usually work 7- 6 weekdays and barely do anything at the weekend unless they've given out an exam/test- then theres a s*** load of marking for the whole weekend lol
All in all, if you really have a passion for teaching and you are100% sure this is what you want to do then I say go for it!
But just beaware it does take a lot of time and effort and there is a lot of pressure from the government, schools and ofsted to do really well. I think as long as you know what youre heading into, you wont get any nasty shocks about the profession. You'd be surprised at how many people dont do their research and think teaching is an easy job with lots of holidays!
Original post by 1secondsofvamps
4 years.
Despite going into a career where you're not that well respected and having a terrible salary, that hasn't stopped me from wanting to go into teaching. I love children (especially the younger ones), they're fun to be around and I love the feeling of knowing you've made a positive change in their lives. Cheesy but true.
Despite going into a career where you're not that well respected and having a terrible salary, that hasn't stopped me from wanting to go into teaching. I love children (especially the younger ones), they're fun to be around and I love the feeling of knowing you've made a positive change in their lives. Cheesy but true.
Good luck. Teaching is now a pile of
. If you're wanting that, you're better off probably as a teaching assistant (from the reports of teachers I have heard)Original post by Trinculo
Could this be because the quality of prospective teachers is falling proportionately?
Nope
Original post by Trinculo
Just because your own husband was rated as excellent, doesn't mean that prospective teachers are generally.
To my mind though, it's the good ones who are leaving and that's the problem. The quality of candidates isn't dropping, it's just the ones who are willing to take the stress and workload are not the 'good' ones.
Original post by aimlou83
To my mind though, it's the good ones who are leaving and that's the problem. The quality of candidates isn't dropping, it's just the ones who are willing to take the stress and workload are not the 'good' ones.
I kind of see what you're saying, even if somewhat oxymoronic.
I'm currently loving teaching at college level however I am only part time while I do my masters. I did my teacher training last year and was very lucky with my placement, and I decided to stay on for one more year. Money is better than you would think, and some days I enjoy it so much I can't beleive I get paid to do this!
I got lucky as there is no real pressure on me, I have freedom to teach what I want and how I want. Some of my colleagues who teach different levels however get observed all the time, and are continuously challenged if they dare use intuition and drift from the almighty scheme of work or don't do it exactly they way they're told!
It's an excellent job, if you're lucky enough get the right one. If there are any perspective teachers reading this, I can't offer advice to all scenarios seeing I am relatively inexperienced, but I will be 100% honest if you want to ask anything.
I got lucky as there is no real pressure on me, I have freedom to teach what I want and how I want. Some of my colleagues who teach different levels however get observed all the time, and are continuously challenged if they dare use intuition and drift from the almighty scheme of work or don't do it exactly they way they're told!
It's an excellent job, if you're lucky enough get the right one. If there are any perspective teachers reading this, I can't offer advice to all scenarios seeing I am relatively inexperienced, but I will be 100% honest if you want to ask anything.
(edited 7 years ago)
It's true that the government has made teaching into a joke of a profession. There is so much pressure to be perfect, yet there is no end to criticism.
Original post by Trinculo
Could this be because the quality of prospective teachers is falling proportionately?
Given the relatively poor pay and reputation for poor working conditions, who can blame them?
Most of my fellow STEM graduates last year wouldn't go near the profession. It was only those who struggled to get through the degree who were considering teaching. What Britain really needs to compete in the global economy is another generation of poor science teachers.
Original post by aimlou83
If people stuck to the 3.30/4pm end to the day, then the whole system would literally grind to a halt. In my opinion teachers should 'work to rule' in order to fully highlight what they actually do. It's what people in other professions do if the management start to take liberties. The issue is that it's the future generations that are in their hands, and ultimately it's people of a caring disposition who are drawn to teaching. These people are normally quite soft, easily manipulated to do more than their fair share, and easily cowed to believe that this is 'just the way it is'. In actuality, if everyone upped and left at the bell, the school would fail in every way possible, in the eyes of the government, parents and ultimately the children for whom it is responsible.
I do not profess to know the answer. More pay to cover extra hours. Bringing back admin staff in school departments, doing an extra year at trainee level to allow people to build experience and lesson plans......but all of these things rely on one thing. Money!! Which as we know, there isn't any.
I do not profess to know the answer. More pay to cover extra hours. Bringing back admin staff in school departments, doing an extra year at trainee level to allow people to build experience and lesson plans......but all of these things rely on one thing. Money!! Which as we know, there isn't any.
The highlighted part indicates the personal issue I take. People who are caring also tend to be whiny and have no balls which is why teachers have massive victim complexes. Imagine telling a surgeon or an investment banker that teaching is a tough racket.
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- Is being a secondary school teacher a good job?
- Medicine into PGCE
- Teaching
- Career change mid 30’s
- Primary teacher training.
- Should I work for a Big 4 firm?
- Is it possible?
- How to stop being told that I'm "too good for teaching"?
- Podiatry at uel or brighton- 2023 sept
- med to vet school?
- Teachers in the NEU in Wales and England set to go on strike once again
- why do teachers do this?
- Problems with the school system
- Does anyone else feel that their degrees have been a waste of time?
- GCSE
- Supercurriculars
- Why do teachers take misbehaviour so personally?
- Quitting PGCE
- What is it like to be a Primary School Teacher?
- Gcse rs short course
Latest
Trending
Last reply 20 hours ago
University of Cambridge PGCE Applicants 2024-2025Last reply 5 days ago
Teacher Training 2024 Applicants ThreadLast reply 1 week ago
Teaching jobs with visa sponsorship as a non-UK citizenLast reply 2 weeks ago
Does it matter where you do your pgce?Last reply 2 weeks ago
What does a new teachers (ECT) timetable and commitment actually look like?Last reply 3 weeks ago
Primary Education Glasgow & Strathclyde 2024 (UNDERGRADUATE)Last reply 1 month ago
Is it possible to be a part-time primary school teacher?Trending
Last reply 20 hours ago
University of Cambridge PGCE Applicants 2024-2025Last reply 5 days ago
Teacher Training 2024 Applicants ThreadLast reply 1 week ago
Teaching jobs with visa sponsorship as a non-UK citizenLast reply 2 weeks ago
Does it matter where you do your pgce?Last reply 2 weeks ago
What does a new teachers (ECT) timetable and commitment actually look like?Last reply 3 weeks ago
Primary Education Glasgow & Strathclyde 2024 (UNDERGRADUATE)Last reply 1 month ago
Is it possible to be a part-time primary school teacher?
