Calling teachers - career input..?

[Haven]

Arjunajane--Sorry, K-12 just means kindergarten through twelfth grade. Northwestern''s program serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, and my reading specialist certificate certified me to work as a reading specialist with students in any grade from kindergarten through twelfth.

As for whether vacations and holidays help balance out all that extra work during the school year, I''ll say that no, it did not balance it out for me when I was teaching high school. I chose to pursue a career teaching community college students for many reasons, and that was one of them.

I should also share that my own personal beliefs about feedback and grading are a huge part of the reason I was spending so much time reading student work and providing feedback outside of school. As a community college instructor I will teach fewer students for fewer hours, so that is why I will be able to have some more balance teaching in a CC. (Full time--High school: 120 students taught, 25 hours per week. CC: 36 to 54 students taught, 12 to 15 hours per week. That''s a big difference.)

 

[arjunajane]

Thankyou pinktower for your input - this makes complete sense to me, as I know my partner and I will have a child at some point and I understand education tends to be a relatively "child-friendly" occupation.
(please do comment if anyone doesn''t agree from experience).


Thankyou zoe for your posts and thoughts. Do you have any input on my most recent question? (ie. the trade-off between longer hours/less pay than other professions vs more holidays).?


Thankyou asscherhalo. Wow, your post really does illustrate the vast differences in remuneration depending where you live in the US..fortunately I understand it is rather more standardized in my country..
Like you, I am also considering something in education administration as well as an actual teaching profession - perhaps that would be more suited to me as I currentlt work in University administration..
I would also appreciate your input on my most recent question? (mentioned above), if you don''t mind

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 1/7/2010 7:25:02 PM
Author: ZoeBartlett
I forgot to mention the things I dislike about teaching.


1. It''s the only profession that I know of where your boss comes in to your work space (classroom), watches you work, takes notes, and then evaluates your performance based on that one snapshot. It''s still an odd concept for me, and I''ve been teaching for a long time now.


2. Teachers aren''t always trusted and/or given more freedom to do what they feel is best for their students. That''s probably the over-arching reason that I left my former teaching job after only a few months. A school''s or district''s administration can be wonderful or non-supportive. One is great to work with/for, while the other is definitely not.


3. Teachers'' opinions aren''t always asked for or taken into consideration when choosing certain books, materials, etc. for various curriculum areas. Often times, those decisions are made by people (curriculum coordinators or other administrators) who aren''t actually teaching. That''s frustrating.


4. It''s hard to leave work at work. I always take work home and it''s hard to turn my brain off at night because I''m always running the day''s events in my head. I don''t dislike my job because of this, but it''s not the typical 9-5 type of job.


5. The salary doesn''t match up with the actual work being done, if that makes sense. As I said in my last post, I don''t understand why we''re not paid on the same scale as other professionals.


*** I really do love what I do, trust me. These things are frustrating, but I deal with it because I love working with little kids. I can''t imagine working with the big kids. Yikes!

Cheers Zoe - ha ha, I''m the opposite, it''s the lil ones that I''m intimidated by, lol

 

[arjunajane]

Hi Sabine, I''m sorry to hear you had a bad experience. Thankyou for posting as the negative/criticism is also very helpful.


Thanks penn, I''m happy for you to hear you are so enthusiastic and secure in what you do

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 1/8/2010 12:43:58 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
I''m a university prof so my experience isn''t really helpful about teaching, but I wanted to know if you thought that there was room to move around within the Uni to a different position if you stay in your current position? I have always thought that working for a university is a great job because of the security and the generally pleasant and positive work environment. My impression of the staff at the Uni''s I have been at is that when they begin working there they often move aorund within the Uni to different positions and departments when they change interests or want more challenge. Is that a possibility for you and would you be interested in it? There are perks to being at a Uni that are not present in a highschool environment, most notoably the absense of 13 year olds

, though obviously the job itself is different.


I also wonder if you have looked into the need for teachers in your area? Where I am it takes years of supply/substitute teaching to lad a full time position, and many people are not employed after teaching college. Just something to think about if you have not already.

