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General Description

This is an ideal career for analytical thinkers. School teachers work in Government, Catholic and independent schools and are responsible for the education of students from the time they begin school, aged four or five, to when they graduate in Year 12.

Career Advice - School Teacher Career

Each day as a primary/infant school teacher you will teach children about many different subjects. Secondary school teachers teach one or more subjects within the curriculum. You also prepare exams, supervise sport and provide one to one tuition student advice and support.

You can specialise in subjects such as drama, music, physical education (PE), performing arts or teaching students with special needs. The career path of teacher-librarian is also available.

What you do every day

Primary school teachers usually teach the same class of students a variety of subjects every day. Your daily routine will depend on the size and schedule of the school.  You may either teach specialist subjects to a single class of students. You may teach a range of student classes in a particular specialist subject, and they come to your classroom in turn.

Secondary school teachers specialise in one or two subject areas and take a variety of student classes at different levels every day. Usually face to face teaching takes up 80% of the time, with the balance taken up by subject preparation, marking papers, reviewing teaching materials, setting and marking examinations.

School hours are generally from 9am to 3.30 or 4pm. During term time, you may work up to 50 hours a week when taking into account the time spent preparing lessons, marking, training and in meetings with other staff or parents. The good news is you receive about 10 weeks of holiday per year.

Personality that best fits this occupation

Becoming a high quality teacher is a calling. Some say you will not succeed in teaching if you’re not passionate about it. Your entire heart is attached to the job; you must have enthusiasm and a high level of interest in the progress and welfare of your students.

Endless patience, a sense of humour, being highly organised and well planned with excellent time management skills are also required. You will also need dedication, patience, compassion, and the ability to relate to children. A flexible teaching approach, the ability to communicate and motivate students to learn are also necessary.

Best things about this career

The very best aspect of being a teacher are the priceless moments of knowing you have helped young people out in ways they won’t even know until one day in the future. Watching a student get excited about reading, observing a child grow in confidence and self-esteem, and seeing a student finally grasp a difficult concept are what makes being a teacher special.

Worst thing about this career

Some students are not well behaved and do not show enough respect for teachers. Parents sometimes want to blame you for the poor results of their child and occasionally it can feel like you are not getting the support that you need.

Perhaps the worst thing is seeing a student leaving your class not having improved. you feel like all the effort and energy you put into their education was hardly worth the average pay.