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I have to admit that I'm not the corporate type, and I don't care if I never make $100K in a year. I chose a teaching major because I love the idea of giving back, having a positive influence on young people, and not having to put in 80 hour workweeks like a lot of corporate people do. Plus, summers off sounds really appealing to me!
good point, i noticed it was a tradeoff. My friend works corporate and makes 80000 a year which is double than what i would make as a teacher. However sometimes i would get done at 3-4(using my prep time wisely) while he would be working anywhere between 50-70 hours..yeah you make less but you also work less too
I think it depends on what and where you teach compared to what and where you work in the outside world. When I taught college courses, I always enjoyed the subject matter, the teaching, and the ability to think on my feet when students asked WTF questions. I hated office hours, grading papers, revising notes, tests, powerpoints and lectures, and meetings. I hated bringing work home, especially answering emails and keeping up with the class website. Multiply that by 3-5 classes a semester with 25-60 students per class, plus I never took summers off.
In the real world, I work more hours, but not ridiculously more hours. I'm actually under less stress, I've made more friends, I make more money, including bonuses for doing a good job, and I don't bring any work home. And interestingly, better benefits. The biggest minus is that I'm not as intellectually stimulated as I used to be.
I actually thought that I would miss teaching. Eh, not really.
If I could be similar to some of my high school teachers (innovative and clever in their teaching methods, respected by their students, etc), I probably could see myself teaching. But, right now, the pay cut would be too steep. However, I will say that I envy teachers' summer vacations. That is a real bonus in my opinion.
Bear in mind that many teachers work summers, as well, whether teaching, or otherwise.
Since when is teaching not "in the real world"? I don't understand why people say this. It's actually kind of offensive.
I didn't mean for it to be offensive. I was being more specific to college education and referring to the "real world" meaning anything outside of the Ivory Tower, in which policy and procedures can be different from other industries.
I spent 3 year in telecomm:
Pay was way better than what starting teachers were getting. 6am -3pm work day was awesome and never took work home. It was a nice desk job and got paid OT when they needed me to.
Now 7 years into teaching:
Took a 30% cut in pay when I first went back into teaching. Took 7 years + my masters, and I'm finally making the same salary as I did when I first got out of college. I average 10 hr work days + grading papers is a Sunday night activity. I average a 10-15 work week during the summer. Between grad classes, reading professional books and planning for the next school year.
I'm happy with my career choice. I love teaching kids and being apart of their academic growth. All the years of low pay is worth the pension I will get at retirement. I think it balances out in the end. Many states are targeting teacher retirement and if they get rid of it, I don't think teaching is going to be enough to support my family and save for my retirement.
I didn't mean for it to be offensive. I was being more specific to college education and referring to the "real world" meaning anything outside of the Ivory Tower, in which policy and procedures can be different from other industries
Some folks refer to teaching positions as public sector and corporate positions such as with AT&T, etc. as private sector positions.
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