Hi Dreamer,
I am also considering university lecturer as well as secondary teacher, so actually I would love to have your input on similar questions for your position..

To answer your question, there is definitely scope for me to stay in my current department at the uni - but I would most likely need to move into a choice of two positions neither of which I''m really keen on.
But your correct, I really like both the idea and so far experience of working within a Uni / in academia and I would not mind at all continuing there after graduation.
I am not sure what qualifications one needs to become a lecturer at my Uni, I''m under the understanding I could do so whilst studying post-grad - so that is something I will look into.

I have looked around online at various times and there always seems to be vacancies for teachers here - but yes I agree I will do some more research on that before I commit.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 1/8/2010 7:43:02 AM
Author: Deelight
AJ I work currently for the government so I have a feeling your development plans are similar to ours and they really are there to help you develop I like ours we have meetings monthly to discuss our development and plot career goals


As for your teaching question I haven''t and not sure if I plan to finish my teaching degree but I did almost all of it and 2 pracs and community service so I have some idea of the Australian school system.


A lot of teaching is classroom, time and behaviour management and it can be a trying challenge sometimes but if you love your subject areas and are passionate kids respond also just because you study a subject at uni you may not ever teach it



What type/level and subjects do you teach?


High school 8-12


I studied English, History and SOSE but I taught in my pracs English, Geography, SOSE and religion however QLD based curriculum is very interdisciplinary so I liked to draw from other subject areas to teach my core subjects so I drew from Art and Drama to help create understanding . I was told repeatedly I should teach primary or middle school by peers and lectures as I like to teach more through activities and creative means and games .


What do you like/love and dislike/hate about teaching?


I did pracs so I was constantly being assessed but in saying that I essentially went in with a full teaching workload from day 1 which is not allowed as your meant to do half but hey what can you do


- Things I loved

Students understanding and getting excited about learning - nothing better then creating an AWESOME and FUN lesson and having students learning and loving it, I hated rote based learning and predominantly ran lessons based on constructivist theory of teaching (I as the facilitator and kids being involved and creating their own learning) Last week of a grade 9 class of snots who I ran a process drama with the kids came up to me the next day with things they went and researched themselves and facts they were excited, this is a class all semester I had issues with – that was an awesome day

- Marking work, I am a sicko but I liked it

- Writing lesson plans - I have some of the most detailed lesson plans my supervising teachers loved them

- The kiddies

- creating my teaching portfolio and also collecting resources

- Planning units


Things I hated

- Some of my supervising teachers and the mind set of what they believe students can achieve - I hate this attitude everyone is capable of great things.

- Doing assessments at uni

- Constrictions of outdated units



(If it''s not too personal), are you content with the financial reward you receive for your work?

- Teachers get paid approx starting 50k a year in QLD however in QLD we also have to get S ratings which means after 4 yrs of a degree if you don''t get an s1 on your final prac good luck finding a job :/



Have you made or considered making a career move away from teaching to a different or related field, and if so what? Do you see scope for career progression / movement as a teacher?


- I didn''t finish the degree for personal reasons, however now work for the government and love it and plan to move into either a team leader or a trainer role eventually I still love the idea of teaching students but right at this moment my heart is not in it and that is not fair on the people I would teach While doing my prac I found it one of the most amazing experiences ever and planned to become a guidence officer move into middle management - head of department, deputy or principal role with eventually going to work for QSA and write syllabuses , if I ever go back that is my plan .


Good luck in what you decide hope it helps


If you do become a teacher it isn''t for the money you really have to love it, it is hard I worked 10hr days by the time I created lessons and still had to do a part time job and full uni workload so it is hard but it was so rewarding I had some crap teachers I didn’t want to be and fantastic teachers who I emulated or tried to.



The best advice I got from one of my teachers is that every day is a new day and a new chance for a new beginning, no matter what happened yesterday today is a clean slate – that’s how I approached students and the way I interacted with them – if they were snots today that’s okay because tomorrow they may be superstar angels, you can''t hold grdges as a teacher .

