by Richard Smith

Created on: November 10, 2008

When I tell people that I'm a teacher they immediately start commenting on the long holidays and how it is a part time job, all they want to talk about is the six week holidays and I do love to show up their complete ignorance of the profession and all it has to offer. Now I know the comments section will probably be filled with the usual Muppets harping on about long holidays, encouraging plagiarism amongst students and those that teach cannot do sort of one liners well lets deal with those first. Also if Frankie Boyle is on Dooyoo he will probably make some comment about PE teachers all being sex offenders which is the line we most quote in the staff room to the PE department. It is not plagiarism it is ethical recycling, to really be able to teach something you must have experience of it and finally my summer holidays are not six weeks long in fact they are eight weeks so just reflect on that as you plan your two week cattle class holiday to Benidorm with all the other wage slaves while I will be trekking in the Andes for four weeks.

Teaching was not my first career; I switched to teaching three years ago after sixteen years of working in banking. I now teach Economics and Business Studies in an independent day school to sixth formers so it should be noted that my current working environment is somewhat different to a large number of teachers who work in the state sector although the skills I use and the day to day issues are no different to most of my colleagues who I trained with and who are now employed across a range of schools. During my training I worked in two state schools, one would be described as "challenging" which translates as meaning kids who have behaviour problems and you can expect to have to deal with violent behaviour and one that was well run and reasonably successful academically.

My switch to teaching was partly forced in the sense that without a very generous redundancy package I probably would never have done it as I would not have been prepared to fund the costs and take the hit in my wage packet as effectively I took a 50% pay cut to move into teaching. Even now three years in to the change the redundancy pay out is still being used to subsidise the reduction in earnings.

The training to be a secondary school teacher takes a year and there are three options that you can follow and all will lead to you getting a Post Graduate Certificate of Education. You can be employed directly at a Graduate Teacher by a school, they will pay you

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