Teachers; would you recommend your profession?

Question

This is for the UK... I'm a 16 year old student who is very interested in becoming a secondary school English teacher in the future. To be honest, I do get enjoyment from helping people (genuinely), but I'm also drawn towards it because it seems like a fairly well paid, enjoyable, stable career choice... will I be disappointed? I can't see how it'd be that bad, but whenever I tell a teacher about my plans a lot of them seem to discourage me and put down the job...

Answer 1

There is a lot of sources advising that you should do what you love...and that is decent advice.

However, the vast majority of people don't consider the lifestyle of jobs. People generally think that all work-lifestyles are the same...and they are not!

I was good at (math, drafting, and drawing). So I went into architecture school. I actually really liked architecture, but in my senior year, I saw how architects actually worked day to day. Then I knew I made a mistake. Although I liked architecture, I liked a lot of other things too. And I definately didn't want to live that way. I wasn't sure how exactly I wanted to live so I just finished my degree, which turned out to be the right choice.

I looked for other jobs that I would like to do and that paid well enough to pay off debts and live somewhat comfortably...since I wanted to be paid well. Quickly I found a different kind of work that I like (typical corporate computer job) and where the pay was much better. Later, as I defined how I wanted to live, I went from employee to contractor and have been a bit happier.

I see now that working for money really sapped my happiness. I wished I'd have gotten a degree from a good college and worked 24/7 like a madman for five to ten years to save/invest so I'd be financially free from age 30 on. Then I could have started a family, travel, etc. with no worries for the rest of my life. It really isn't that hard to do.

In fact, since I snapped out of mainstream thinking of "you must work your entire life", I've dramatically changed my finances and thus how I want to live. I have Dave Ramsey to thank for snapping me out of the mainstream trance. Anyway, I'm not rich or anything...it's just that without debt, the cost of living is really low, thus, I can take a lot of time off, travel, etc.

So before thinking about what profession you want to have, I highly suggest you really think about how you want to live.

You can still teach of course, but perhaps you would rather tutor at a nice rate so you can set your schedule...instead of commuting and working 11 hours everyday.

Frankly, I want to teach, but I'm going to get financially set first. For me, it is the right thing to do for me and my family...and for the students. A financially free teacher is one that won't have to comprimise to the pressures of principals, coaches, parents, other teachers, etc.

It's called living like no one else, so you can live like no one else.

Answer 2

I think people assume that teaching is easy, fun, rewarding, etc.. It can be. You have to truly LOVE kids and helping people. Teaching is a lot of work and takes up a lot of time. I found it challenging to teach and have a family b/c I wanted to leave at the end of a school day to be with my kids but I had so much to do at school. You do get off summers but there is a lot of after school c**p that the districts make you attend. I think I will wait to go back to teaching when my kids are older and I can devote more time.  Just keep this in mind if you are wanting to teach and have a family.   I taught elementary so secondary might not be as bad.