We find out about life on the other side from a teacher
Tess Osbourne teaches psychology and science in a high school. Here she shares her thoughts on marking, parents’ evenings and those long long holidays…
1. Apart from standing in front of a class, what else does ateacher have to do?
Quite a lot actually. All teachers have a fair bit of marking, report writing, lesson planning, attending meetings, internal and external training, running detentions, parents' evenings, liaising with parents, overseeing coursework, taking and setting cover, looking after a form group, etc.
On top of that I am also head of the Psychology department so I manage the teachers in my department. Then there's managing the department budget, exams analysis and development plan.
2. What do you love about your job?
I love my students and build strong relationships with them and feel really sad sometimes when they leave. It's so rewarding when you can help someone achieve on a social or academic level. I really enjoy the performance aspect of the job; in teaching you are essentially an actor all day long your job is to transmit knowledge and a love for the subject.
I also think the nature of the job, spending so much time with children, adopting the authority role means that outside the classroom you really need your friends and to be able let off steam. As a result, I have a lot of good friends from work.
3. What are the downsides?
On the whole I really enjoy my job, so the downsides are more niggles than serious complaints.
Sometimes the workload is really heavy and can be exhausting, but the academic year has its own cycles and you have to go with it.
I know this one doesn't wash with a lot of people but, while the holidays are fantastic they are rigid and there is no flexibility, you can't just take a couple of days when you fancy it. Also being ill is really difficult in teaching because the classes still need to get taught, you feel really guilty if you're not there and being away always puts you behind.
4. What sort of person makes a good teacher?
You have to like children otherwise you will have a pretty miserable career. In terms of personality characteristics; you need to be flexible, ready to listen to constructive criticism. You also need to strong - all teachers have bad lessons and children can be quite hurtful so you have to be able to bounce back with a positive approach. But I believe that most people can be a good teacher, it's just a matter of finding the school that suits you.
5. What can our readers do if they are thinking about being a teacher?
Think carefully about the age group you would most like to teach and definitely know what you are getting into. If you're considering teaching, get some experience in a school; either on a voluntary basis or work as a classroom assistant. To become a teacher, you can do a teaching degree but the most common route is probably a one year teacher training course after a degree, the PGCE. There is also the graduate teacher training program where people basically train on the job and are sponsored by a school.
