Career as Teacher

Hello! I am a MOE teacher looking for an exit after my bond ends. I find myself particularly interested in counselling, looking to venture into the private sector after. Currently I am trying to find out more info on how I can make this career switch, be it recommended scholarships or further studies opportunities. I would appreciate any advice or experiences from someone who has been through similar career path as me. Many thanks!

Waiting for PRB statement to be out. Hopefully tmr.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hello! I am a MOE teacher looking for an exit after my bond ends. I find myself particularly interested in counselling, looking to venture into the private sector after. Currently I am trying to find out more info on how I can make this career switch, be it recommended scholarships or further studies opportunities. I would appreciate any advice or experiences from someone who has been through similar career path as me. Many thanks!

Go look at job listings for counsellors.

Usually companies will require at least a masters in counselling or clinical psychology

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hello! I am a MOE teacher looking for an exit after my bond ends. I find myself particularly interested in counselling, looking to venture into the private sector after. Currently I am trying to find out more info on how I can make this career switch, be it recommended scholarships or further studies opportunities. I would appreciate any advice or experiences from someone who has been through similar career path as me. Many thanks!

MSF and MOH may provide greater and more suitable opportunities for your passion and interest You can start off there first to build a more robust portfolio before transiting into the private sector. All the best in pursuing your dreams!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Actually, why are you so unhappy about? You are paid to do a job. There are many schools in Singapore. Just like driving, if you see that the left lane is already congested, why drive towards the left lane and insist the rest to speed up?

You own your own career my friend, so what you need to do is to ask yourself are you happy with your progression. If the answer is no, then switch to another school or another path altogether. Have you considered if every car is zooming down the lane, how long would they last. Can I end with this small observation to illustrate my point. Every slower driver on the left lane right now was a fast and furious driver of the right lane before in his or her driving life. What you should be asking is, is it making sense to stay in the left lane or zoom yourself out to the right lane.

I'm the original poster and I was waiting to see the majority of the replies to your post. Glad to see you getting shot down. I'm guessing you're a dead weight GEO5 or KP at the ceiling, one of those who is jamming up all the "lanes".

The truth (in case you haven't been opening your eyes) is that every lane is getting congested due to people like you. There is now a great limit to the number of fast lanes, and that is why it's making the cars behind suffer. Congrats if you were born earlier and was lucky enough to climb fast and slow down early. But your value gas actually depreciated much.

What everyone is simply asking, is for cars like yours to be eliminated and to get out of the way for a proper pace for education to progress. In other words, change to a bicycle or walk on the grass.

Agreed with above poster. Gtfo boomer.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

To be honest, I’ve been a teacher for more than 10 years and I can never understand how some teachers always claim that they worked for 80 hours? Other than the standard teaching hours, meetings and CCA, you can always manage your time wisely. Never ever do 1 to 1 consultation because you are not a tuition teacher. Make sure students ask their peers first before approaching you. Because if the whole class doesn’t understand, then can just re-teach in class. Next, you can always manage your marking load by managing how much work you want to assign. Advocate for peer/individual marking. Even for EL, get students to do drafts until the essay is of standard so that marking is easier.

Most of the time, I see teachers spending their breaks chit chatting with one another in the pantry and thus many of them complain that work only starts after curriculum hours. If you manage your time well, you can survive in teaching.

Maybe your school or department is well-staffed. Some departments are so short-staffed (NPL, maternity leave, people resigning etc), that the remaining teachers are forced to take on excessive number of classes.

Personally know of many people who were forced to take up entire levels or the entire lower sec cohort because they are the only perm staff left for that subject, and there isn't replacements for the missing headcounts. On paper, their workload fall within the 16h cap, but they see 16 classes 1h a week. Can you imagine the marking load for someone with 16X40 students?

Also, a lot of work comes in at the same time. For example, in July/Aug period in sec sch, need to teach regular classes while setting EOY papers and marking prelim papers, and also go for national exam duties, bring students out for competitions, and also plan major school events such as national days, teachers day, and at the same time ensure that committee work deadlines are met.

Kind of like the movie- Everything Everywhere All at Once.

80h week is more common than you think

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm the original poster and I was waiting to see the majority of the replies to your post. Glad to see you getting shot down. I'm guessing you're a dead weight GEO5 or KP at the ceiling, one of those who is jamming up all the "lanes".

The truth (in case you haven't been opening your eyes) is that every lane is getting congested due to people like you. There is now a great limit to the number of fast lanes, and that is why it's making the cars behind suffer. Congrats if you were born earlier and was lucky enough to climb fast and slow down early. But your value gas actually depreciated much.

What everyone is simply asking, is for cars like yours to be eliminated and to get out of the way for a proper pace for education to progress. In other words, change to a bicycle or walk on the grass.

savage but true

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Maybe your school or department is well-staffed. Some departments are so short-staffed (NPL, maternity leave, people resigning etc), that the remaining teachers are forced to take on excessive number of classes.

Personally know of many people who were forced to take up entire levels or the entire lower sec cohort because they are the only perm staff left for that subject, and there isn't replacements for the missing headcounts. On paper, their workload fall within the 16h cap, but they see 16 classes 1h a week. Can you imagine the marking load for someone with 16X40 students?

Also, a lot of work comes in at the same time. For example, in July/Aug period in sec sch, need to teach regular classes while setting EOY papers and marking prelim papers, and also go for national exam duties, bring students out for competitions, and also plan major school events such as national days, teachers day, and at the same time ensure that committee work deadlines are met.

Kind of like the movie- Everything Everywhere All at Once.

80h week is more common than you think

Cannot avoid peak periods like national exam duties and marking season during EOY. But one can do many things. Eg, don’t issue so many pieces of work that needs you to mark during national exam duties so you don’t have to do both at the same time. Taking an entire cohort is normal for humanities subjects like Literature, history or even geog. These teachers are rare but marking for these subjects can be fast if the teacher knows what he/she wants. Can you do peer marking in class? Leverage technology? So many things that one can do. The only real marking is maybe weighted assessment which you can negotiate for it not to fall during national exam duties.

Once you are in the system long enough, setting exam papers shouldn’t take a long time. In fact, it’s one of the easiest task because you would have sufficient resources. It may be tougher for newbies but collaborate! Think of how you can share resources with others.

Really, it’s about taking control of what you can instead of merely complaining. If one cuts down the time used to have small talks with colleagues, then you will see a drastic improvement in efficiency. Also, think of ways to empower students. Many events can be planned by students. You just need to monitor. If you want to be in control of everything, then you will surely feel the burnt out and work 80 hours per day.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm the original poster and I was waiting to see the majority of the replies to your post. Glad to see you getting shot down. I'm guessing you're a dead weight GEO5 or KP at the ceiling, one of those who is jamming up all the "lanes".

The truth (in case you haven't been opening your eyes) is that every lane is getting congested due to people like you. There is now a great limit to the number of fast lanes, and that is why it's making the cars behind suffer. Congrats if you were born earlier and was lucky enough to climb fast and slow down early. But your value gas actually depreciated much.

What everyone is simply asking, is for cars like yours to be eliminated and to get out of the way for a proper pace for education to progress. In other words, change to a bicycle or walk on the grass.

On the other hand, too many younger teachers think that they're F1 calibre racers driving high end performance cars. In reality, a lot of them are YPs driving souped up cars that sound great but have poor acceleration. Its all sound, without substance.