For me, the good outweighs the bad. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do. I have taught for 13 years, in independent schools, overseas in Europe and now in a regional public high school. I am looking forward to returning next week. I am lucky because I work in a faculty with other people who feel the same way I do. Great colleagues make a big difference. You can face a lot of shit in the classroom, but if your colleagues and your exec are supportive, you can return every day ready to try again.
Teaching is very, very challenging, but it is also very, very rewarding. I have found a renewed sense of purpose in the public system, but I have also had to develop a thicker skin and more patience and curiosity than ever before.
Someone makes this post once a fortnight.
Teaching is good. The job is fun. The holidays are fucking sick. The pay isn’t as bad as people say it is.
What’s not ideal is the planning, marking, dealing with bureaucracy, dealing with shit parents etc.
Anyway, I used to work Hotspo and retail and recommend teaching. I love it. But it’s not for everyone and can be very frustrating at times.
Same for everyone regardless of job. Starting salaries are also above starting salaries in other fields so you could arguably be in a much worse position.
Seconded, I am in the same boat as you, about to start my second year of full time and loving it. OP, give it a go - you can always drop it after your first placement if you hate it.
The particular school you work in can tip things one way or the other when it comes to this, but in general I would say no.
I’ll have been working in the NSW system for just under ten years at the start of term 1 and I’ve only seen the conditions of the job deteriorate since I started.
I would say that often it seems as though employers/senior executives/executive leadership in primary and secondary seem to treat their staff and their concerns about the direction of the profession as though teaching is the only field we’re aware of and that we don’t have knowledge of how professionals in other industries are treated either through personal experience, friendship, family or relationship connections.
My siblings and friends who are professionals in other more or less middle class fields enjoy better working conditions and workplace cultures, pay increases that begin to steadily outpace what one can earn as a classroom teacher (at least in the public system) and uniformly do not experience anything resembling the expectations of having to complete work after close of business or on the weekend.
A lot of my family are teachers, including my wife so a lot of my social circles involve teachers. Three years ago I became an Slso after working in a bunch of different industries. Every single person I know who became a teacher or started work in education after working in other industries loves it. A whole bunch of teachers that have been doing it since they left uni hate it and are burnt out. If you can do it I strongly recommend becoming an Slso for a year first. The pay is great, the hours are exceptional and you get all the holidays the same as a teacher. It'll give you insight into working in schools, it'll give you access to a bunch of teachers to talk to and you only need your working with children check to get started. People have tried to encourage me to become a teacher but I prefer this job but it has it's limits. If you think you want to be a teacher it's a great place to get some insight and learn some valuable classroom skills. Also it's a way to make money while you go to uni to become a teacher
"Every single person I know who became a teacher or started work in education after working in other industries loves it. A whole bunch of teachers that have been doing it since they left uni hate it and are burnt out." This was helpful and is what I have been discussing with a few people.
In my opinion, the positives of our job absolutely outweigh the challenges. I thoroughly enjoy giving young people opportunities to succeed, whether that's through academics, sport, arts or any other endeavour that we can provide.
I've taught high school maths for close to 15 years now, and have run a wide range of extra curricular programs. There is always someone who will surprise me (sometimes in a bad way but usually in a good way) and I love those moments.
The job has its stressful moments, but once you've gone around the school merry go round a few times, you've seen most of what you'll see most days and the after hours work is severely reduced as you become more efficient not only at your job but also at filtering out what is important to focus on and what isn't.
No i would not. I have been a teacher for just over 10 years and am in the process of retraining. Many teachers i lnow are looking for ways out. Many more would like to but cant take the pay cut in a new industry.
I would recommend doing anything else.
No- just no. Don’t do it. Don’t think about it. Do anything else. I was 18 years a teacher and I got out just over a year ago- yay. It was the best day of my life when I got offered a permanent UX design role.
