Comments on: Would You Recommend A Career In Primay School Teaching?

By: Willow

Willow — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:49:31 +0000

I go from adoring my job to hating it.
Upsides: you get to make a huge difference to children’s lives; I enjoy planning exciting lessons; I love some of the new ideas for advancing learning; long holidays; friendly colleagues; the children can be hilarious; when they “get it” it makes you feel so great
Downsides: the workload can be daunting – lots of preparation, marking, assessing; it knackers you; you can get hassles from parents; there is a lot of pressure to get everything done and for the children to make progress; you can’t take time off other than your holiday time.
As for career advancement, there is the management track (deputy and head); in a big school there may be team leader opportunities and the government introduced a new threshold scheme so that teachers can advance in salary whilst staying in the classroom. Problem with that is that you become too expensive to move between schools easily.
And am I happy? Today yes, yesterday no. It depends on all of the above. Good luck!

By: Crabby

Crabby — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:49:31 +0000

What about a secondary school teacher? Will that do? Some of the positives: You get time to spend with your own children when they are on vacations and holidays. You are constantly learning from your students. It is a shorter day on the premises and some of the time is spent at your home in preparation. As the years go by, you accumulate your “bag of tricks” or supplies, and techniques that make your job easier. Downsides: Children today are often lacking in family support or encouragement. Not all of them are but many will be. You will feel emotionally attached to the needy ones. The workload is high during the early career years and lessens as time goes on. The advancement is built into a contract and once contracted you will progress through the ranks and be compensated for your course work.
It was a satisfactory career for me, and I’d do it over again, but am happily retired.

By: freedom and courage

freedom and courage — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:49:31 +0000

I used to be and I loved it. It was such fun and I got a great sense of achievement. The workload was extremely heavy and having had my own kids now, theres no way I’d be able to keep up without my home life suffering. But I would contemplate part time or supply. Now I work with teens. I am glad I trained as a teacher as I learned so much.