[Closed] Do I want to be a teacher?

Do you like moaning that you dont get enough holidays?

Do you like moaning that no one works as hard as you?

Do you like moaning that your pension is rubbish?

Do you like moaning that your pay is less than adequate?

If you answer yes to the above questions, then teaching is for you.

go for it.

I'd rather do primary than secondary (if only based on my childrens attitude/behaviour at ages 9 and 14 respectively!).

not many men do primary for the reasons you give but if you aim at KS2 there's less of a question, I'd say.

You will come across narrow minded people who think that male primary teaching is odd but also many people who appreciate it as a refreshing change.

I've been a male primary teacher for 7+ years. Pros and Cons like any job I guess. Happy to chat more 'off air' to avoid the usual STW trolls. Email in profile.

[Edit] Oh, look - they've started already 😆

Do it.

Do it NOW.

Start researching for entry onto a PGCE course or suchlike for next year. Spend this year getting as much classroom exposure as you can. Primary schools are desperate to get men into them. Three quarters of primary schools have no men there at all.

With each year that passes, it gets harder to make a change like this - you're a long time dead.

thanks oxym0r0n - you'll have mail shortly 🙂

and all other comments - it is appreciated

+1 schools need more male teachers!

Go for it, but I have been hearing that competition to get onto Teacher Training courses has become incredibly fierce, and that unless you teach in certain subjects you may find difficulty finding that initial position. The problem is alot of people are now starting to have the same thoughts as yourself as redundancy or job insecurity is threatening more and more people.

@ OP: There's a "get into teaching" thing on facebook that's kinda interesting.

As Philby says:

I have been hearing that competition to get onto Teacher Training courses has become incredibly fierce

...is true.

So you have a year to sort yourself out with time in classrooms, etc etc. before applying by end of June 2012. If you're finding that you don't want to jump through the hoops required now, then it probably isn't for you.

I was a male primary school teacher for almost four terms. I [i]really[/i] didn't choose the right school to start my career (50% on SEN register and 20% ESL). I should have known really, as the previous post holder was a former policeman who only left the force after being stabbed and he only did 2 terms.

I didn't get any funny comments, though on telling people I used be a primary teacher I always worry that they're going to wonder about why I'm no longer one....

My wife did it for longer; she loved the teaching part but hated all of the admin/assessment/crap that went along with it. It's a shame, because she was bloody brilliant.

One thing that might sway your decision is that it's easier to move up the age range than down - I qualified in primary but now teach in a 6th form college - though I believe the current government are looking to change this.

Whatever you decide, get yourself into a school to see what it's really like, before making any firm decisions.

[i]I qualified in primary but now teach in a 6th form college - though I believe the current government are looking to change this.[/i]

It must be nice that they've singled you out for special attention 😉

Do some time working as a TA or LSA or something along those lines. When I decided to change my career path and teach that was the biggest thing all the PGCE courses suggested. I spent a year working as an LSA and not only did it really open my eyes as to what teaching really entails, it really confirmed my choice that I did want to teach.
I'm about to start a degree in Maths with Maths Education and really excited about it all!

I would 2nd the whole LSA/TA thing - my wife teaches in a special school and the best teachers are the ones who have gone into it understadnign what the job is from experience gained working in schools.

Male primary teachers are like hens' teeth. Go for it.

thanks for all the encouragement so far. Have spent some time in class rooms previously and have been asked to go to my sisters' School on Rememberance Day to represent the Royal British Legion which I'm looking forward to.

Problem I will have getting time in a school is that I work monday-friday with very few holidays. Any way around this? Would working with a youth project or similar be of benefit?

Cheers

Do it. You may also be able to integrate cycling with the program for the kids. British Cycling has a growing number of school bike programs, you could get behind it in your post at a primary. I think these are far harder to implement in a secondary! More info [url= http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/go-ride/article/goridest-Go-Ride-for-Schools ]HERE[/url].

What are your motives, does a post as a teacher satisfy them and are you willing to sacrifice a little sanity to fulfil them?

I believe the children are the future. Intercept them before they start reading The Sun, Daily Mail and Heat!

I believe the children are the future. Intercept them before they start reading The Sun, Daily Mail and Heat!

BRILLIANT! 😀

I know a teacher rather well. 😉 Their experience was that although there is a perception among many that teaching primary/mainstream school/girls is the easiest, they preferred to each high school/special ed programme/boys more than anything. This was because they got to work with them more intensively and frequently and the kids could sustain a conversation longer. Unfortunately I can't persuade them to give their view directly because they have a life and don't waste time on t'internet.

So probably the only real point is: don't rule out anything based on preconceptions, try to find out what's right for you.

Also: journalists, rock musicians and nurses have a reputation for hard living but I've never come across a more batshit crazy group of professionals than SEN teachers.

Do it. You may also be able to integrate cycling with the program for the kids. British Cycling has a growing number of school bike programs, you could get behind it in your post at a primary. I think these are far harder to implement in a secondary! More info HERE.