Before I was a teacher I studied industrial design and I worked a bit before retraining as a teacher because there was no work in australia much at the time for industrial design and I didn’t want to go overseas. I did an accelerated teaching degree and II became a targeted graduate and started at a below average for the DET. This was pribabky a bad choice because I was offered 4 jobs at private school that were all amazing. But all 1 year contracts and no garantee of permanacy which at the time I really craved so I could buy a house. While I Was teaching full time in a high school I taught at a short courses at community college at nights for 5 years (to earn a decent wage as teaching salaries suck- but still better than what I was being offered as an industrial designer ) which was awesome. I got my certificate 4 in website design. In the hope of transferring into that role, but I managed to transfer into one of the best selective schools in Sydney to be closer to my now wife. This I realize later is what really sucked as I taught design and technology and computing and as it was a girl school where the focus was mainly on food and textiles. I was expected to act like a head teacher for every subject that was not food or textiles (junior engineering, wood tech, digital tech stage 5 DT and IST and graphics) and 4 people shared the food textiles responsibilities. It was all doom and gloom there were some good times and the students were amazing / they were never the reason teaching sucked. My wife I was a digital design who got into UX and so was my cousins husband, which inspired me to do a UX course at GA- general assembly, I then took this knowledge and applied it to a lot of my assignments and my role as year book coordinator. I also did a little bit of design freelancing- using my wife’s contacts. This was also really helpful in getting my first temporary job in UX and I had a bit of a rocky start but I got some great mentoring from some talented individuals and a turned things around and got offered a permanent role at same wage as I was getting teaching but now I have plenty of room to move as I move forward to becoming a mid to senior designer and, hopefully, a lead designer down the track. I had a lot of help along the way which I a very grateful for but I also worked my but off to get where I am today. I hope this answers some of your questions.
Edit: TLDR - I had a design degree, a cert 4 in website design before doing general assembly course in UX. Those combined make me somewhat qualified- other UX designers are either similar to me come from a design/architecture background or from a background in IT. I don’t think there is currently a degree in UX in Australia.
I’m not sure what your asking but - I get paid the same but I’m at the lower end of what is possible rather than the highest side of being a classroom teacher. I studied and worked as a designer before becoming a teacher and tried to freelance while teaching- also did a UX course- and knew someone who helped get me in. Taught design and technology and computing so that helped somewhat.
Yeah you did a bit of freelance on the side so you had some experience. You aren’t just jumping into an entirely different career.
I worked as a Graphic Designer for 15 years and then finally went back and finished my Ed degree.
I went from $50k as aGraphic Designer for sports clothing (the industry sucks and that was actually the higher end of pay) to 70k as a beginning teacher. Topping out at 100k is good enough for me.
I personally wouldn't recommend it. After 5 years of full time teaching in both the public and private systems, I switched to casual relief teaching a few days a week to support myself while I went back to uni. I'll be graduating as a Guidance Counsellor mid-year, and am so unbelievably relieved to know that I'll never teach again. The stress, poor student attitude/work ethic, endless meaningless data collection, lack of support from leadership etc. just weren't worth the good parts of teaching.
Oops sorry, I didn't see this notification! Yes, I'd absolutely recommend the Master's course. It's got a few units that are kind of irrelevant/seem like filler, but overall what I'm learning at QUT feels like it's going to be super useful and applicable to work as a GO.
It's hard work, unabashedly serious work, and work that should not be half-assed. The system is broken and it's taking even more work to try and get it fixed, management rarely knows what's going on, you either have great colleagues or great kids, never both.
And you should absolutely do it. Just make sure you join the union.
> management rarely knows what's going on
Goes both ways at times. This can be a real burden at meeting time where you are given tips on how YOU can improve outcomes by using this one simple life hack to be a better educator, but it can also be amazing when you go and do your own thing and can pretend / fob off 99% of requests regarding your class' progress.
Good example: one year I flat out forgot to hand out an assessment task to one of my Year 7 classes. They did the practice activity designed to build their skills FOR the upcoming task, but then I just completely spaced and forgot to hand out the real one the following week. No-one ever found out. I wrote their reports and gave them grades based on the practice task.
No. Don’t do it. I can’t wait to get out. I used to love the idea of being a teacher, it was my all I could think about becoming. I’m quiet quitting this year whilst doing another degree online. Im still permanent but I’ve said to myself if I’m still miserable after a term I’m going casual.
There are definitely better career options (pay and stress wise, maybe on the rewarding front tio if you have a real passion for something) but I wouldn't like, go out of my way to talk someone out of doing teaching. If you have the skills/traits (can do a bachelors, pass lantite, good with people, organised, interested in subject) then it can be a pretty good job. I teach primary and love it. It can get hard and it's emotionally exhausting sometimes. I feel like I've gone days at a time barely thinking about anything but my class. But it is often fun, genuinely rewarding, not the worst pay all things considered.
