Just considering my options here. Its 9 years since I graduated as a mechanical engineer. I like my job, but would like to do something more “worthwhile”. I reckon the reward from succesfully teaching must be good (despite hassle of rubbish kids). One of my previous jobs was training CAD-users and I enjoyed that.

Anyone on here ever taken the plunge?

Sure, but you have to help all the students-rubbish and great.

Which area? D&T? loads of routes to get in.

I find the teachers who don’t want to be there have the worst behaving children.

My advice – do some observations in a school before making your choice. Make sure it’s an “average” school as well, not some private school where the kids behave. I’ve taught for 2 years in an average comprehensive and I’m off to teach in Japan. Mainly for personal reasons but I don’t think I could face a lifetime of teaching in the UK.

Yea, finding it tough at the moment to be honest. 2 and a bit years in. When training they kept saying “it will be 5-6 years before you feel on top of teaching” bollox I thought, I have had a proper job before! They may have been right though. At it’s best it’s very rewarding and school is a great place to be, at it’s worse it is frustrating, depressing and overwhelming in a way working in (the cable TV) industry never was.
rb1 is right, spend time in schools, volunteer to help out, see what you think.

Lecturing in FE after 20 years on a building site. ‘Different’ doesn’t even come close to describing the change. Internal politics, unrealistic targets and working with/for people that have never worked in the real world, BUT there is satisfaction from seeing lads leave after a couple of years with a trade. Holidays are good too.

In a decent school with a nice middle-class intake it’s the best job ever for variety, stimulus, challenge and deep personal satisfaction

In a “less advantaged” school it’s a living hell which will destroy your sense of vocation and your self-confidence.

I retrained last year and i’m back in industry, it just wasn’t for me.

I’d recommend having observations in schools too, it really is an eye opener and I have massive respect for those that do it. If you’re really into it you’ll find it easier.

If you’d still like to do it i’d recommend getting in touch with Dr David Spendlove at The University of Manchester you couldn’t ask for a better tutor, mentor or expert on pedagogy and design and Technology in schools.

In a decent school with a nice middle-class intake it’s the best job ever for variety, stimulus, challenge and deep personal satisfaction

In a “less advantaged” school it’s a living hell which will destroy your sense of vocation and your self-confidence.

true

This thread reminds me of these sketches….

Mods – please close this thread before I start going down this road again!

(only joking) 😀

remember “those who can teach, those who cant teach PE”

In a decent school with a nice middle-class intake it’s the best job ever for variety, stimulus, challenge and deep personal satisfaction

In a “less advantaged” school it’s a living hell which will destroy your sense of vocation and your self-confidence.

Depends on your own personality that.

remember “those who can teach, those who cant teach PE”

If ever there was a line that needs to be said rather than read!

“In a “less advantaged” school it’s a living hell which will destroy your sense of vocation and your self-confidence. “

Not sure about this statement.

My daughter is coming to the end of her training in primary teaching and her first placement was to the “worst” school in the area(police at the gates, parents fighting, dishing out own “law” etc) Working with the kids and talking to the “parent/s” of the kids strengthened her resolve to become a teacher.

She also completed a placement in the “best” school in the area and was bored stiff by the “well behaved” kids and really annoyed by what she described by the “fake” parent/s dropping their kids off from their bm/audi/range rovers on their way to work.

She realised she got more satisfaction from the “tough” school.

Currently on an eye opening placement in a country school

Has a job in a “middling” school come Sept and looking forward to it. Flying solo as soon as she starts!!!

Schools seem to be employing people who have transferred to teaching from other disciplines atm, more life skills to pass on and can possibly cope with the pressures better. Daughter has MA in textile design and arty types are popular in primary apparently.

My manager left an accountancy job in industry to retrain as a teacher, but only managed a couple of years before giving up and coming back. She found her confidence was quickly being destroyed (ended up on anti depressants as a result) and says she was working much harder for less money/sense of achievement.

Sounds like you’re considering it for the right reasons though, but I think it can be pretty tough.

I’m a teacher in huge Comp in Liverpool and it’s pretty good! Teaching is all I’ve ever done (approaching 10 years!) except stupid summer jobs etc and I can honestly say it’s neither too hard nor too easy, it has its ups and downs. This time of year is awesome, Year 11 and 6th form on exams, loads of trips etc which is why I can post on here!

Got a load of reports to do and a mountain of planning for new courses launching next year but I’ll probably put that off till summer (WooHoo!)

Some kids are genuinely horrible but they are few and far between but I suppose you’ve got to remember you see the entire of a society in your working day, rapists and murderers (taught a couple of those 8O), doctors and footballers, average joes and those that will excel in their field. I like teaching most of the time and hate it at others but I like the hols and generally muddle through.

Oh and by the way I’m one of those awesome teachers the kids love and parents respect whilst retaining my down to earth cool and all round bodacity…. 😀 and of course ‘I’ achieve excellent results for all of the kids I teach….

Here endeth the lesson….

I started a PGCE to teach ICT in a Secondary school. I lasted 3 weeks into my first teaching practice.

It wasn’t so much teaching as crowd control. Kids were awful and it struck me how little there was to actually teach with the restrictions of the National Curriculum.

I’d come from a background as a Software Engineer and naively thought that I’d teach proper computing. Not a bit of it.

Some of the GCSE students couldn’t even use the SUM() function in a spreadsheet.

As rhysboy1 suggested, if you have some free time, see if you can get into a few schools and see what they’re like. Don’t just go into one as you might get a particularly good or bad one.

My GF, on the other hand, teaches FE in a college. She loves it even though some of them are little sh1ts. The majority of them want to be there, and the ones that don’t, you can at least blackmail them into behaving by not signing their attendance sheet that gives them the cash.

I do supply teaching. In the schools I go to there is a common theme amongst 99% of the teachers:

battle weary with little enthusiasm

red tape/gov targets/school politics. All relegate the “joy of teaching” to a small part of their job

most want to get out but can’t

The only way you will know if it’s for you is to try it. Some of the comments about trying it and quitting within days or months just show that those people probably weren’t cut out to be teachers. My wife is a modern languages teacher and absolutely loves her job. Yes there are crappy times but that’s the same as in any job. Beats sitting in an office trying to make rich people richer if you ask me.

Back when considering teaching, I was pointed in the direction of the TES forums as an excellent place for help, advice and quizzing. Forums/fora for NQTs and prospective teaching students.

Jon – don’t tell anyone at work about this!!

Oh, and thanks all for advice.
Not sure how I’d arrange to go into a school. I’m guessing not by phoning the head and asking if I can come and watch the kids…

i spent 20 years in motorsport and 15 in f1 and decided enough was enough, and i now work as a technician at my local school…

now to the point we do training for gtp students in design and technology,, part of my job is supporting them,,

we take students from berks bucks and oxfordshire,, you have missed the deadline for sept 2009 and i think feb is the deadling for 2010
if you want i should be able to arrange a visit to our school to have a chat with some past gtp peeps

Adrian