YGM. PS I am a Go-Ride coach, but haven't used it recently due to being part-time. Could be a way to spend a bit of time in evenings coaching in a local club??

coaching in a local club

replied to your YGM 🙂

I became a teacher (secondary science) at the age of 32ish. Its great I love it. But it is very hard and the workload can be stupid at times.

Mrs Ming teaches primary, the teaching is fine, however the workload, petty politics, parents and OFSTED make the job a misery. AVOID

Do you want to be a glorified social worker / bouncer? With 1% of your time actually transferring knowledge.

I work the doors and have done for 4 years so should be ok 😉

Im an SEN TA. Try that. It's awesome. All the kids think they're king of the culdesac. But they all get on great with me cos I do downhill and have a mental age of the same as most of them. Have a laugh with them and turn a blind eye to the little things and they'll do whatever you ask.
Try that to get a ballpark idea of what you're letting yourself into. Do it!

History is part of the new GCSE school performance measure Baccalaureate, so secondary is not a bad idea either. Good luck.

When i was a kid, we had a lot of male teachers, who where fair and freindly, willing and able to pass on their knowledge, of mans life and skills, one or two of the women where on an obvious power trip, hated the lads and found every resason to belittle or mark us down.

As a male mature man i would say go for it, ignore the idiots who say you may be a child abuser etc, very unlikely as most child abuse is in families .

Boys in school need a male figure,someone to respect and learn from,and hopefully someone to strive to be like,something they dont get to often in single parent families,which are a norm in a lot of areas.

Secondary Chemistry teacher in the Highlands here.

I'd recommend getting yourself into a few schools to observe for a few days to see what it's like before you decide, epsecially if you're torn between Primary and Secondary.

FWIW I really enjoy my job - it's knackering but there's plenty of recovery time! Primary seems a lot more demanding of your time, but you do get to build great relationships with the nippers. The pupil-teacher banter is better in Secondary.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

Half the teachers at my youngest's primary are male. This is a good thing. I like him having male role models.

But reading the OP makes me wonder how much of this urge links to your recent life events. I wonder if all the chance to rebuild your relationship with your son is a big motivator?

Good luck to you mate. But worth sitting in on a week or two of classes before you take the plunge?

My wife is a primary school teacher in Salford. The impression I get is that it's really hard work, long hours but occasionally immensely rewarding. As others have said, I think the teaching part is good but the politics and other nonsense sounds horrendous. I wouldn't do it for all the tea in china - though I can see how it can be very rewarding. I think you really have to want to do it if you want to make a go of it. Sounds like there is some demand for male primary teachers so perhaps it wont be quite as difficult to get on a course? Good luck if you do go for it!

only read the first 3 or 4 posts
my step daughter's best teacher at primary was the only bloke in the school. tbh i was looking forward to meeting him at pta night. his enthusiasm for the job was obvious and his commitment to the kids was obvious. he was interested that she knew more about the class computer than he did (this is around 15 years ago and i encouraged her to put up with windoze 3.x o learn about computers because back then computer were like the future, y'know) - the women were threatened, he wasn't. i can still see the way he influenced her.
i think my point is, if you think you can be a positive influence and have the strength to go on your own way in what seems to me to be a massively bureaucratic system, go for it. i don't think i could do it

Duuno if this helps - my entire family (except me) are/were teachers. Primary ones love it - wouldnt change for the world (holidays, pay, pensions,....). Secondary is a really really different world.

Secondary teachers cant wait to retire / go sick ime.

Problem I will have getting time in a school is that I work monday-friday with very few holidays. Any way around this? Would working with a youth project or similar be of benefit?

Honestly? No. You really need proper classroom experience. The best thing to do is use up some of your holiday allowance and contact some schools in your local area and see if you can sit in on some of the lessons in the area you want to teach. A minimum of two weeks is what most PGCE providers will ask.

If you are [i]really[/i] serious about it, then get a job working as an LSA for a year. It is brilliant fun, incredibly rewarding and will foster many good habits for when you do go into teaching. You will be on a very low wage so I would think very seriously about it.

Having said that, I did it, and loved every minute.

I am freelance peripatetic teacher in schools-both high school and primary-I mainly teach guitar. In the past 3 years I also taught as a part time classroom teacher in a very high achieving high school (teaching music). It really wasn't for me tbh! Even in a school with very good discipline, you will find that 50% of your time is spent dealing with backchat/'classroom management'. When it was good, it was the best job in the world, but even part time I found that it very easily took over my life in a very negative way. As a previous post has mentioned though, get as much work experience as you can-PGCE's are pretty hard to get onto atm, and it will give you a flavour of the job, although the pressure (which is very high!) will only become apparent once you are actually employed. I'm back just teaching guitar/other small communtiy projects now and love every minute of my job 🙂

Work in an independent school=less admin and more sport.
(and longer holidays)

I'm going to read this when sober, I'm thinking of aiming my charms at small children for money.