Hey Dee,

I had no idea you studied to be a teacher - I''m really glad to have your input, as you know I''ve valued you career advice in the past.
Your subject areas and year levels for your pracs sound very similar and hence relevant to what I would ideally be doing - I would have Social Sciences/Society & Environment, within which I would like to teach Political & Legal studies and also hopefully land in a school that teaches Aboriginal history/studies.
My minor would then be English.

Actually, lol, your lists of "likes" sounds just like something I would write - I can see myself really enjoying researching and preparing "alternative"lesson plans too

I''m not sure if you''ve mentioned previous - if you don''t mind can you share what you do in govt? (ie. is it at local or state level etc)..We have discussed this before I believe, but I have also considered pursuing a govt. role, and I agree with you the jobs often have very good perks/pay levels.

ha ha, as you can see I have lots of ideas all over the place, hence a thread like this.

I just want to make sure I really make the most of the opportunities presented me in my current role to develop my skills/resume for a clear direction in the future; I got very fortunate in landing this current role and the cadetship (like a govt. scholarship), that I was granted together with the job. As you mentioned the development plans are definitely sincere and I feel fortunate I will have the chance to do a number of paid professional development events this year - I just need to make sure I choose ones that will be valuable and relevant to my future/CV - but first I need to nail down a profession, lol

A little insight on me - what I am currently working on and what I would really love to continue in the future, is working with Indigenous people and communities. At the moment it is at the university level with our Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander students; the areas and positions are really endless though, so I guess I''m trying to decide whether to pursue this in an education / administration / government or other nature..

 

[Deelight]

Hey AJ , we don''t do minors and majors here essentially you do two majors (I actually did 3 with the added Geography). I did indigenous studies at uni but have not heard of it being offered as a standalone subject in high schools.

At the momment I work for Fedral Government as a customer services officer (I would rather not say where though on a public board) and I have to say the perks make the job really worthwhile with flex, shutdown and holidays I average about 10-11wks off a year which is similar to teaching and the super contributions are fantastic much much higher then state or the private sector I can honestly say I will never work in the private sector if I can help it again . The government is such a supportive place so different to the private sector and if I can progress as I have planned this is the place for me .

I would say with teaching your heart really needs to be in it, unless you really want to do it it becomes a chore the work is hard with little reward and the pay is pretty crappy there is a lot of outside work out of school for instance on my pracs I did 7am starts finish school at 3pm left at 3:30pm and worked until about 10.30 at night plus uni and a part-time job but because I loved it, it didn''t feel like work. Now when I knock off I knock off that''s it I will never be expected to bring my work home EVER and if I did I would be in major trouble anyway .

The thing is as well the subjects your looking at (similar to mine) the job op''s are limited compared to other subject areas say for instance maths and science as a lot of people do those areas - not to put you off but that is something they don''t tell you have you thought about talking to the board in your state they might be able to give you an idea on vaccancies? Of the people I went to uni with a few ended the degree and not teaching and I know many that could not get permanant postions only contract work unless they went to private schools but then you also are expected to do more with coaching teams and tutoring and such and apprently the pay is less in many as well.

If you wanted to do something within the indigenous field there is lots of scope to find something in the governement arena I would do a quick search on APS jobs and see what is out there that might give you an idea as well. You may also like to move to a remote area and teach apprently you get paid quite well to move out there or so I have heard but I would definitly give the school board in your state a call and ask some questions .

You definitly have some choice ahead of you, it really depends on what you want to do it is hard when your not sure but give it some thought sometimes the right ops just land in your lap .

Good luck hun

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 1/9/2010 1:01:20 AM
Author: arjunajane
At this stage I have another question to add, if the teachers wouldn''t mind to answer:


The burden of extra work outside of set hours, in lesson plans, marking and the like seem to be a rather consistent theme of people''s ''con''s'' list;

in the sense that teachers have the school holiday times also free, have summer free (ie. more holidays/leave in general than other professions), do you feel that this ''balances out''?


I guess what I''m asking is, do you feel you get to take advantage of these break periods and does it in a way make up for the extra (unpaid) hours you put in during term/semester?