>I understand there’s some major challenges, but does the good outweigh the bad in teaching?
For me, it does. For others, it doesn't. I think, in the long run, you *really* have to enjoy working with teenagers. Working in hospo and retail, you'll already have a pretty good idea of what they are like as people and as workers (important caveat: but not as students).
There is a lot of bullshit involved (more below) which, as I see it, really makes it NOT worth it (or barely worth it, if they are still in the game) for those that are indifferent to working with young people, and just worth it enough to stick around for those that do like working with young people.
If I had to summarise the three main bullshits, they would be as follows. Again, this is me personally, so others might sub some things out.
1. Not enough hours in the day to get assigned work done (more on this in point 3). You either A) work overtime for free or B) do a "good enough" job. A lot of people will feel guilty doing B because they aren't making some rich guy even richer, though rather, handling a real person's education. This is BEFORE the "expectation" (in quotes for a reason) that leadership have of you, such as running an after school club, because it's for the kids. Some will burn out becoming martyrs for the job, and it makes it harder for those of us that don't work for free because the expectations of the average teachr have suddenly changed.
2. The general public perception that we are babysitters that work 9-3 and get 12 weeks off a year, and are to blame for everything wrong with children today. And that we should all be trained psychologists that should be teaching about life alongside our content (think: student wellbeing). If we truly did work 9-3 then sure, we might have time for that. But the reality is, we barely have enough time (or flat out don't, in some cases) to do our core job of teaching, then get this stuff thrown on top. The back-end of teaching is practically invisible to most of the population outside of your co-workers.
3. The excessive administration to justify we are doing our job right. So much of what is "required" just flat out is a waste of our time. One of my favourites is that we have to - literally - document how we have differentiated for child X this lesson to meet their plan. Every lesson, for every student on a plan. Sure. With what time? I know I helped them, but no, apparently I need a document to "prove" I did. This excessive administration is then compounded with "the next new thing." An example from a few years ago: leadership thought that a 30-minute presentation from a semi-experienced math teacher on how they use data to inform *their* teaching would translate into the rest of us basically "suddenly discovering a new tool we never knew about to improve student outcomes." And that after this 30 mins, we will all rush back to our desks, collate some data, and bring about real improvements TODAY.
Overall, yes I really enjoy it, and plan to stay for years to come, but I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't considering another career change before I retire.
I think a fair chunk of people look at the benefits and just see children as part of the job. These are the kind of people would be just as satisfied teaching adults at TAFE or helping their clients get the best results for their project - they are still helping people either way.
This is my 22nd year of teaching high school. It's never boring, I always get so carried away I run out of time, and in my opinion, loyalty to your colleagues is the most important part of our job. Cause if we don't have each other's backs, who will?
I'm not a teacher but as a upcoming student teacher, I would recommend doing a double degree with education. I am only suggesting bc if teaching doesn't work out and you can utilise your other degree to pursue another career. Most university, such as unsw, only offer double degrees for UG teaching.
I would, but I’m also realistic. For me I enjoy careers that I feel like I’m making a difference, which are normally underpaid and overworked ones. Teaching is no different. Having said that I find it extremely rewarding and I do think it’s a career that is great for parents (the mat leave and having holidays ‘off’ with the kids) are good perks in my opinion.
Absolutely! Entering my 11th year and still love it. As others have said, there is certainly stress and frustrations about things outside your control. I think your school may make a big difference too. Mine is far from perfect but it’s been a happy place for me for 10 years. For me as a theatre teacher, that space is my home away from home and I feel thankful whenever I walk into it.
The only thing that pains me to say is that I can’t recommend English quite as highly. I teach both theatre and English (75% Eng) and the marking load for English is crazy. I love teaching it at yr12 and have done so for years. But there’s no doubt you end up with more marking than other subjects. Great subject to teach, terrible for everything else. I definitely envy any of my colleagues who can ever ‘tick and flick’. If English is what you love, then still got for it, but if you were debating between other areas, you’ll end up with a lot more time if you don’t go with English (at least in senior years).
