I hate the Dip

halfmoon123

I'm only a couple of weeks into the PDE and I hate it already. It's just awful. I don't know whether to keep going or to withdraw from it completely. I'm a very competent teacher, and that's going well but I can't stand dealing with these cooperating teachers, and the course in college is the most irrelevant thing I've ever seen - psychological modules, structuring lessons, all this deep rubbish that amplifies the unaddressed juxtaposition of opinions and concepts that IS the PDE. I go into school every day, the teachers (when they're not complaining and yapping about petty things like unions, pay slips and taxes) look at my lesson plans, start laughing and saying 'Oh God it's nothing like this in real life...' 'oh poor you and your one class a day...' etc. etc. And then we go into college and there are all of these lecturers who are 25 years out of the teaching business, and therefore have lost all understanding of the way the actual job works, and they stand there saying 'have a deep emotional connection to this and that and everything else' and all of our heads are mush. And then on top of all of that, they throw assignments and essays and god knows what else at us - because clearly we don't have enough to be dealing with, with lesson plans (you'd have to be an idiot to stick to one of those), the students themselves, these cooperating teachers etc. etc... It's the most negative experience I've ever been involved with, and it's making me depressed - all the teaching students seem to do is complain, and it's just horrendous. I hate it. Thankfully, I'm not relying on this profession as a career; I chose to do the course because I felt I had an interest in teaching and it was to close the chapter of my educational life following my undergraduate degree... I pity those who are entering this course, and who have no choice but to follow this career path for the rest of their lives. What a load of rubbish.

dory

You seem to feel similar to everyone who has ever done the Dip ever. Only decision you have to make now is if you want to be a teacher after this year. If yes, get on with it and it'll be over soon. If not, might as well leave and do something else. Many people drop out every year for similar reasons.

TheBody

The PDE is in serious need of reform. I'm glad I got it done before it went 2 years long.

It really was tough for me to pay several thousand to sit through hours of rubbish lectures.

APART from the teaching practice aspect, I found almost all of the lectures a waste of my time.

Kinda laughable that taking this rubbish course "qualifies" a person to be a teacher.

implausible

I hated the Dip. I love teaching. If you want to teach, just put your head down and get on with it.

drvantramp

Get over yourself.
Pay slips are not petty things.
You seem to have other career worked out, so go for it.

2011abc

Fine bit of bullying by some posters here .Well done ,you got him to close his account !

He ( or she) had a completely valid view ,well expressed and has my sympathy for being in the midst of the dip and the aforementioned bullying ...

gubbie

I know what you mean about the teachers complaining! I'm working in the UK and honestly it surprises me what a positive attitude that all the teachers have towards their work and the children. Maybe it's just the school.

I think it's because at home, no one ever really moves unless they have to. There's many teachers who once they're in, they'll be still there in 10, 20 years time. There's no career paths for people to go on, so if you start getting bored and disliking your job, your option is Principal or quit. So those who feel like they can't give up, don't.

spurious

2011abc wrote: »

Fine bit of bullying by some posters here .Well done ,you got him to close his account !

He ( or she) had a completely valid view ,well expressed and has my sympathy for being in the midst of the dip and the aforementioned bullying ...

If you have an issue with a post, please use the 'report' button.

drvantramp

2011abc wrote: »

Fine bit of bullying by some posters here .Well done ,you got him to close his account !

He ( or she) had a completely valid view ,well expressed and has my sympathy for being in the midst of the dip and the aforementioned bullying ...

1. The account was already closed when replies followed. No bullying here as you are implying.
2. Go back and reread original post - could be a troll as poster seems to know it all already! Where is the willingness to listen and learn?
3. There was valid criticism of lecture formats.
4. The dip is completely overplayed, get on with it !!

evolving_doors

drvantramp wrote: »

1. The account was already closed when replies followed. No bullying here as you are implying.
2. Go back and reread original post - could be a troll as poster seems to know it all already! Where is the willingness to listen and learn?
3. There was valid criticism of lecture formats.
4. The dip is completely overplayed, get on with it !!