The pupil-teacher banter is better in Secondary.

The banter is the best part of my job. With the students and the staff. Though that might be a North East thing; we do good banter*.

*I say banter, it's more like absolutely merciless abuse and piss-taking.

I second the piss takin. It's not like when I were a lad!

Teaching is a brilliant way to make a living, but be SURE it's what you want to do.

Yeah, there are hard bits of the job, but before I did my degree and got into teaching I worked for a bank for a while and therefore know that teachers who moan about rigourous paperwork and record-keeping are generally talking out of their arse (and I have a role in school that requires more of that stuff than does a regular classroom teaching job).

Might sound harsh, but even as a teacher myself I totally reckon that those who do it and still moan about it constantly shouldn't really be in the profession (this goes for other similar careers like nursing, police, etc.). Some of the things my colleagues regularly post on Facebook about their job, our school and the kids they teach make me cringe.

Also makes me quite sad to see the usual 'holidays, pension, salary, etc.' guff trotted out by the trolls. Society moans about the profession being devalued and then regurgitates the very crap that devalues it.

For the record, I really like my job which truly is different every day (although it can be hard work at times but that's paid off by the rewarding apsects of the job), get paid a decent salary (plenty to keep me supplied with shiny bike bits), have nice long holidays to go and ride bikes in, and have the opportunity every day to try and make a positive difference to the world.

slainte 😀 rob

I trained secondary PE, but my first job was KS2 Y6 teacher; I was teaching maths, English, science, history, geography, art, oh and a bit of PE too! I absolutely loved it. I would say go for it, but be selective in the first job you take. Don't get desperate and accept something you don't really want.
I can't imagine doing anything else (although I now teach secondary OP).

Its a great job as long as its right for you (i guess like most) But if its not for you then it can be a very very hard job.

Most people who bleat on about the easy life teachers have are just jealous of the hols, as which any job you get the highs and lows.
The best bit of the job is working with the kids in the classroom; there is a lot of mince that gets tagged along.

Unfortunately there is an abnormally high divorce rate in teaching, and alcohol use is high and high early mortality rate in teaching. Anyone who tells you its not a stressful job really knows SFA.

Get into classroom and see how you get on a bit of work experience you might love it more than you think, or realise it’s just not for you. Try and find out before you fully commit to any course.

no male teachers in my kids primary.. wiggy birkett did me proud can you fill his hair piece?

apart from the obvious flamings by the usual suspects, this is a brilliant example of how excellent STW can be to help people out!

Thanks to all for your advice etc. I'm thinking that, come Jan I'll take a morning a week off into a school and do a couple of full weeks (holiday year stars in Jan and only have 2.5 days left).

take the point on board about it being a possible knee-jerk to recent events, but hope time in a school will prove that wrong.

The more i think about it and the more encouragement I get, the more its enthusing me!

Thanks again to all

I love being a teacher, I was a plasterer before which had nothing near the stress levels...however,the good times (99%) are so far ahead of the few embuggerances,that the odd inspection, bout of depute powerplay, 30 higher essays in my bag as we speak, are just part of it.

Project..you DO realise teachers are mostly civil servants,don't you? 😀

Ming t m put all the negatives into one short sentence very well, but as a Primary Head they are half the challenge. Good schools are a very positive place to work despite the pressures. The hardest part is seeing some of the very sad lives our young people have to live with. As funding changes I am concerned that some school staff will spend more and more time dealing with these issues than 'teaching'... But the best schools will deploy staff in a response to this. Specialist roles are now not just found in secondary schools, maybe a Primary could look to reinvigorate their curriculum with a History ( or other area) specialist teacher.

You could also look at other routes in to the profession: as mentioned work as a TA for a year. I have just employed a TA who retrained as a GTP. She is fantastic.

Get into a school, then a different one and then another. See if you like it then DO IT!

Yes and no, this was the answer I would get when I asked teachers about the profession where I worked.
I've just started a PGCE after working in a DT department for 3 years, I really enjoyed working with the children and in the classroom, it can be great fun if you are in an area that you are passionate about and the ideas that would come out of the children were inspiring. As for the holidays, boy do you need them, anyone that moans about how long and often teachers holidays are has probably never worked with children in that way, it's full on under pressure all day, you need to be on your toes and on top of things, perform everyday and get the best exam results you can at the end of the year.
As mentioned get into schools to get experience but not just in the classroom find out about lesson plans, schemes of work, H&S issues, school policy's etc., coming from a practical subject the amount of paperwork, information, assignments, reading lists and lectures that have been thrown at me in my first week is very daunting and the terminology used will have you reading everything 2 or 3 times trying to work out what the hell they are on about! I have a headache just thinking about it now. I'm 44 and it's hard to adjust to studying and the resulting change in lifestyle, it's 10 years since I was in that environment, so the sooner you do it the better!