It depends on where in the unit you are. The killer thing is the assessment system. If it were like uni style (or like what I did when I was a student in QLD in the 90s) where you had an assignment due on (x) date and you drafted and enhanced it with teacher feedback then it wouldn’t be so bad. But having students write essays in test conditions means they need practice writing essays in test conditions. So you do all these ‘practice sacs’, but they still need marking too, so kids get the feedback. So in weeks leading up to the SAC you’re probably doing one prac sac in class per week, plus some kids will do their own outside school. I could probably mark one in anywhere from 8-25 mins depending on how much is written and where my brain function level is at in that particular moment. So this is where class size matters. Hattie may say it doesn’t have a significant impact on student learning but it DOES have an effect on teacher wellbeing. I usually end up with a class of 23 or so, but I’ve been as low as 16 (only time ever under 20) and as high as 26. Let me tell you it does make a huge difference! I think that’s one area where potentially private teachers do have it over public. If I could teach a 12Eng class of 16 or less every year maybe I wouldn’t feel as drained on the marking.
Yes, opportunities to travel and move. Decent pay, lots of holidays, good work life balance, opportunities To spend more time with your own kids. Career pathways.
I love being a teacher
No I wouldn't recommend it.
I've been teaching for 22 years. The money isn't good enough. The holidays are great, but ultimately, for what we do, the money isn't enough. I'm at the top of the pay scale. My 25 year old son started his first prof job this year he's earning nearly what I make. Within five years he'll be on way more than I make - not a guess, a fact.
There are a lot of positives for women who wanna have kids and a career to get back to - that's true. In my school a leading teacher got promoted to AP, did the job for a term went on maternity leave for 2 years, came back for a year, went on maternity leave for 3 years, came back for a term, did it again, came back and then decided she didn't want a leadership role the school gave her leave without pay to work somewhere else and see if she liked it. No other job would let you do that.
But for guys I thinks it's pretty shit and even if you go into leadership to make more money, the money is way not enough for all the responsibility and boring crap being in leadership entails.
Also, the future of work is undoubtedly a hybrid of working from home working from the office. Teachers just don't have this option. I would rather work from home 3-4 days pw like my wife does and have less holidays than have to do go in every day as I do. She gets paid the same money but can structure her day how she wants, has no commute time when working from home, and loves it. This is a game changer IMO when looking at teaching's benefits vs other caterers
Honestly it’s so hard to answer that. Your level of job satisfaction and stress can vary so much from one school to another and even vary in a school depending on what grade or subject you teach.
If you really really want to do it i recommend you give yourself options. Do a dip ed or whatever is available as an add on to your course to be qualified. I would never recommend anyone do a bachelors.
I also recommend seeing if its possible for you to volunteer or work as support in a couple schools while or before studying or something. You will get a sense pretty quick if the bullshit is something you want to put up with.
Studying and doing even a couple of years as a teachers is never going to be bad for your career. Teaching just isn't really considered a life long career anymore, younger generations think that about most jobs anyway.
My Biggest fear with teaching is the degree prior. Nothing about difficulty but more-so i feel it wont prepare me for the ACTUAL role and tasks ahead. Also content seems incredibly dry and somewhat irrelevant to the job.
I came into teaching after working in other industries for almost 20 years. Education, like every other industry, has its positives and its negatives.
If you are unsure, I would highly recommend gaining employment as a teacher aide first. It gives a surface look into what teachers deal with on a daily basis. It also provides an opportunity to pick the brain of a wide range of teachers, all at different stages of their career.
Personally, I am enjoying teaching so far. Yes, you have the mess that is senior admin. Especially if you are in the public sector. But seriously, most jobs I have had included an absolute incompetent, DoubleSpeak-fluent, seagull of a boss. I have also worked under amazing admin, and they are like gold-dust.
Holidays are great and the pay, considering your background in retail and hospo, is pretty good. Too many corporate folk poo-poo the teaching wage. Yes, you could earn more as a lawyer, etc. But the holidays are also a big bonus.
For me, the good outweighs the bad. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do. I have taught for 13 years, in independent schools, overseas in Europe and now in a regional public high school. I am looking forward to returning next week. I am lucky because I work in a faculty with other people who feel the same way I do. Great colleagues make a big difference. You can face a lot of shit in the classroom, but if your colleagues and your exec are supportive, you can return every day ready to try again. Teaching is very, very challenging, but it is also very, very rewarding. I have found a renewed sense of purpose in the public system, but I have also had to develop a thicker skin and more patience and curiosity than ever before.
Someone makes this post once a fortnight. Teaching is good. The job is fun. The holidays are fucking sick. The pay isn’t as bad as people say it is. What’s not ideal is the planning, marking, dealing with bureaucracy, dealing with shit parents etc. Anyway, I used to work Hotspo and retail and recommend teaching. I love it. But it’s not for everyone and can be very frustrating at times.
