Good luck with your decision! I did not read all posts but do agree with many that I looked at. I am a 2nd career educator...business first then went into school counseling. I cannot, therefore, say anything about the classroom but a few general adjustment things.
Kids are very, very, very different from what they used to be as are parents. The world is different and you see it a lot at schools. Depending on where you work the vast amount of social ills is sometimes overwhelming. There are a lot of classrooms that struggle with teaching...not just because of the "scripted curriculum" that others mentioned but because of discipline problems. Depending on your district and school, chronic disrupters may be able to disrupt a class the entire year. Makes it hard to work with the kids who want to learn.
The amount of kiddos that, for one reason or another, are unable to read or do basic math upon entering high school is astounding and frustrating. And sometimes their parents simply cannot help them.
The "ills of society" are what get me the most. Problems with weapons, drugs, gangs, teenage parents, lack of parenting (be it from lack of interest, lack of understanding, working numerous jobs to make ends meet...whatever) makes it really difficult to have an impact on some kids.
As far as adjustment from going from business into education: though I get it more than I used to, I struggle with things like pay raises on a scale, seniority, union contracts etc. I was used to performance reviews and a pay raise that was based on that review and could be anything (back in the day) from nothing to maybe $2000 a year. I was used to reviewing something that wasn't working and making a change versus not being able to make a change without contract negotiations. These things were all completely foreign to me when I transitioned into education.
The other adjustment was the "lack of respect" for the position. Working in business came with some benefits that simply do not happen in education. One being just the opinions of others. I think the profession of education is pretty amazing but some people consider it the job of those who cannot do anything else....are you kidding me??? We also, at my school, have a lot of parents that think that they can tell you what you need to do in your job. Again, I think it is that lack of respect for education coming through. This is my job...what I was trained to do and I had to get my Master's degree to do it. I do not let parents bully me but see it happen a lot...even with my administrators.
I sometimes miss the perks of business like getting company cars to test out(I worked in the auto industry many years ago), having an hour or whatever for lunch (we get 30 minutes...5 to 10 which is waiting for a microwave to open up because there is no time to run out and get something), the annual company party. Goodness, at one company we used to take a 9-5 day and go yachting on the company yacht. Not happening anymore!!!
All of those things aside....for me it was the best move. I love working with kids. As you may be able to tell I work in a somewhat urban environment and it is tough but I feel a great passion for what I am doing. I jumped into education because I was working in the auto industry back when kids were starting to kill each other over tennis shoes and jewelry (Jordans and bling). I just couldn't do that anymore. I felt like I needed to be with those kids and I really am happy to have made the change!
Kids are very, very, very different from what they used to be as are parents. The world is different and you see it a lot at schools. Depending on where you work the vast amount of social ills is sometimes overwhelming. There are a lot of classrooms that struggle with teaching...not just because of the "scripted curriculum" that others mentioned but because of discipline problems. Depending on your district and school, chronic disrupters may be able to disrupt a class the entire year. Makes it hard to work with the kids who want to learn.
The amount of kiddos that, for one reason or another, are unable to read or do basic math upon entering high school is astounding and frustrating. And sometimes their parents simply cannot help them.
The "ills of society" are what get me the most. Problems with weapons, drugs, gangs, teenage parents, lack of parenting (be it from lack of interest, lack of understanding, working numerous jobs to make ends meet...whatever) makes it really difficult to have an impact on some kids.
As far as adjustment from going from business into education: though I get it more than I used to, I struggle with things like pay raises on a scale, seniority, union contracts etc. I was used to performance reviews and a pay raise that was based on that review and could be anything (back in the day) from nothing to maybe $2000 a year. I was used to reviewing something that wasn't working and making a change versus not being able to make a change without contract negotiations. These things were all completely foreign to me when I transitioned into education.
The other adjustment was the "lack of respect" for the position. Working in business came with some benefits that simply do not happen in education. One being just the opinions of others. I think the profession of education is pretty amazing but some people consider it the job of those who cannot do anything else....are you kidding me??? We also, at my school, have a lot of parents that think that they can tell you what you need to do in your job. Again, I think it is that lack of respect for education coming through. This is my job...what I was trained to do and I had to get my Master's degree to do it. I do not let parents bully me but see it happen a lot...even with my administrators.
I sometimes miss the perks of business like getting company cars to test out(I worked in the auto industry many years ago), having an hour or whatever for lunch (we get 30 minutes...5 to 10 which is waiting for a microwave to open up because there is no time to run out and get something), the annual company party. Goodness, at one company we used to take a 9-5 day and go yachting on the company yacht. Not happening anymore!!!
All of those things aside....for me it was the best move. I love working with kids. As you may be able to tell I work in a somewhat urban environment and it is tough but I feel a great passion for what I am doing. I jumped into education because I was working in the auto industry back when kids were starting to kill each other over tennis shoes and jewelry (Jordans and bling). I just couldn't do that anymore. I felt like I needed to be with those kids and I really am happy to have made the change!