Talk to me about teaching

Pretty simple really. I am considering a career change into teaching... I know there are LOTS of teachers on BB. Talk to me about your experiences - study through to actual teaching. I'm undecided if I'd brave secondary teaching (memories of how badly my teachers were treated haunt me!) or primary teaching... talk to me about work load, politics (because it's everywhere), tips, advice, hours, for secondary teachers - do you get to pick what you teach? i.e. maths or english? Because no one would ever want me to teach maths! :rofl: I currently work as a nurse so it is reasonable to expect that I *could* teach biology or health.

TIA

MG

Just to remind myself to post when it's not half past two in the morning and I'm waiting for a doctor to call!

This is all rather NSW-specific, stuff I found out for a friend who was researching teaching options.

Secondary teachers do get to choose their subject: you have to choose when you start study to become a teacher. So you get into the uni course and you have to tell them at enrolment what subject(s) you are going to specialise in.

Note that if you want to do one of the conversion courses (ie DipEd/BTeach, where you have an existing degree and you do a shorter course to switch to teaching) you have to have done relevant courses inside your other degree. For example, here's what they say you need to have to convert to teach Biology in NSW:

'A major in science (3 years of degree level study with at least 4 units at level
2 or above) of 4 units in biology and 2 units in one of chemistry or physics." (A "unit" means a university subject, and "level" is which university year you took it in.)'

You'd have to check with a university which of your nursing subjects count.

The NSW info is at NSW Institute of Teachers: Subject Content Requirements (abridged)

I am a Primary school teacher and I love love love my job, can't imagine myself doing anything else. Having said that it is a tough job- it often feels like the responsibility never ends, I am always wondering if I am doing enough, thinking about what to do next etc. Work load can be really full on- when I was first out (before children) and teaching my first class I would get to school by 7:30- stay till 4:30 and do a minimum of half a day on the weekend as well a couple of hours at home in the evenings. Now that I am working part time, and I am a bit more experienced, obviously not putting in as much time- I can't, I have a family now and it just would be fair on them. I find report/ assessment portfolio time to be very stressful, It takes a lot out of me but usually only lasts a few weeks.
Dealing with troublesome students & parents can be quite draining, but usually if you have a good Admin team, it cuts down on that stress as they take on alot of that work load- at the moment in my class I have a couple of quite severe behaviours and it is draining, but my Admin team is working hard to support me and get me some extra assistance with those students.
On the plus side, and for me this far outways the negative, I love the challenge of finding fun and creative ways to stimulate student learning- I am by nature a thinker, and I am often coming with activities and lessons that even excite me. I love the bonds that I get to share with my students, and the progress they make over 12 months. I love all things school, I love assembly items, and school concerts, book week parades etc, I just love being a part of that environment.
The biggest thing for me when I got into teaching was, that if I could change the course of just 1 child's life (for the better obviously ) because of the time they have spent in my classroom then I have made a difference to this world, if I can do it for more than 1 child then I am a lucky person, because to have the power to change lives is both a wonderful and scary thing and if you are passionate about what you do, and you and you can foster a positive attitude towards school, and love for learning then you are really great at what you do.

Good luck with the decision, I say go for it, but I am biased because I love what I do so much.

Hi Mother goose! I'm currently doing my dip ed in secondary teaching (biology science)

its heavy going. I did it part time, so the theory components last year and this semester i'm doing placements. Being pregnant really complicated things but never mind LOL There have been lots of essays and research for assessment, and lots of admin to do with placements on top of that (police checks, organising 5 community experience days, reporting etc etc). I feel so behind the 8 ball, stressed and like i am not keeping up with everything, but just managing to stay afloat. I have a 1000 word essay due in a week which i havent started, and i'm still organising my paperwork for professional experience as a priority even though thats not for assessment! That could just be my uni but. I have no idea what school i am going to yet - find that out next week, just before i start my first official student teacher day - its crazy!

BUT i am learning lots, i still feel passionate that i'm doing the right career now, still feel positive about it all - hopefully placements and the teenagers wont change that LOL. Its scary but exciting, and it just feels so noble and worthwhile to me....but then you are a nurse so you have that already...:p Its something thats been seriously lacking in my career so far - pride in what i am doing...and belief...passion.

I didnt get to choose subject per se, they looked at my degree and said I qualified for biology as i'd done the required number of units in second and third years, I missed out on chemistry by one subject at second year and one at third year level...
I'd assume you would have plenty of health/biology subjects though....

