Are there many teaching jobs around at the moment?

SideWinder

SideWinder

SideWinder

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Just curious really.

A few friends of mine want to become teachers and they are portraying it as "easy" and "loads of jobs" with "weeks of holiday".

Surely if it was that amazing, there would be thousands of teachers?

The way i have understood it, specifically from friends who have actually completed a PGCE, it is a lot of hard work with very long days and low pay to start off with. Also, the so called masses of holiday is usually used by marking and lesson plans. Plus, it is difficult to even get on the PGCE due to the amount of experience in a classroom you need in the first place...so i thought?

Can anyone shed some light on this?
 
The PGCE course is the hardest thing I have ever attempted.

Teaching is extremely tough, and very long hours.

Your friends are dreamer's if they think it's easy, that or they are very bad teachers.

I volunteered two weeks of my time for full time and one day a week for a year to get on the course.
 
Oxy said:
The PGCE course is the hardest thing I have ever attempted.

Teaching is extremely tough, and very long hours.

Your friends are dreamer's if they think it's easy, that or they are very bad teachers.
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My girlfriend is also considering teaching but she is, luckily, a bit more grounded. :p

If possible, could you speak a bit more about the course, the day to day workload and the holiday time off - if you are indeed a teacher at the moment.

Would be great to have an insight. :)
 
I'm not an expert on this, but since the recession and the lack of jobs a lot of people, especially graduates, have been trying to get into teaching because it was deemed fairly easy to get into. However, now because of this surge in people applying I imagine it will be much harder to get into.

You are right, it's hard work, can be long hours and you'll need to spend some time during the holidays doing extra work, but it does depend what level you're teaching at.

If you can handle that it's pretty rewarding, at least that's what a couple of friends who teach told me.
 
I know quite a few primary teachers, they have found it extremely hard to get permanent positions. Most of them end up doing cover work (pregnancy cover etc) for several months at a time before having to go elsewhere.

Think it's a bit easier but still not certainly easy to get a high school teaching job.
 
Also out of interest, what sort of age group would you like to teach? Do you have a degree, if so in what subject? Obviously science and maths teachers are more sought after atm.
 
sh4rk said:
Also out of interest, what sort of age group would you like to teach? Do you have a degree, if so in what subject? Obviously science and maths teachers are more sought after atm.
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I personally do not want to be a teacher. I am just curious and asking a few questions. My girlfriend is considering primary but i am certain it is very competitive.

As for my friends, one wants to teach biology and the other apparently wants to teach art or something artistic. Quite specific subjects so perhaps that would assist them in finding a job.
 
SideWinder said:
My girlfriend is also considering teaching but she is, luckily, a bit more grounded. :p

If possible, could you speak a bit more about the course, the day to day workload and the holiday time off - if you are indeed a teacher at the moment.

Would be great to have an insight. :)
Click to expand...

I quit half way through...

I was in the primary PGCE, expect to be in school at 8am, no break, neck a sandwich, setup for afternoon lessons, after school attend school meetings and fill in forms about how the lessons you do went.

Go home > eat tea > 8-2am doing lesson plans, finding and panacing about resources for the next days lessons lol.

Then the coursework - a lot of work!!!

Mix this with attending lectures at uni and it's very demanding. Holidays? There are no holidays on the PGCE. You time will be consumed with teaching and planning... 2 days off at christmas if u want to get your coursework done...

I was in a school in a poor area and parents fought in the playground F and C'd all the time on school grounds, problems with drugs, abuse, all sorts.

I didn't like teaching after 3 months of the PGCE, now back looking to get back in my old work area.
 
SideWinder said:
A few friends of mine want to become teachers and they are portraying it as "easy" and "loads of jobs" with "weeks of holiday".
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Speaking as someone married to a teacher, your friends won't last a term with that kind of attitude. The pay is abysmal at first (~21k) and as others have said, that "weeks of holiday" will be needed for marking, lesson plans and recovering from a gruelling in-term schedule.

My wife regularly gets into work for 7 a.m., leaves at 4 p.m., comes home and spends some time with our son until 6:15 p.m. (when I get home from work) and then does marking and planning until around midnight.

As you said, if teaching was so damn easy everyone would do it. Unless they are serious about teaching and it's their calling please tell them to do the children of this country a favour and do something else.
 
I am currently starting on the path to be a teacher. Starting a degree in September and then after that I will look towards doing the PGCE. However I know full well that once I know what my hours are in September I will need to start volunteering in a secondary school to have any change at all at getting on to a PGCE when I finish my degree. You need at least a 2:1 for most PGCE courses and you need to work damn hard once on the course itself. Once you have the PGCE you need to do a year as a NQT, more than likely in a tough school as the better ones can pick and choose their teachers.

In short I am looking at five years hard work before I can think about calling my self even an inexperienced teacher.
 
I've just been doing my PGCE this year and I had to quit in April as it was an absolute nightmare. My second school placement was horrible and the workload (up at 6.30, work until 1-2am every day) just tipped me over the edge. I'm hoping to return next March to have another go as I learnt a lot about what it would take to make it through placement 2, but I know full well that I won't be going in to full time teaching if/when I graduate. I just want to finish so I can say 'yeah, I did it'.

Anyone who thinks teaching is easy shouldn't even think about becoming a TA let alone a teacher.

Also, if your gf is looking at primary teaching, tell her to get as much experience as possible in volunteering in a local primary. At my uni there was something like 200 applicants per place on the course, and several people on the course had applied for 3-4 years running.
 
Teaching degrees require a lot of work and huge amounts of energy, you still have to study while working full time on placements. It is very difficult to find jobs in teaching at the moment and some subjects are worse than others. A girl I went to school with has just finished her probationary year and is having to move from Glasgow because the city council isn't giving any permanent contracts to newly qualified teachers.

Primary teaching is even worse as teachers are less likely to move around so really you're waiting for people to retire. I heard a couple of years ago that in some counties there were maybe 5 places available and hundreds of teachers without jobs, I very much doubt the situation has improved.

This is all in Scotland but I'd put money on it being exactly the same in England. A lot of people have gone into teaching since the recession because they can't find jobs after an undergrad degree or they want an extra couple of years before having to look for a job.
 
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