I'm a little bit deflated now as I'm shocked about the amount of negativity surrounding the profession. But I understand and I appreciate the honesty, of course. I can deal with red tape and I suppose if I were to start now the current climate would be normal for me, but the low starting salaries are a concern. Like I said, I'm keen on building up my own personal wealth and I'm scared to take a financial hit for 3-5-however many years. Lots to think about
I understand that every job is stressful etc., but teaching is not at all how you have described it and I feel strongly enough about it to explain!
1. Students leave the classroom at that time, but I don't leave school until 6pm. That's 7am-6pm in school Monday-Friday. 3.30-6 isn't free time either. It is filled with meetings, contacting parents, marking assessments etc. Then I go home, have dinner and start planning for the next day from about 8pm-11pm each night. It's not uncommon to be up until 1am with sudden deadlines/forgetting to mark a set of books/underestimating how long it will take to plan a certain lesson etc.
2. Sundays are completely out for me as they are spent planning all day (seriously, I sometimes do 9am-11pm with small breaks to eat). Saturday is my only day off but I'm usually so exhausted that I stay home instead of socialising with friends. I am working a 70 hour week currently and getting paid £25,000 to do it.
3. Yes, holidays are great. But a large portion of them are spent planning. If I have a week off, I usually have two full days properly to myself before having to get back into the swing of things. With my salary, and living in the south-east, I can't really afford to go on holiday so my days off are spent around the house dreading going back to school.
5. I don't have a wind down period until the last week of the year. Year 11 have gone on study leave, so I have to fill in a very detailed form describing what I have done in each 'free period' (3 per week) to benefit my department. I am given tasks. God forbid you'd have time to take a breather.
I don't mean to sound like a whiny child, but the current climate in teaching is dire. I am constantly receiving horrible emails from over-entitled parents, having to deal with awful behaviour from the students preventing you from doing your job properly and I don't even get time to eat lunch or go to the bathroom during the school day. The government is so desperate for teachers because so many are leaving because of all of this. It's clear from this thread that accounting has its own set of major issues, but I can't think of many benefits to teaching other than the pension and those handful of students who you have been able to make a difference with.
My answers
Thanks for all of your replies!
I'm a little bit deflated now as I'm shocked about the amount of negativity surrounding the profession. But I understand and I appreciate the honesty, of course. I can deal with red tape and I suppose if I were to start now the current climate would be normal for me, but the low starting salaries are a concern. Like I said, I'm keen on building up my own personal wealth and I'm scared to take a financial hit for 3-5-however many years. Lots to think about
Hi,
I understand that every job is stressful etc., but teaching is not at all how you have described it and I feel strongly enough about it to explain!
1. Students leave the classroom at that time, but I don't leave school until 6pm. That's 7am-6pm in school Monday-Friday. 3.30-6 isn't free time either. It is filled with meetings, contacting parents, marking assessments etc. Then I go home, have dinner and start planning for the next day from about 8pm-11pm each night. It's not uncommon to be up until 1am with sudden deadlines/forgetting to mark a set of books/underestimating how long it will take to plan a certain lesson etc.
2. Sundays are completely out for me as they are spent planning all day (seriously, I sometimes do 9am-11pm with small breaks to eat). Saturday is my only day off but I'm usually so exhausted that I stay home instead of socialising with friends. I am working a 70 hour week currently and getting paid £25,000 to do it.
3. Yes, holidays are great. But a large portion of them are spent planning. If I have a week off, I usually have two full days properly to myself before having to get back into the swing of things. With my salary, and living in the south-east, I can't really afford to go on holiday so my days off are spent around the house dreading going back to school.
5. I don't have a wind down period until the last week of the year. Year 11 have gone on study leave, so I have to fill in a very detailed form describing what I have done in each 'free period' (3 per week) to benefit my department. I am given tasks. God forbid you'd have time to take a breather.
I don't mean to sound like a whiny child, but the current climate in teaching is dire. I am constantly receiving horrible emails from over-entitled parents, having to deal with awful behaviour from the students preventing you from doing your job properly and I don't even get time to eat lunch or go to the bathroom during the school day. The government is so desperate for teachers because so many are leaving because of all of this. It's clear from this thread that accounting has its own set of major issues, but I can't think of many benefits to teaching other than the pension and those handful of students who you have been able to make a difference with.
Hi,
I'm based in Haywards Heath but can travel anywhere from Brighton- London