The fact you marketed teaching as “better than retail and hospo” has absolutely made my day.
As someone working hospo while I do my teaching degree, I needed to hear that 😅
Tbf this person said that’s what their life is, I was toning it down, it is immeasurably better than working hospo and retail lol.
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It gets better with time
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Teaching in a regional or remote location could help you financially?
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Same for everyone regardless of job. Starting salaries are also above starting salaries in other fields so you could arguably be in a much worse position.
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How does one determine whether pay is fair without comparison?
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Sounds like ya need to move mate
Seconded, I am in the same boat as you, about to start my second year of full time and loving it. OP, give it a go - you can always drop it after your first placement if you hate it.
Every job has its ups and downs but in balance teaching is the best thing I've found to do.
The particular school you work in can tip things one way or the other when it comes to this, but in general I would say no. I’ll have been working in the NSW system for just under ten years at the start of term 1 and I’ve only seen the conditions of the job deteriorate since I started. I would say that often it seems as though employers/senior executives/executive leadership in primary and secondary seem to treat their staff and their concerns about the direction of the profession as though teaching is the only field we’re aware of and that we don’t have knowledge of how professionals in other industries are treated either through personal experience, friendship, family or relationship connections. My siblings and friends who are professionals in other more or less middle class fields enjoy better working conditions and workplace cultures, pay increases that begin to steadily outpace what one can earn as a classroom teacher (at least in the public system) and uniformly do not experience anything resembling the expectations of having to complete work after close of business or on the weekend.
A lot of my family are teachers, including my wife so a lot of my social circles involve teachers. Three years ago I became an Slso after working in a bunch of different industries. Every single person I know who became a teacher or started work in education after working in other industries loves it. A whole bunch of teachers that have been doing it since they left uni hate it and are burnt out. If you can do it I strongly recommend becoming an Slso for a year first. The pay is great, the hours are exceptional and you get all the holidays the same as a teacher. It'll give you insight into working in schools, it'll give you access to a bunch of teachers to talk to and you only need your working with children check to get started. People have tried to encourage me to become a teacher but I prefer this job but it has it's limits. If you think you want to be a teacher it's a great place to get some insight and learn some valuable classroom skills. Also it's a way to make money while you go to uni to become a teacher
"Every single person I know who became a teacher or started work in education after working in other industries loves it. A whole bunch of teachers that have been doing it since they left uni hate it and are burnt out." This was helpful and is what I have been discussing with a few people.
In my opinion, the positives of our job absolutely outweigh the challenges. I thoroughly enjoy giving young people opportunities to succeed, whether that's through academics, sport, arts or any other endeavour that we can provide. I've taught high school maths for close to 15 years now, and have run a wide range of extra curricular programs. There is always someone who will surprise me (sometimes in a bad way but usually in a good way) and I love those moments. The job has its stressful moments, but once you've gone around the school merry go round a few times, you've seen most of what you'll see most days and the after hours work is severely reduced as you become more efficient not only at your job but also at filtering out what is important to focus on and what isn't.
No i would not. I have been a teacher for just over 10 years and am in the process of retraining. Many teachers i lnow are looking for ways out. Many more would like to but cant take the pay cut in a new industry. I would recommend doing anything else.
No- just no. Don’t do it. Don’t think about it. Do anything else. I was 18 years a teacher and I got out just over a year ago- yay. It was the best day of my life when I got offered a permanent UX design role.
