A summer spent getting a tan? (Secondary School Teacher)

Member Name: freediveheaven

Product:	Secondary School Teacher
Date:	23/10/08 (317 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Variety and a fresh challenge each day

Disadvantages: Pay does not match my old pay

When I tell people that I'm a teacher they immediately start commenting on the long holidays and how it is a part time job, all they want to talk about is the six week holidays and I do love to show up their complete ignorance of the profession and all it has to offer. Now I know the comments section will probably be filled with the usual Muppets harping on about long holidays, encouraging plagiarism amongst students and those that teach cannot do sort of one liners well lets deal with those first. Also if Frankie Boyle is on Dooyoo he will probably make some comment about PE teachers all being sex offenders which is the line we most quote in the staff room to the PE department. It is not plagiarism it is ethical recycling, to really be able to teach something you must have experience of it and finally my summer holidays are not six weeks long in fact they are eight weeks so just reflect on that as you plan your two week cattle class holiday to Benidorm with all the other wage slaves while I will be trekking in the Andes for four weeks.

Teaching was not my first career; I switched to teaching three years ago after sixteen years of working in banking. I now teach Economics and Business Studies in an independent day school to sixth formers so it should be noted that my current working environment is somewhat different to a large number of teachers who work in the state sector although the skills I use and the day to day issues are no different to most of my colleagues who I trained with and who are now employed across a range of schools. During my training I worked in two state schools, one would be described as "challenging" which translates as meaning kids who have behaviour problems and you can expect to have to deal with violent behaviour and one that was well run and reasonably successful academically.

My switch to teaching was partly forced in the sense that without a very generous redundancy package I probably would never have done it as I would not have been prepared to fund the costs and take the hit in my wage packet as effectively I took a 50% pay cut to move into teaching. Even now three years in to the change the redundancy pay out is still being used to subsidise the reduction in earnings.

The training to be a secondary school teacher takes a year and there are three options that you can follow and all will lead to you getting a Post Graduate Certificate of Education. You can be employed directly at a Graduate Teacher by a school, they will pay you a wage and train you throughout the year, and you would also expect to complete your Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) year there as well. Alternatively you can complete a school based programme (SKITT) where a group of schools combine together to offer a programme and you will spend the entire time at these schools with the odd day or week release to attend University lectures. Finally you can complete a PGCE through a University which was the option I pursued, spending some time in lectures and then two teaching blocks where you worked in a school. The last two options will both see you classified as a student rather than employee so you will have to stump up the course fees, mine were £3,000.You do receive a bursary which is non refundable to help with the costs and you have access to the student loans system. Certain subjects attract higher bursaries and certainly when I trained shortage subjects like Maths and the Sciences had a golden handshake payment when you completed your first year in a state school.

The entry requirements for most courses are that you must have a relevant degree in the subject your want to teach or considerable working experience may help. You will need GCSE Maths, English and a Science and naturally all the police checks will be taken. When you have completed your PGCE course you must then complete a full year as a NQT in a school and they must sign you off as being competent. Then you formally enter the profession as a qualified teacher. Strangely this would then enable you to teach any subject not just the one you trained in and some of my colleagues who I trained with are now teaching ICT and maths as part of their timetable. For more info read my review on teacher training.

So why would I recommend a career as a teacher, well first off I really enjoy my work for 90% of the time which is not something I have been able to say about other jobs I have done. I find my job very challenging as you never know what to expect from one lesson to the next. The class of little angels you taught on Monday may by Wednesday period six have turned into sugar fuelled Tasmanian devils intent on mayhem and the possession of your soul. In this job you can rarely sit back and think you have it cracked as something will come up and bite you on the tush. I like the day to day variety; even if I'm teaching the same lesson to two groups of year 12 students I know each lesson will probably be different.

Working with young people, especially teenagers who are planning their future careers at university is particularly rewarding, it certainly helps keep me young as you get to stay in touch with the things that are an influence on their lives. It surprises me how keen some students are to share the music that they enjoy and my last two album purchases came from students insisting I listen to something on youtube. I enjoy being part of the school community outside of the classroom, I have a small tutor group, I coach hockey and run the Young Enterprise programme, in January I will be taking a group of students to Paris for a conference and in the summer we are off to Venezuela on World Challenge for four weeks.

The downside to teaching is probably two fold for me. The first is the fact that the pay is not great, particularly if you are career switching however straight from university the starting salary is competitive. On the plus side with the salary the progression in the early years is pretty good as it is structured however once you reach the top of the pay scale for a teacher then if you do not take on extra responsibilities then the pay rises in the future will struggle to match inflation. Working in the independent sector usually brings slightly higher pay but less job security especially in an economic downturn like we have at present. Also in teaching there are great career opportunities and the chance for progression is always there, in their second year of teaching two of my colleagues have acting heads of department posts which will probably become permanent at the end of the year.

The second issue for some is the behaviour problems they may encounter, I have worked in a tough school and it was very hard however good schools provide a structure and support to overcome this, each teacher adapts their own technique, mine is quite simple and somewhat traditional old school, with a new class I do not smile for at least the first four weeks and I tend to target in the first lesson anybody who goes and sits at the back and give them a good rollicking the first opportunity I get, zero tolerance is the order of the day and most times that does the job. Naturally with sixth formers it is slightly different but I do set boundaries and expectations very quickly.

Interestingly when it comes to job security teaching is seen to be one of the most secure, the TDA who oversee all teacher training have seen a 30% increase in enquiries over the past few months as the recession begins to bite. I guess with birth rates there is at least a continual supply of raw material to work with unlike oil or credit.

Teaching is also good for those who want to be able to manage their work life balance as for a start if you have children then most times your holidays will match their school holidays, in fact because I get more holiday than the state sector I'm currently on holiday while they are at school as we get two weeks in October. For me the holidays are a big plus factor, I do work some of the time (yesterday was spent in school lesson planning) but I also use the time to recharge my batteries and catch up on domestic chores. During term time the workload is very heavy and my working day sees me in school at 7.30 and I rarely leave before 18.30 (I also have a one hour commute), I would also reckon to do about three to four hours of work at the weekends, it is hard going and I have no real social life outside of the family however I also know that I'm never more than six weeks away from a holiday plus the fact that effectively my teaching year is compressed into two terms, after Easter most of my students will start study leave for their exams.

For me teaching has proven to be a great career, I'm lucky with the school I work at, there are high expectations and a lot of pressure from the parents but then I have high expectations of myself, certainly I believe that I could not do the job if I had not had some industry and life experiences behind me, during term time the workload is more intense than the work I did as a project manager however during the holidays I get to travel and relax. I may never be wealthy as a teacher but I can be comfortable financially and know that I have a pension under written by you the tax payer (thanks for that) however I can be wealthy as measured by the amount of job satisfaction that I get and the fact that Monday morning is now something I look forward to.

Thanks for reading and rating my review. Anything I have not covered or any other questions please drop me a line or leave a comment.

Summary: A great career change option.