Ya , that post didn't really have a purpose (it had some valid points though...but no purpose).

I dont like carrots (they're orange BTW), Im just eating them just cos... but I can eat broccoli if I want but I'm going to tell everyone about it ...

teach88

halfmoon123 wrote: »

Thankfully, I'm not relying on this profession as a career; I chose to do the course because I felt I had an interest in teaching and it was to close the chapter of my educational life following my undergraduate degree.

Well, in that case, you are an extremely selfish and uncaring person. Competition for places on the PDE is strong every year and no doubt was even more so this year as the final one-year course.

I hope I am wrong but you have probably kept a more dedicated and passionate student-teacher out of the course just to "close your chapter".

Perhaps, rather than reform the PDE by making it a two-year course, the powers-that-be should have introduced an interview process to ensure that only people who have a passion for teaching or who show a genuine interest be allowed in. That would almost certainly improve the quality of NQTs (as the government seems to feel is necessary).

Powerhouse

I envy the OP in some ways. Who could not but covet that dismissive certainty (apparent only at a certain stage of life) where you can declare yourself a 'competent teacher' without having ever been independently assessed (which for all its accepted foibles and limitations the Dip does).

And who could not but be jealous of having such economic cotton-wool wrapped around you that you can disdainfully refer to prosaic talk of taxes and payslips as 'petty' - as if these little people merely serve to inadvertently commemorate the centenary of the original 'fumbling in a greasy till' while our heroic OP clings to higher ideals in the midst of this ever-encroaching Phillistinism. Why not think of the children - who cares if you can pay your mortgage?

It really is a wonderfully virginal and innocent stage in life when you have not yet been besmirched and bespoilt by contamination from the real world. I do envy them that.

Don't envy them much else mind - you probably need a licence to carry around that much attitude.;)

maynooth_rules

TheBody wrote: »

The PDE is in serious need of reform. I'm glad I got it done before it went 2 years long.

This. very very little in it is actually useful to your in the classroom. Needs a complete and utter overhaul.
Everything I learned about teaching in my Dip year was from being thrown in the deep end while teaching a class. the Dip helped in no way whatsoever. Plus it didnt help that I had a horrendous superviser coming to visit me 6 times.
Hated the Dip with a vengence and it was the worst year of my life, but loved teaching

Mardy Bum

maynooth_rules wrote: »

This. very very little in it is actually useful to your in the classroom. Needs a complete and utter overhaul.
Everything I learned about teaching in my Dip year was from being thrown in the deep end while teaching a class. the Dip helped in no way whatsoever. Plus it didnt help that I had a horrendous superviser coming to visit me 6 times.
Hated the Dip with a vengence and it was the worst year of my life, but loved teaching

So you didn't learn anything about differenciation during it or formative assessment or the correct way to structure classes?
You didn't learn anything about classroom management or ICT?
In that case anyone could learn to be a teacher if they were thrown in front of a class enough.

You may have been aware of all these before you started the dip and if you were I salute you.

mrboswell

Mardy Bum wrote: »

So you didn't learn anything about differenciation during it or formative assessment or the correct way to structure classes?
You didn't learn anything about classroom management or ICT?
In that case anyone could learn to be a teacher if they were thrown in front of a class enough.

You may have been aware of all these before you started the dip and if you were I salute you.

I agree with Maynooth Rules.
Although we did learn about differentiation and formative assessment as well as limited classroom management and ICT the majority of the year was waste. A lot more time should have been spent on the things you have outlined.
I also felt as though we could have spent way more time learning how to teach difficult parts of the courses we teach in our subjects.

All of the things we are expected to do when we leave the Dip can take many years to build up and develop so if the course is changed to two years then this could be something that the course will help you do.

I would say two thirds of what we did will never be used.