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Before I was a teacher I studied industrial design and I worked a bit before retraining as a teacher because there was no work in australia much at the time for industrial design and I didn’t want to go overseas. I did an accelerated teaching degree and II became a targeted graduate and started at a below average for the DET. This was pribabky a bad choice because I was offered 4 jobs at private school that were all amazing. But all 1 year contracts and no garantee of permanacy which at the time I really craved so I could buy a house. While I Was teaching full time in a high school I taught at a short courses at community college at nights for 5 years (to earn a decent wage as teaching salaries suck- but still better than what I was being offered as an industrial designer ) which was awesome. I got my certificate 4 in website design. In the hope of transferring into that role, but I managed to transfer into one of the best selective schools in Sydney to be closer to my now wife. This I realize later is what really sucked as I taught design and technology and computing and as it was a girl school where the focus was mainly on food and textiles. I was expected to act like a head teacher for every subject that was not food or textiles (junior engineering, wood tech, digital tech stage 5 DT and IST and graphics) and 4 people shared the food textiles responsibilities. It was all doom and gloom there were some good times and the students were amazing / they were never the reason teaching sucked. My wife I was a digital design who got into UX and so was my cousins husband, which inspired me to do a UX course at GA- general assembly, I then took this knowledge and applied it to a lot of my assignments and my role as year book coordinator. I also did a little bit of design freelancing- using my wife’s contacts. This was also really helpful in getting my first temporary job in UX and I had a bit of a rocky start but I got some great mentoring from some talented individuals and a turned things around and got offered a permanent role at same wage as I was getting teaching but now I have plenty of room to move as I move forward to becoming a mid to senior designer and, hopefully, a lead designer down the track. I had a lot of help along the way which I a very grateful for but I also worked my but off to get where I am today. I hope this answers some of your questions. Edit: TLDR - I had a design degree, a cert 4 in website design before doing general assembly course in UX. Those combined make me somewhat qualified- other UX designers are either similar to me come from a design/architecture background or from a background in IT. I don’t think there is currently a degree in UX in Australia.
Seconded! I would be very interested in hearing this
Pay cut? Or experience doing it on the side?
I’m not sure what your asking but - I get paid the same but I’m at the lower end of what is possible rather than the highest side of being a classroom teacher. I studied and worked as a designer before becoming a teacher and tried to freelance while teaching- also did a UX course- and knew someone who helped get me in. Taught design and technology and computing so that helped somewhat.
Yeah you did a bit of freelance on the side so you had some experience. You aren’t just jumping into an entirely different career. I worked as a Graphic Designer for 15 years and then finally went back and finished my Ed degree. I went from $50k as aGraphic Designer for sports clothing (the industry sucks and that was actually the higher end of pay) to 70k as a beginning teacher. Topping out at 100k is good enough for me.
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The over expectations, the high level of burnout cause by mismanagement, the increasing issues in the classroom
Yep and I was so burnt out over the break that I couldn't really enjoy it as I felt like I'd been hit by a truck
I personally wouldn't recommend it. After 5 years of full time teaching in both the public and private systems, I switched to casual relief teaching a few days a week to support myself while I went back to uni. I'll be graduating as a Guidance Counsellor mid-year, and am so unbelievably relieved to know that I'll never teach again. The stress, poor student attitude/work ethic, endless meaningless data collection, lack of support from leadership etc. just weren't worth the good parts of teaching.
I’m considering studying to be a GO too. Are you enjoying the course?
Oops sorry, I didn't see this notification! Yes, I'd absolutely recommend the Master's course. It's got a few units that are kind of irrelevant/seem like filler, but overall what I'm learning at QUT feels like it's going to be super useful and applicable to work as a GO.
It's hard work, unabashedly serious work, and work that should not be half-assed. The system is broken and it's taking even more work to try and get it fixed, management rarely knows what's going on, you either have great colleagues or great kids, never both. And you should absolutely do it. Just make sure you join the union.
> management rarely knows what's going on Goes both ways at times. This can be a real burden at meeting time where you are given tips on how YOU can improve outcomes by using this one simple life hack to be a better educator, but it can also be amazing when you go and do your own thing and can pretend / fob off 99% of requests regarding your class' progress. Good example: one year I flat out forgot to hand out an assessment task to one of my Year 7 classes. They did the practice activity designed to build their skills FOR the upcoming task, but then I just completely spaced and forgot to hand out the real one the following week. No-one ever found out. I wrote their reports and gave them grades based on the practice task.
I nearly fell over when I saw how much it costs to join the union so I haven't yet but I also don't really understand the benefits at this stage
In Qld the Union fees are way less than what our yearly pay rises are. Beginning teachers get it free pretty much.
No. Don’t do it. I can’t wait to get out. I used to love the idea of being a teacher, it was my all I could think about becoming. I’m quiet quitting this year whilst doing another degree online. Im still permanent but I’ve said to myself if I’m still miserable after a term I’m going casual.
> quiet quitting I believe the correct term is "acting your wage".