Thanks in advance

It''s a tricky one for me to complain about my salary, knowing how much time I have off during the year (holidays, one or two vacation weeks in the winter and spring, Christmas vacation, summers). Many times, though, unless I''m going away, I''m still doing some school work during my time off. I don''t know a single person who takes the whole summer off either, so a two month "vacation" isn''t really that long. It''s all about balance, and I am trying to get better at not taking as much home.

This is kind of going off on a tangent but the number of years'' experience a school district or state recognizes plays a part in how much we''re paid. For example, my former school district in New England put me at one salary schedule (8 years exp.), while the state I recently moved to put me two years below. This means a lot less pay. I''m doing the exact same work (even at the same grade level), but I''m getting paid a lot less. It''s frustrating.

AJ -- I hope this answered your question. I feel like I went on and on!

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 1/8/2010 9:52:06 AM
Author: swimmer




AJ, I just have to respond that in any country, school scenarios are going to vary tremendously. I am a high school teacher and administrator in New England, my salary is MUCH higher than anyone else has posted (my district tops out in the 90ks for phd with 12yrs of experience), but even if I was only teaching, the base would be more than 50k for first year teachers, and yes, this is in a public school. To address issues of respect, I have not had a student say anything rude to me in years (well, I am tall and muscular...). I have heard much of what Gypsy is saying from many other teachers before, and I felt that way working in an urban school that was underfunded, but like all other things, it really just depends on where you teach, what the community is like and the dynamics of the school.


My district purchases new textbooks faster than we can donate them to less fortunate schools in southern states. (The irony of taxpayers up north funding failing schools down south with very different politics is not lost on any of us.) We have very high test scores, college acceptance rate is 98% with less than 1% dropping out, in fact my state outperformed every nation but Singapore in mathematics last year. I do not work in a 'richy rich' neighborhood because the parents' demands there can drive a person batty I hear, but a solidly middle class town. Education is a priority that is funded, people take pride in their schools here and teachers are generally respected. Parents are generally almost deferential to teachers' input and only demanding of more opportunities for their kids to learn. While benefits have declined, I now have to pay 20% of my health insurance rates instead of 10%, having the summer free is lovely. My district pays for all courses I want to take at local universities and have paid for my national board certification, AP cert, and even CPR certification. While I will eventually possibly leave the hs classroom to teach full time at the college level, in my part of the US, that means a huge pay cut and a loss of tenure. I do love working with the university level students, but many are not as advanced as my AP high school students. It is more the slower university pace (not teaching 5 classes a day and no bathroom duty...working photocopiers...longer breaks and much lighter teaching load) that are appealing to me now that I have a baby on the way.


Again, I agree with Gypsy's post, know that both our posts are valid experiences and that also in AUS you will find huge variations from town to town in pay, treatment/stature/respect of teachers and quality of working experience.


Can you shadow a friend? I agree with the HR poster earlier that urged you to not tell the university folks that you are considering other options...do keep that info in your pocket.

Hi swimmer,

Thankyou for your answers. Wow, yours does sound like a dream district! It's great that the govt is so supportive and encouraging of teachers/further education.

Sorry, I'm not familiar with your terminology what is AP level?
And when you say administrator, what exactly is your role there? I'm just trying to get an idea of what kind of administrative roles you can fill in a HS..

Congrats on the upcoming baby! Nice how we have a number of pregnant teachers in this thread

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 1/8/2010 10:31:18 AM
Author: zipzapgirl
Hi arjunajane,


I think I got off topic on my post and wanted to apologize. i just got ringing warning bells in my head from past experiences and wanted to post the red flag. Guess this is one of the many ways that schools and corporate circles don''t really overlap much.


Best of luck with your search for a career path!

That''s okay zipzap! but cheers for the apology.

Your post was still relevant and I appreciate the warning, but thankfully it isn''t something I need to worry about in this role - in my last job you would have been 100% correct, hence why I wasn''t too sad to see it go

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 1/8/2010 10:38:47 AM
Author: steph72276
Hi....You''ve had lots of insight from teachers that I would just be repeating if I said, but I just wanted to encourage you to try and observe in some classrooms to get a feel for things if you are able to. I was able to do this in special ed and was offered a job, only we were just moving, so I wasn''t able to take it. It is good to go in and get a bird''s eye view of what you will be doing before you jump into the degree program. I think if more people did this (more than just for a day or so), they would choose other careers because it''s more about just loving the subject matter, it is about being compassionate and patient with children/young adults.

