Situation is appalling. Teachers are leaving state education in droves. The children will yet again be the ones to suffer.
Who would have thought shit pay and working conditions would lead to less staff. You’ve gotta be some kinda masochistic bastard to wanna be a teacher.
The subreddits for teachers, both uk-specific and international, are among the most depressing subreddits on this site. IMO they are unhappier than the subreddits for grief, suicidal people, auntie networks and dealing with family mental illness combined.
Speaking about real life issues, though, as far as I can tell the Tories consider this a step in the right direction. Most of them never liked that whole enlightenment crap to begin with, let alone universal education.
As someone who gladly walked away and never looked back, it’s wrong to say it’s entirely due to pay. Pay was average and not the reason folk were leaving. The depressing work conditions and workload did most of my intake, not to mention a toxic environment that seemed to reward cliques and bullies.
In eight years I saw four colleagues leave due to bullying (never led anywhere despite formal complaints being raised), a trainee teacher at a nearby school committing suicide, numerous examples of unrealistic demands (it wouldn’t be unusual to pull an all-nighter, then do a day of teaching…and still be behind and told you aren’t working hard enough). Throw in children with SEN or behavioral problems not being given the support they require…and you being expected to step in and provide this whilst juggling 29 other kids, a constant atmosphere of fear, constantly being evaluated and assessed to ensure you are delivering to certain points (and then criticized for formulaic lessons), blamed by senior leaders and parents if things go bad, but ignored if things go well.
On average the life expectancy of a teacher is 5 years less than other jobs. I am amazed any of them reach retirement age. I aged about 40 years doing it
Yeah, well they *still* take their cut at the agencies and the supply rate is shit. It used to be 180 quid a day for me, now I’d be lucky to get £150 so I don’t bother.
Headteachers *still* expect you to jump through hoops to get the job.
Schools are *still* not attractive places to work.
No benefits, no free lunches, no gym membership, absolutely fuck all.
If they’re that desperate they’d advertise their job NOT demanding outstanding teachers. They would leave everyone alone when teacher turns up and thank them simply for turning up every day, not micromanaging their day and adding unnecessary tasks onto your plate and then blaming you when it all goes wrong
You’d never know schools wanted staff to be honest, the whole thing is grinding to a slow halt.
Support staff get even less yet are often expected to cover and plan lessons at a moment’s notice.
I tried teaching for a couple of days when I was considering retraining into something more “meaningful”…..it was fucking awful! The kids were rude and obnoxious and I got shouted at and wolf-whistled. Why would I take a paycut, double my hours (I currently work 9-5 with an hour for lunch and never have to do any overtime), get abuse from teenagers and their parents when in my office job I get treated with respect, have no stress and plenty of time for hobbies and a personal life? There are 2 ex-teachers on my team, they only lasted a few years each.
Paying more would help but the only real solution is to
hire more teachers and reduce teaching time table to maybe around 70%. I’d still be working daft hours but at least my classes would get a sufficient amount of attention.
I mean plus side to me as a science teacher is if I decide to move there is a glut of positions.
some teaching abroad for better pay and free rent, others into different fields
I taught for six years. I fell into a deep depression, self harmed and certainly would have taken my life if it wasn’t for my then partner, now wife. I felt after that near suicide attempt and never looked back. I still struggle with mental health but I am SO much better than I was. Even now people tell me I appear much happier and healthier.
Schools have been back for weeks
They’re here in China getting paid £50-60k for less work and with less qualifications.
Just met a guy from UK that quit his PGSE to come out here. Why would he want to continue to put effort in to study, he makes more money here without a teaching licence.
12 comments
Situation is appalling. Teachers are leaving state education in droves. The children will yet again be the ones to suffer.
Who would have thought shit pay and working conditions would lead to less staff. You’ve gotta be some kinda masochistic bastard to wanna be a teacher.
The subreddits for teachers, both uk-specific and international, are among the most depressing subreddits on this site. IMO they are unhappier than the subreddits for grief, suicidal people, auntie networks and dealing with family mental illness combined.
Speaking about real life issues, though, as far as I can tell the Tories consider this a step in the right direction. Most of them never liked that whole enlightenment crap to begin with, let alone universal education.
As someone who gladly walked away and never looked back, it’s wrong to say it’s entirely due to pay. Pay was average and not the reason folk were leaving. The depressing work conditions and workload did most of my intake, not to mention a toxic environment that seemed to reward cliques and bullies.
In eight years I saw four colleagues leave due to bullying (never led anywhere despite formal complaints being raised), a trainee teacher at a nearby school committing suicide, numerous examples of unrealistic demands (it wouldn’t be unusual to pull an all-nighter, then do a day of teaching…and still be behind and told you aren’t working hard enough). Throw in children with SEN or behavioral problems not being given the support they require…and you being expected to step in and provide this whilst juggling 29 other kids, a constant atmosphere of fear, constantly being evaluated and assessed to ensure you are delivering to certain points (and then criticized for formulaic lessons), blamed by senior leaders and parents if things go bad, but ignored if things go well.
On average the life expectancy of a teacher is 5 years less than other jobs. I am amazed any of them reach retirement age. I aged about 40 years doing it
Yeah, well they *still* take their cut at the agencies and the supply rate is shit. It used to be 180 quid a day for me, now I’d be lucky to get £150 so I don’t bother.
Headteachers *still* expect you to jump through hoops to get the job.
Schools are *still* not attractive places to work.
No benefits, no free lunches, no gym membership, absolutely fuck all.
If they’re that desperate they’d advertise their job NOT demanding outstanding teachers. They would leave everyone alone when teacher turns up and thank them simply for turning up every day, not micromanaging their day and adding unnecessary tasks onto your plate and then blaming you when it all goes wrong
You’d never know schools wanted staff to be honest, the whole thing is grinding to a slow halt.
Support staff get even less yet are often expected to cover and plan lessons at a moment’s notice.
I tried teaching for a couple of days when I was considering retraining into something more “meaningful”…..it was fucking awful! The kids were rude and obnoxious and I got shouted at and wolf-whistled. Why would I take a paycut, double my hours (I currently work 9-5 with an hour for lunch and never have to do any overtime), get abuse from teenagers and their parents when in my office job I get treated with respect, have no stress and plenty of time for hobbies and a personal life? There are 2 ex-teachers on my team, they only lasted a few years each.
Paying more would help but the only real solution is to
hire more teachers and reduce teaching time table to maybe around 70%. I’d still be working daft hours but at least my classes would get a sufficient amount of attention.
I mean plus side to me as a science teacher is if I decide to move there is a glut of positions.
some teaching abroad for better pay and free rent, others into different fields
I taught for six years. I fell into a deep depression, self harmed and certainly would have taken my life if it wasn’t for my then partner, now wife. I felt after that near suicide attempt and never looked back. I still struggle with mental health but I am SO much better than I was. Even now people tell me I appear much happier and healthier.
Schools have been back for weeks
They’re here in China getting paid £50-60k for less work and with less qualifications.
Just met a guy from UK that quit his PGSE to come out here. Why would he want to continue to put effort in to study, he makes more money here without a teaching licence.