Is there life after teaching?

Question

I am a South African teacher (40 yrs old) living and working in the UK for 8 months now. How frustrating to see that British teachers are told exactly how to present their lessons. What is the point of 4 years training? Surely one's creativity is being stifled and we teachers are but mere 'puppets on a string', not to mention all the disciplining issues one has on a daily basis. I am now considering leaving the profession. Are there teachers out there who feel the same way I do? Is there anyone who has left teaching to do something else successfully? Or is putting up with all of the above worth it for our lovley, long holidays? I desperately need some wise counsel from my fellow colleagues.

Answer 1

You are in a strong position as you actually had a life before entering English classrooms. If you feel stifled creatively, work the lessons round to how you like to teach, putting your own stamp and style into the classroom.

There are many teachers out there who have only had the experience of school, college and university before becoming qualified, with maybe a gap year thrown in. Teachers with life experience, especially of another culture, are invaluable as you take your past experiences into the classroom with you.

Stick with it, I think you have more to offer than you realise.

Answer 2

There is plenty of room for creativity in teaching, in the UK. Teachers are told which aspects of the curriculum to cover, but not how to do it - they can devise their own ways of putting across the subject matter.

I feel that it is the amount of paper work that is stifling - recording every small step of progress is both time consuming and restricting, but it is part of the accountability scene. In the past, too many teachers were allowed to get away with poor teaching, but, today, there is tighter control and a closer observation of the teachers' performance. This weeds out the less effective teachers, which can only be better for the pupils.

However, teachers are still encouraged to use their skills to make lessons interesting for the pupils, to be innovative and creative. If you are findng this is not the case in your school, perhaps the Headmaster/mistress is at fault, and maybe you need to move on to another school, where you could meet with a very different ethos.

Don't give up so easily - good teaching is a rewarding and, sometimes. lucrative career. It sounds as though you are there for all the right reasons, so stick it out, at least for a while longer - the kids need you!

Answer 3

I have taught for 30 years and it is like a hamster wheel, ideas come and ideas go, then we finish up back at the beginning being told to do exactly what we did 20 years ago because some young "bright spark" thinks they have just discovered it. We have just had an inspection and after 1/2 hour observing a lesson make generalisations about your teaching which does nothing to encourage you. I agree, too many restrictions on what and how to teach. Find something else, if I had my time over, I would, even though I enjoy being with the kids. That is the only reason I have put up with it.

Answer 4

I'm a 43 year old teacher in the US and I agree with you completely. Here in America we have the law called "No Child Left Behind", which is supposed to set benchmarks for testing that all children are supposed to meet at certain points in their education. Sounds great, but the reality is very different. It doesn't take into account different cultures, different home lives of the children, or even whether or not the kids can speak English. I have a child in my class that doesn't speak any English, but I have to give her all of her assessments in English and simply watch as she gets frustrated.

All of our teaching is now scripted, and we move from preparing our students to pass the test to preparing for the next test. The students are burned out, the teachers are burned out, and there is no creativity unless a teacher is willing to buck the system, which I do on occasion for my sanity and the sanity of the children.

After 14 years in the classroom, I am tired and looking for a way out, but I'm not leaving education. I'm starting training to become a principal at an elementary school. It won't give me much more control over education as a whole, but I hope to at least be able to bring some life to whatever school I end up running. Yes, we'll still have to test, and we'll still have discipline problems, but I'm hoping to make the teachers feel as though they are important to me, the school, and the children. I'm also hoping to find (or make) the time for the kids to hae fun.

Good luck

Answer 5

I only lasted a year teaching high school history. I make more money as an executive assistant. Only one spoiled self absorbed person to deal with instead of 150 tenth graders. I make more money too, but don't have summers off.
It is frustrating just teaching from a curriculum that revolves around a standardized test; but you can take a few minutes each day to talk about the relevance of what you are teaching your students. How something pointless that you are trying to hammer into their heads is really a building block for knowledge they need as adults, to be informed well rounded citizens. That helped get me through the day.

Answer 6

I taught mathematics in the USA. We were not told how to teach our lessons, but I didn't like the disciplining issues. I an now a mailman and work 300 days a year instead of 180. I would never go back.

Answer 7

I teach in the UK and dont feel I am told exactly how to present my lessons - I get real enjoyment from using my creativity to plan lessons. Sure we may be asked to follow schemes of work and lesson plans but personally I use this as the guide it is intended to be and create my own resources and activities to fulfill these requirements.

Answer 8

Sorry, but you're very definately wrong about UK teachers having to stick rigidly to to a proscribed method of lesson delivery. There has always been plenty of scope for the innovative teacher to put their personal slant on there teaching - I know because I'm an AST - so you really need to get your facts straight, or get your information from a better teacher

Answer 9

My daughter was a primary school teacher for 11 years, she became increasingly disillusioned as the job descended into coaching children for 'sats' real education fell by the wayside.
Spontaneity was a dirty word, and children became increasingly disruptive helped along by parents who 'blamed' teachers for everthing wrong about their child.
She went into FE and is so happy lecturing foundation degree and other courses. So in answer to your question, yes there is life after teaching she is a testimony to the fact.

Answer 10

Wise counsel...and your colleagues...isn't that a contradiction in terms?

One of the reasons the teaching profession is in such a bad state in this country is because 'your colleagues' have allowed it to become so!

Teaching is a noble vocation that has been filled with the inadequate and the pretenscious.

Life after teaching in the UK is almost always regarded as the opportunity to retire early...and not much else!