Hi steph,
this is a very good suggestion thankyou and I am going to follow it.
My colleague who is currently starting her studies to become a teacher has a contact who works in the area of my old school, so we are both going to arrange for a sit in when class goes back, if possible. Hopefully the school will be open to us doing so, and I think it will be a really valuable exercise.

Cheers!

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 1/8/2010 10:39:09 PM
Author: fatafelice
What type/level and subjects do you teach?

Middle school (usually 7th grade) Integrated Language Arts


What do you like/love and dislike/hate about teaching?

I love the kids. I love the way their minds work at that age. I love when I can teach them about the world, not just what we have in our textbooks. I love it when they finally ''get it.'' I love it when I can get them excited (especially about reading). I love to have them look through their writing folders one last time at the end of the year and witness their pride as they realize how far they have come. And, of course, I love the schedule.


I dislike dealing with discipline, but I can handle it. I dislike dealing with crazy parents (who believes a twelve-year-old over a professional adult?!). I dislike how much time I put in outside of my contract requirements. I dislike the lack of professionalism and effort that many of my colleagues display, and the way that it gives the rest of us a bad name. I dislike the fact that my school does not have a solid curriculum, so I have to figure it out all on my own. I dislike the level of support we get from our administration, but I know it could be much worse. And I dislike the attitude towards teachers and education in the area where I work.


I hate grading copious amounts of essays.


Are you content with the financial reward you receive for your work?

I can say yes, absolutely, to this one. I teach in NJ, and teachers are pretty well-compensated here. I have great benefits and job security. I do feel that I work a lot more hours than I am compensated for, but I do that by choice.


Have you made or considered making a career move away from teaching to a different or related field, and if so what?

I have thought about becoming a reading specialist, or trying to get into gifted and talented education. I have also thought about becoming a guidance counselor. But I am not sure that I am in the education field itself for the long haul, so I don''t know it I will put in the effort to pursue any of those.


Do you see scope for career progression / movement as a teacher?

Just as a teacher? No. But if you have interest in becoming a supervisor or administrator, then yes.


I hope this helps!

Thankyou fatafelice for your input - your likes and dislikes make complete sense to me.

This may be a little personal, so feel free to decline to answer - if you do not plan on staying in education for a lengthy career and don''t sound like you have your eye on an administration position, what kind of profession would you pursue after teaching?

I ask out of interest as I''m considering perhaps still doing my Dip Ed, than only teaching for a short period with the aim of moving into an advisory or education management position..

Hence my interest in what your plans may be..(if you don''t mind).

I am also intrigued about your comments earlier re. balance of effort/reward and how you can feel guilty if you don''t put in the extra (unpaid) hours to be an exemplary teacher - do you feel that in the long haul this could burn you out / make you...I guess disgruntled?

Thanks again for your input, its very helpful.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 1/8/2010 11:06:06 PM
Author: hihowareyou
I''m not sure if my experience will be useful to you but I''ll weigh in anyway. I am one of those statistics. One of the thousands of people who spent 4 years studying at university to be a teacher only to give up in the first year. The reality is very different to the dream. I think I went into teaching for the right reasons, the pay didn''t bother me and I wanted to help, encourage, work with and for young people but I was naive.


What type/level and subjects do you teach? I taught high school maths and science. In my first year I was given mostly grade 9 classes and generally the most difficult groups the school had to offer.


What do you like/love and dislike/hate about teaching? I enjoyed planning lessons and delivering them. I enjoyed seeing success and being thanked by students at the end of the day. I didn''t enjoy staying up until 3 am each night, I didn''t enjoy that the senior staff at the school used beginning teachers as a dumping ground for the classes/kids they didn''t want to deal with, I didn''t enjoy filling out risk assessment forms every time I wanted to use anything that wasn''t water, air or pens in my lessons, I didn''t enjoy the parents who freak out when they kid gets a B instead of an A (when they are 14) and blames you for this injustice. The support that I received from other teachers was nearly non-existent. When I was doing prac work teachers were more than happy to share resources with me, where I was placed no one would share a thing with me and I was expected to create everything myself, from scratch (or bought with my own money) in my own time. Perhaps I was unlucky where I was placed and this isn''t the typical experience of all new teachers but it certainly dulled my spirit.