There are definitely better career options (pay and stress wise, maybe on the rewarding front tio if you have a real passion for something) but I wouldn't like, go out of my way to talk someone out of doing teaching. If you have the skills/traits (can do a bachelors, pass lantite, good with people, organised, interested in subject) then it can be a pretty good job. I teach primary and love it. It can get hard and it's emotionally exhausting sometimes. I feel like I've gone days at a time barely thinking about anything but my class. But it is often fun, genuinely rewarding, not the worst pay all things considered.
>I understand there’s some major challenges, but does the good outweigh the bad in teaching? For me, it does. For others, it doesn't. I think, in the long run, you *really* have to enjoy working with teenagers. Working in hospo and retail, you'll already have a pretty good idea of what they are like as people and as workers (important caveat: but not as students). There is a lot of bullshit involved (more below) which, as I see it, really makes it NOT worth it (or barely worth it, if they are still in the game) for those that are indifferent to working with young people, and just worth it enough to stick around for those that do like working with young people. If I had to summarise the three main bullshits, they would be as follows. Again, this is me personally, so others might sub some things out. 1. Not enough hours in the day to get assigned work done (more on this in point 3). You either A) work overtime for free or B) do a "good enough" job. A lot of people will feel guilty doing B because they aren't making some rich guy even richer, though rather, handling a real person's education. This is BEFORE the "expectation" (in quotes for a reason) that leadership have of you, such as running an after school club, because it's for the kids. Some will burn out becoming martyrs for the job, and it makes it harder for those of us that don't work for free because the expectations of the average teachr have suddenly changed. 2. The general public perception that we are babysitters that work 9-3 and get 12 weeks off a year, and are to blame for everything wrong with children today. And that we should all be trained psychologists that should be teaching about life alongside our content (think: student wellbeing). If we truly did work 9-3 then sure, we might have time for that. But the reality is, we barely have enough time (or flat out don't, in some cases) to do our core job of teaching, then get this stuff thrown on top. The back-end of teaching is practically invisible to most of the population outside of your co-workers. 3. The excessive administration to justify we are doing our job right. So much of what is "required" just flat out is a waste of our time. One of my favourites is that we have to - literally - document how we have differentiated for child X this lesson to meet their plan. Every lesson, for every student on a plan. Sure. With what time? I know I helped them, but no, apparently I need a document to "prove" I did. This excessive administration is then compounded with "the next new thing." An example from a few years ago: leadership thought that a 30-minute presentation from a semi-experienced math teacher on how they use data to inform *their* teaching would translate into the rest of us basically "suddenly discovering a new tool we never knew about to improve student outcomes." And that after this 30 mins, we will all rush back to our desks, collate some data, and bring about real improvements TODAY. Overall, yes I really enjoy it, and plan to stay for years to come, but I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't considering another career change before I retire.
💯 If you don’t like kids, don’t be a teacher. You’re spending your whole day with them.
I think a fair chunk of people look at the benefits and just see children as part of the job. These are the kind of people would be just as satisfied teaching adults at TAFE or helping their clients get the best results for their project - they are still helping people either way.
This is my 22nd year of teaching high school. It's never boring, I always get so carried away I run out of time, and in my opinion, loyalty to your colleagues is the most important part of our job. Cause if we don't have each other's backs, who will?
I'm not a teacher but as a upcoming student teacher, I would recommend doing a double degree with education. I am only suggesting bc if teaching doesn't work out and you can utilise your other degree to pursue another career. Most university, such as unsw, only offer double degrees for UG teaching.
I would, but I’m also realistic. For me I enjoy careers that I feel like I’m making a difference, which are normally underpaid and overworked ones. Teaching is no different. Having said that I find it extremely rewarding and I do think it’s a career that is great for parents (the mat leave and having holidays ‘off’ with the kids) are good perks in my opinion.
Absolutely! Entering my 11th year and still love it. As others have said, there is certainly stress and frustrations about things outside your control. I think your school may make a big difference too. Mine is far from perfect but it’s been a happy place for me for 10 years. For me as a theatre teacher, that space is my home away from home and I feel thankful whenever I walk into it. The only thing that pains me to say is that I can’t recommend English quite as highly. I teach both theatre and English (75% Eng) and the marking load for English is crazy. I love teaching it at yr12 and have done so for years. But there’s no doubt you end up with more marking than other subjects. Great subject to teach, terrible for everything else. I definitely envy any of my colleagues who can ever ‘tick and flick’. If English is what you love, then still got for it, but if you were debating between other areas, you’ll end up with a lot more time if you don’t go with English (at least in senior years).