Politics - well just starting to get into all of that. With the Draft National curriculum coming out, its a political minefield....i hate politics so i am laughing at myself for thinking this was somehow better than the public service!!!! I'll concentrate on the teaching for now i think!!!!

Schools obviously have their own politics too but i havent experienced that yet - ask me ina month's time and i'll have one school to base my opinions on!

I am getting the picture its a 24/7 job and not 8-3 like everyone assumes, and "you get heaps of holidays!' sounds like a funny thing people say to stir you because they dont really know how much work teachers have to do.

the only other thing i'd say is i am glad not to be doing primary school teaching - they have to teach everything and that must be so so hard....i cant imagine having a curriculum that expects me to teach Indigenous studies and history as well as maths science etc etc. when my passion is with sciences and my history knowledge is zilch. I think primary school teachers have a really hard job...

Anything else you want to know from a student perspective, i'll be happy to answer :)

When we were completing our final year of our teaching degree, we were told that 70% of those that graduate would not make it to 5 years in the job. I remember smirking and thinking that there's no way i would be one of those statistics. well, here i am, after 4.5 years on the job (followed by 2.5 years on maternity leave) seriously wondering how i can ever go back. i get filled with dread just thinking about it. it is a hard hard job, with huge responsibilities and no break. honestly, i would think really long and hard whether you want to take on something so big before you undertake your study. teaching is not something to take on lightly. it's a big committment and something that i found really hard to remain passionate about.

Hey MG - have you thought of teaching at Uni - as in a nurse educator? Not an unreasonable step out of nursing...
I have no other info to offer you, but is something i looked into a while ago (before my current role) and the hours were really good and i could still do a shift or too.
anyway, just thought i would throw that in the mix

Hi Mother Goose!

I'm a Senior Secondary teacher (Home Ec/Technology) and it can be a really good job and can be very rewarding. When you have a class who are interested and want to learn and appreciate the time and effort you put into planning a class, it really is a great feeling. BUT, it can also drive you crazy as it involves lots of work in your own time planning classes, marking, as well as managing a sport/extra curricular activities, etc.

I love having structure to my day - I like knowing where I have to be and when and it keeps me organised, so if you can handle being told when to have lunch and go to the toilet, then teaching is definately for you. I love teaching older students as they know what they want to do and don't tend to have too many discipline issues. (They also choose most of their own subjects which means they are choosing ones they want to do!) I am at a Catholic school which helps as we have really good support in place to deal with 'problem' students.

On the down side - people who are not teachers and have never lived with one think that we are so lucky because we get so many holidays. What they don't see is that many nights we come home with a stack of work to do and that we really need those few extra weeks holiday we get to 'recharge the batteries'. I constantly dream of changing careers (especially now I have a family) so that I can go to work and then come home and forget about it till the next day when I get there.

Last year I was part-time for the first time and trying to juggle childcare hours with a timetable was a challenge. I only wanted to be 0.5 load (2.5 days a week) but with our timetable it meant that I had to work 4 part days which meant my husband had to stay home one morning a week, otherwise childcare would've almost cost more than what I was getting paid.

My tip (which I try to always keep in the back of my mind when I go to work!!) Think about the BEST teacher you had at school and why that teacher was so good. If you can achieve all of those things that your best teacher did well, on a daily basis and be happy, then that is what will make you a good teacher. It is pretty easy to be a 'nice' teacher but not so easy to be a 'good' teacher unless you really put in a lot of time and energy. Some days I love my job, and others I really can't stand it. It also really depends on where you work (every school is different and has different politics, etc.) and if you are lucky enough to get one where they will give you lots of help and encouragement in the first few years, you will do really well.

Sorry, I don't want to seem all negative or put you off, but I figure you want to know the truth.

Good luck with making your decision.

Thanks heaps everyone. I appreciate you all taking the time to reply.

Ginger - interestingly, the stats are similar for nursing! Makes you wonder huh?

SJ - I have thought of that and it is a possibility down the track if I stay in nursing. And there are currently some teaching positions going... but you need to have teaching quals first!

Amethyst, can you tell me a little more about the post-grad dip ed? length, placement requirements etc? I find it interesting you were told what you could teach, how did they work that out exactly?

Thanks again guys! I am still interested to hear from others in the field!

MG - some of them you just need a Cert IV... or at least when i looked into it, but that was nearly 5 yrs ago, so i guess thing hve probably changed
Good luck in what ever you decide to do :)

MG, another secondary teacher here. I completed a degree in science first, then went back a little later and did a graduate diploma of education.