(If it''s not too personal), are you content with the financial reward you receive for your work? I didn''t enjoy the day that I sat down and calculated that the number of hours that I actually worked well exceeded what I was being paid for and that I was earning less per hour teaching that I was when I was 14 and working at a supermarket. I didn''t mind being underpaid, I went into the profession knowing that teachers are not well paid and that QLD were the worst paid in the country but I didn''t realise how poor it was or how under-appreciated I would feed. At one point I worked in a bubble of federal grant money in what would have been my ultimate teaching job (hands on science all day every day without risk assessment forms all day everyday!) and the low pay didn''t bother me then but unfortunately when grant money dried up it had to end.


Have you made or considered making a career move away from teaching to a different or related field, and if so what? Do you see scope for career progression / movement as a teacher? Yes. I am now studying design with hopes to help the school system from outside the classroom. I really want to get into designing new schools and classrooms. I will always love education but have discovered classroom teaching is not for me.

Thanks for posting your experience hihowareyou - I''m very sorry to hear your disappointment with the job.

I''m glad you posted as its good to hear from more aussies - I didn''t know that QLD was lower paid than other states.
I understand the standard starting pay in WA is 55k, but you can negotiate in private schools etc..is that higher than QLD?

It sounds as if alot of your negative experiences were due to the people at your school/area you worked in..do you feel like you would have liked to pursue teaching in a different area/state or it just put you off altogether?

Design is a big change from teaching - do you mind if I ask, did you consider other positions that you could fill using your education degree, before going back to study?
If the reasons for your decisions are personal I understand,

once again thankyou for posting, it''s good to hear these varied experiences.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 1/9/2010 1:24:35 AM
Author: hihowareyou
I didn''t get paid holidays due to my unwillingness to move to a remote area to teach. In order to encourage me to move away from my family, friends and support network for a few years beginning teachers in brisbane basically work contracts that start on one side of the holidays and end a few days before the next set in order to avoid paying us. I saw it happen to friends who were a few years older than me, I saw it happen to other young teachers while I was on prac so I''m not sure why I didn''t prepare myself better for it to happen to me.


For me, no I didn''t see it as worth the holidays because I wasn''t paid for my holidays but I was expected to come back at the end of them ready to start teaching again... i.e. having worked over them. Thankfully at that stage my SO was well paid because otherwise I would have had to do what some friends have done in the past and work a second job on their holidays to get by.



I think the first few years are toughest on holidays as you still need to work a lot more in preparation for things. Once you''ve been at it for a while and have a good stock of resources I think holidays probably get to be more like holidays.

wow, I didn''t know any of this howareyou about the holidays..
I think I will phone the board here in Perth and ask how the holidays thing works for new teachers.
I know there is quite large financial incentives for teachers here to do a rural placement - I actually wouldn''t mind as I would embrace the opportunity to teach in an Aboriginal community - however I agree the reward would have to be suitable to the issues of relocating/leaving family etc..

again, I''m sorry to hear you seemed to have such a bad time of it.

 

[Deelight]

hihowareyou, nope I don''t think your the only one I am have heard that before from my friends it is hard to break into a school. I am a brissie girl as well would not be surprised if we went to the same uni

AJ 50-55k is roughly what QLD teachers get starting Victoria and NSW are higher.

 

[tboz]

Hi AJ just wanted to add, though you are probably aware already, that in the next few years there will be a surplus of HS teachers in WA due to the half cohort that will be entering year 8 this year. This surplus will probably linger for a few years I would say until the half cohort reaches year 11 or 12.

However, in saying that I am very close to someone within the education department who claims that there is only a shortage within the inner metropolitan area. If you were willing to travel a bit further out to say Rockingham or Mandurah I''m sure your chances may be alot higher.