I've only taught 7-10 English so far but from what I've heard the marking for senior is awful. How many hours a week do you spend on it, roughly
It depends on where in the unit you are. The killer thing is the assessment system. If it were like uni style (or like what I did when I was a student in QLD in the 90s) where you had an assignment due on (x) date and you drafted and enhanced it with teacher feedback then it wouldn’t be so bad. But having students write essays in test conditions means they need practice writing essays in test conditions. So you do all these ‘practice sacs’, but they still need marking too, so kids get the feedback. So in weeks leading up to the SAC you’re probably doing one prac sac in class per week, plus some kids will do their own outside school. I could probably mark one in anywhere from 8-25 mins depending on how much is written and where my brain function level is at in that particular moment. So this is where class size matters. Hattie may say it doesn’t have a significant impact on student learning but it DOES have an effect on teacher wellbeing. I usually end up with a class of 23 or so, but I’ve been as low as 16 (only time ever under 20) and as high as 26. Let me tell you it does make a huge difference! I think that’s one area where potentially private teachers do have it over public. If I could teach a 12Eng class of 16 or less every year maybe I wouldn’t feel as drained on the marking.
Love it, couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
No
Overall, yes. There are some difficult aspects but the good outweigh the bad for me. You have to get to know the kids though.
Yes, opportunities to travel and move. Decent pay, lots of holidays, good work life balance, opportunities To spend more time with your own kids. Career pathways. I love being a teacher
No I wouldn't recommend it. I've been teaching for 22 years. The money isn't good enough. The holidays are great, but ultimately, for what we do, the money isn't enough. I'm at the top of the pay scale. My 25 year old son started his first prof job this year he's earning nearly what I make. Within five years he'll be on way more than I make - not a guess, a fact. There are a lot of positives for women who wanna have kids and a career to get back to - that's true. In my school a leading teacher got promoted to AP, did the job for a term went on maternity leave for 2 years, came back for a year, went on maternity leave for 3 years, came back for a term, did it again, came back and then decided she didn't want a leadership role the school gave her leave without pay to work somewhere else and see if she liked it. No other job would let you do that. But for guys I thinks it's pretty shit and even if you go into leadership to make more money, the money is way not enough for all the responsibility and boring crap being in leadership entails. Also, the future of work is undoubtedly a hybrid of working from home working from the office. Teachers just don't have this option. I would rather work from home 3-4 days pw like my wife does and have less holidays than have to do go in every day as I do. She gets paid the same money but can structure her day how she wants, has no commute time when working from home, and loves it. This is a game changer IMO when looking at teaching's benefits vs other caterers
No way haha
No, I would have chosen a job with better financial remuneration for the time spent.
Honestly it’s so hard to answer that. Your level of job satisfaction and stress can vary so much from one school to another and even vary in a school depending on what grade or subject you teach.
Never. Even my physio is asking when I'm getting out. Its ruined my health!
If you really really want to do it i recommend you give yourself options. Do a dip ed or whatever is available as an add on to your course to be qualified. I would never recommend anyone do a bachelors. I also recommend seeing if its possible for you to volunteer or work as support in a couple schools while or before studying or something. You will get a sense pretty quick if the bullshit is something you want to put up with.
Studying and doing even a couple of years as a teachers is never going to be bad for your career. Teaching just isn't really considered a life long career anymore, younger generations think that about most jobs anyway.
My Biggest fear with teaching is the degree prior. Nothing about difficulty but more-so i feel it wont prepare me for the ACTUAL role and tasks ahead. Also content seems incredibly dry and somewhat irrelevant to the job.
I came into teaching after working in other industries for almost 20 years. Education, like every other industry, has its positives and its negatives. If you are unsure, I would highly recommend gaining employment as a teacher aide first. It gives a surface look into what teachers deal with on a daily basis. It also provides an opportunity to pick the brain of a wide range of teachers, all at different stages of their career. Personally, I am enjoying teaching so far. Yes, you have the mess that is senior admin. Especially if you are in the public sector. But seriously, most jobs I have had included an absolute incompetent, DoubleSpeak-fluent, seagull of a boss. I have also worked under amazing admin, and they are like gold-dust. Holidays are great and the pay, considering your background in retail and hospo, is pretty good. Too many corporate folk poo-poo the teaching wage. Yes, you could earn more as a lawyer, etc. But the holidays are also a big bonus.