Career Change to Primary Teaching

Staticha1

Hi All,

I'm really considering changing career to national teaching, I currently work in a well paying unrelated field, am in my late 20s and male.

Has anyone advice or made a similar move?

What do you find the pitfalls/ good points of the job I may have overlooked?

Thanks

James Bond Junior

Staticha1 wrote: »

Hi All,

I'm really considering changing career to national teaching, I currently work in a well paying unrelated field, am in my late 20s and male.

Has anyone advice or made a similar move?

What do you find the pitfalls/ good points of the job I may have overlooked?

Thanks

Good points:
Rewarding
Reasonably OK pay if you are not living in large population centres.
The school calender and the amount of time school is closed. (Not holidays!)
A busy day which tends to fly by.
Family friendly working conditions.
Working with children is good fun, once you like kids!

Bad points:
Pay is reasonable once you are in a low rent/cost of living area. Forget about trying to have a good standard of living in Greater Dublin. Colleagues I trained with are renting rooms in houses in Dublin for more than my mortgage down the country.

We are being strangled in an ever increasing noose of paperwork for paperwork's sake which is coming from the department and is only serving to put undo stress on an already intense job. Personally I envisage burnout becoming a more prevalent issue in the next decade. I know quite a few teachers are thinking about a plan B careerwise.

You may work a "short" day but that day is extremely demanding and intense. A former engineer turned teacher once told me that he found the constant "being on" very draining compared with engineering as he always had quiet periods or could escape for 20 mins to gather himself if needed. Teaching doesnt allow that.

Due to population curves in the coming years it may become very hard to find a permanent post especially outside large population centres.

Career progression is quite limited, it can only follow one chain realistically. School management or inspectorate which not many are built for.

Bare in mind the positives far outweigh the negatives but I'm not sure I would recommend teaching as whole heartedly today as I may have even 5 years ago.

Staticha1

Thanks for the response, another question- is there many people who enter the profession later/ in their late 20s?

Ray Donovan

Staticha1 wrote: »

Hi All,

I'm really considering changing career to national teaching, I currently work in a well paying unrelated field, am in my late 20s and male.

Has anyone advice or made a similar move?

What do you find the pitfalls/ good points of the job I may have overlooked?

Thanks

I 100% would advise you not to go into primary teaching. The constant cycle of paperwork and paperwork and paperwork will eventually get the better of you.

And your first year out doing your Dip will destroy your soul.

Stay where you are, you aren't missing out.

Quandary

I used to work in a stressful IT career and went back to do primary school teaching in 2010 at age 29. Did Hibernia, was vry busy at times during the course but overall it was extremely manageable.

Best decision I ever made and I regret not doing it sooner.

In my old career I would be now earning triple my teachers wages but in a job that was 55 or 60 hours a week with constant stress and with an ever increasing workload in an under resourced IT dept.

I do miss the money but I love being a teacher and wouldn't go back to my old career for 200k per year.

James Bond Junior

Staticha1 wrote: »

Thanks for the response, another question- is there many people who enter the profession later/ in their late 20s?

My last two students have been 25 plus. Go for it if you really want but be warned, it's not as rosy as you may think. Do you mind me asking your current career area?

Ultimanemo

Primary school teaching is the most important job in the world

Quandary

Ultimanemo wrote: »

Primary school teaching is the most important job in the world

Nope, good parenting is!

afkasurfjunkie

Quandary wrote: »

Nope, good parenting is!

And in teaching you will see the effects of bad parenting on a daily basis and it can be both heartbreaking and frustrating. If teaching as a career just involved teaching I’d recommend it in a heartbeat but it’s changed in recent years.

dory

I was out recently with two people who switching into teaching in their late 20s and after a few drinks both said they really regretted doing it. Both were for financial reasons and they underestimated how much work they'd be doing in the evenings. But different strokes and all that, I love teaching.

honeybear

Staticha1 wrote: »

Thanks for the response, another question- is there many people who enter the profession later/ in their late 20s?

I went the postgrad route and would recommend it as an option. It's a very demanding course (more challenging that my unrelated degree and masters) but everyone there was really motivated to become teachers and there was great support. I'm teaching over 15 years and don't regret it...the years have flown!

spurious

If training late, you really need to look at the pension implications, plus the probable delay in getting a post (more so an issue at secondary, but also in primary), unless you intend to work abroad.

cowboyjoe

I worked in a completely different career and went back to teaching via post grad primary teaching in mid 20's. You won't regret it. College and first few years are tough. No doubt about it, but after you gain experience, it is well worth it all.

byhookorbycrook

I’d strongly suggest doing some kind of observation in a school if you can, or at least getting involved with working with a sports club or whatever for primary age children .

What people think teaching is and what is actually involved are very often poles apart . I love teaching , but I’m glad I’m closer to retiring than starting out . The changes are coming faster and faster and most of them not good .