I am in the same position as you, wondering whether it is worth doing a dip ed (though I have a science background)so it has been interesting to watch this thread.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 1/11/2010 6:50:54 AM
Author: Deelight
hihowareyou, nope I don''t think your the only one I am have heard that before from my friends it is hard to break into a school. I am a brissie girl as well would not be surprised if we went to the same uni


AJ 50-55k is roughly what QLD teachers get starting Victoria and NSW are higher.

Dee,
thanks for the tip on the APS website - I think this sounds more in my realm. Plus I like the sounds of a "perky" government job

Like I mentioned, I may still do my Dip Ed but take it in a different direction than actual teaching, perhaps Uni lecturing or an administration / govt role..
But I''m also considering instead of education, postgrad studies in Indigenous studies/community management or the like could be more applicable...our Uni has the most prominent Aboriginal studies centre in the country, so it''s a great place to start.

I find that really sad if Aboriginal history is no longer part of the HS curriculum - my year were taught it all through HS as part of social studies, but I believe there were some outspoken teachers from that school who were instrumental in having it introduced..I would find it very disappointing if it had since been removed

 

[fatafelice]

Date: 1/11/2010 6:07:56 AM
Author: arjunajane

Thankyou fatafelice for your input - your likes and dislikes make complete sense to me.

This may be a little personal, so feel free to decline to answer - if you do not plan on staying in education for a lengthy career and don''t sound like you have your eye on an administration position, what kind of profession would you pursue after teaching?

I ask out of interest as I''m considering perhaps still doing my Dip Ed, than only teaching for a short period with the aim of moving into an advisory or education management position..

Hence my interest in what your plans may be..(if you don''t mind).

I am also intrigued about your comments earlier re. balance of effort/reward and how you can feel guilty if you don''t put in the extra (unpaid) hours to be an exemplary teacher - do you feel that in the long haul this could burn you out / make you...I guess disgruntled?

Thanks again for your input, its very helpful.

Sorry I didn''t see your question sooner!

I don''t mind answering at all, but I don''t really have an answer. I still don''t know what I want to be when I grow up.

I used to work in a creative field (theatrical costume design), and I miss the ability to express myself that way. I play around in my head with staying in education, but I also think about things like jewelry making or interior design. Right now, I am just trying to make some decisions, but I probably won''t make a change until after I have kids.

In regards to burn-out, I think it is the reason I won''t teach forever. I consider teaching to be a serious responsibility and I won''t keep doing it if I don''t think I am effective. I see too many teachers who are wasting kids'' time. For me, the guilt I would feel would outwiegh the benefits of putting in less effort, but I also think that if I keep going the way I am, I will grow to resent it. I don''t want to be that teacher, so at some point, I will move on. That being said, we have a number of remarkable teachers in our district who have been going strong for 20-30 years, so for some people, it is possible. I don''t think I am that person, and I never have, but I don''t think you really know until you try.

I hope I am not coming off as really negative about teaching! It can be incredibly rewarding and if I could fix all the things that I perceive as problems in our education system (and society), I would probably teach forever!

 

[Tuckins1]

Date: 1/9/2010 12:16:46 AM
Author: arjunajane
Firstly, I wanted to say a huge thankyou to all who have replied - I''m very grateful that I can put a decision like this out there in this forum and get such involved and honest answers. It has been very helpful to read everyone''s different experiences and definitely given me lots of food for thought.



Tuckins Thankyou for your input. I know it will be different to here, but would you mind to tell what extra work/qualifications you will need to move to College teaching?



Thankyou Kimberley for your thoughts - I found your insights valuable as I''ve also considered HR prior to this but discarded the idea. Was your previous 10yrs all in HR? I''m happy for you to hear you are loving what you do, despite having difficulty finding a f/t placement. I hope you find one when you desire, and congrats on the pregnancy!

I believe that all I would need is a Masters degree, and perhaps some more experience in my field of expertise if I want to teach classes on education. But I think that with a masters I would have the minimum qualification to teach a lot of classes at a college level.