I am qualified to teach secondary maths (at all levels) and science, and the senior science subjects I'm qualified to teach include physics and chemistry.

I'm not sure if there are different rules in different states, but as I had a science degree, junior science was a given. I had to have completed a certain number of credit points in mathematics subjects to get the maths qualification as a minor teaching method (ironically, science may be my major teaching method but I only teach maths now). For the senior science subjects it came down to which areas I had studied at uni. I had a major in chemistry so could tick off that one easily. I only did first year physics at uni, but that was enough to satisfy the NSW department of education that I could be a competent physics teacher, so it was also ticked off.

Qualifying to teach specific secondary subjects comes down to what sort of degree you have done, and which subjects were included in that degree. Perhaps contact the education department at a university and talk to them about what teaching methods your degree allows you to teach with a graduate diploma or whether you would need to study another degree altogether.

BW

MG, I was half-way through a teacher training year. I'm trying to decide whether this is for me, if I want to finish just the course. I've taken a leave of absence atm: I just couldn't cope with some of the stuff I was learning, and that really affected my ability to do the course. A crappy placement tutor didn't help either.

My problems stem from I had a bad teenage experience. I learnt on week 2 of my course, at Uni, in a lecture theatre, that I come under headings for being emotionally abused and emotionally neglected as a teenager. I also learnt, a few weeks later, at the school in a small seminar, that I displayed all the characteristic traits of someone suffering from abuse/neglect that should be noticed by teachers and acted upon. That was without the teachers knowing my background, which they did know about half of what was going on. Many lectures have been on the fact teachers are supposed to do something - and something nice - if they notice you are having a problem.

I don't know what the laws are in Australia about teachers having any care for their students' wellbeing, but in the UK I have learnt that teachers HAVE to get involved. It really hurt that they didn't and that no-one cared (and yes, I checked the laws were in place when I was at school too: they came in a couple of years before this happened to me so the teachers should have been, by law, freshly trained on this). In fact that sent me into such a spiral of depression I was unable to cope with anything that was going on - not a good thing when you're supposed to be learning how to teach.

My advice for you is that if you wanted to do secondary teaching, get some counselling about it NOW and don't be afraid to scream for help if you find it's bothering you when you start your re-training.

Having said all of that, I just LOVED standing up in front of a class and just teaching - it was fantastic! I loved the teaching, just not being confronted with my teen years again.

It's the best feeling in the world when you know you've helped someone get to their "lightbulb" moment. The point at which everything clicks and makes sense. If you can deal with the massive workload and politics, then go for it! ...

Sorry I haven't contributed more..I'm actually jaded by my work at the moment...but that's another thread.
Good luck! :)

Thanks BW, that is great advice.

LZ - I'm sorry to hear you've had such a negative experience. It is difficult when we learn that things could/should have been done to assist us in the past and how unjust our experience was. But I have learnt to take my experience and use it to provide better care for those I am entrusted with. Not always so easy, but I try.

MG - I originally went into teaching knowing that what happened wasn't right, but that I could help others. Finding out how bad my life was, then that something should have been done, which would have changed my life completely: that was a lot harder to cope with than I thought.

I think Ali said almost everything I would say about primary teaching. I can't imagine doing anything else - it is THE most rewarding job, but also the most stressful and all-consuming. I can imagine that if you are not passionate about it, it would be the worst job in the world!
Be prepared for long hours (I am in my 9th year and still work 8-4:30pm plus a couple of hours several days a week at night and up to half a day on weekends), lots of politics (wondering what changes the new national curriculum will bring - we've had three new syllabus' since I started, and there's lots of focus on literacy and numeracy standards here in Qld) and spending the vast majority of your days on behaviour management. If you don't have the behaviour management skills, then you just don't get to teach - and that's where the rewards are. Those lightbulb moments. And, as Ali said, if just one child moves on and looks back and remembers something I did, if I can make a difference in just one child's life, then I consider it a career well chosen.
Having said all that, I am soooooo looking forward to my maternity leave (1 week and 3 days to go!) and if I wasn't going on leave, I'd be looking for some time out in other ways as it has burnt me out to a certain degree. It is an all-consuming way of life (if you want to be a great teacher) so I am really looking forward to being something else besides a 'teacher'.
I hope you make the right decision for you.
BTW, if you already have a degree, you can do a post-grad course in 1 year, at least as far as I know.
Have you spent any time at schools, volunteering? That's not a bad way to see if you like it. And spend extra time volunteering while you are studying too, it's an excellent way to build skills and to make sure it's the right career for you.