Not adjunct but back to service

Very hard to be back to service. They have excess teachers. So many schools are merging.. One of the KPI for SLs would be to get rid of dead wood.

just ranting
 

I just want to say.. its nice reading everything on this forum and knowing Im not the only feeling a certain way towards the system.
Dont get me wrong, I love teaching, its very rewarding. In fact seeing the students become what I look forward to the most in any working day (sometimes, not when they piss me off).
But the way the system is.. I believe i dont need to say more right?? Everyone here understands.
My contract ended in april this year, so did my battery (my mental health and motivation to work etc). The endless admin work.. unappreciative parents .. useless meeting .. not to mention millions of other small things (that I cant even think of right now because theres just SO MANY OF THEM).
To be honest. no amount of pay can justify the amount of physical and emotional burden being placed onto teachers. Its really not healthy lah.
Everyday I think of leaving the service, because if the passion is teaching, moe is not the only choice right? Just feeling quite meh, this is how they drive teachers away from the service!

advice
 

hello, everyone! just asking for some career advice.

i am currently a local law undergraduate who has secured a training contract and will be called to bar if i pass my part b bar exam safely. i will probably be getting a second upper. however, i feel like law is not my calling.

i’ve gone through several teaching experiences in my school life, giving tuition, teaching school kids about the law, and teaching underprivileged kids in developing countries on charity trips. i enjoy teaching and wish to enter moe to teach english/GP.

is there any advice to a newbie making a career switch like this into teaching? how does the career compare to law? i hope to achieve a bit more work-life balance and stability in teaching. how were the interviews and pgde in general, in terms of intensity and difficulty? also, is there a glut of teachers right now, much like in law?

thank you in advance!

Trust me, get your bar.

oh yep, I’m definitely going to get called to bar, but I’m just exploring options of going into teaching after getting called, because I don’t really like the idea of legal practice. dread it, almost.

May I know what’s the average pay for female grads with local NUS degree, with second upper class with honours? Thank you

For a more accurate idea, it'll probably be best to seek the opinion of someone who's got experience both with a legal career as well as in teaching. Not sure how many of those visit these forums…

That said, I do think work-life balance in teaching is not that great, especially if you're looking to teach EL/GP - though I guess it depends on how much you are able to detach from work as well. That said, from what I know, work-life balance in many legal jobs isn't great either (from what I've heard, probably worse than teaching).

Don't have personal recent experience with the interview process either, but from various accounts on this forum, it seems pretty selective. There is indeed an over-supply of teachers at the moment, though EL teachers are still pretty in demand.

Most practical path is to complete your legal training so as to maximise your options; but if you have the capacity to juggle it, you could consider registering as a SRE (relief teaching scheme) and stepping into schools to get a better idea of what the job entails. Given that your educational background (just guessing), you might not have that much exposure to the more typical student profile that you're more likely to encounter, given that the majority of vacancies would be in mainstream primary/secondary schools… basically, would suggest you 'try before you buy'.

thank you for this detailed response! ☺️

work-life balance in law is absolutely terrible, i’m prepared to leave the office past midnight as a trainee. but it seems like teaching definitely has a degree of this as well. i’ll keep that in mind!

i definitely will complete my legal training and try my best to stick it out, but i honestly do not think it’s going to be feasible for me to sleep 3 hours a day till i’m thirty. and thank you for that suggestion, too! i’ll apply for relief teaching during my school breaks. this is something that worries me as well, i came from an international school and did ib instead of going down the mainstream education path. i’m quite afraid this might disadvantage me, but i do think EL skills are transferable, no matter the curriculum.

thank you, again!

Yes the language skills are transferable. What could be challenging is build strong teacher-student relationships and understanding the background of students dissimilar to the teacher. While you should be getting more sleep as a teacher, remember that working hours start earlier but don't necessarily end earlier. On CCA days, not unimaginable for a teacher to be in school for 12 hours (6am-6pm) with just a few breaks in between to catch a breather. To be honest, time-for-money wise, the lawyer route probably makes more sense given that you're already halfway there.