Is teaching a “hobby” job?

[Anonymous]

It is a 24/7 mind f@#k. This is no hobby job. It's exhausting, at times demoralizing, sometimes rewarding, but it takes up every minute of one's waking and yes, sleeping time. The work- physical, emotional, and mentally is overwhelming.

So, no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this post real? I think teachers make more than you think, OP.

Starting salaries are $50k and max out around $100 after a lot of years. Full time retail is really not any better compared to the low end of the teacher scale.

Eh, depends where you are. Teachers at my tippy top small public, most of whom had PhDs, were making 125+ up to around 180 in the early aughts. I recognize that is not the norm but there are some outliers there.

Not in this area, dear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all know teachers don’t make much, so between the low pay and summers off, is that enough to constitute a “hobby” job?

Absolutely not -- hobby jobs are ones that don't actually contribute that much to society (like... making jewelry or something).

Ok, no - and no need to denigrate the arts.

A hobby is something you do for fun, not money that you need to live. You can make jewelry as a job or as a hobby. You can be a trash collector as a job or you can pick up litter as a hobby.

Both trash collection and teaching are essential jobs for our society to properly function.

There are many, many, many well paying jobs that people do in DC that, if they disappeared, would have no impact on society. These are also called "bullshit jobs," which i prefer to "hobby jobs" as a category for identifying.

I thought this all became clear during covid?

100%. Ever ask a consultant at Deloitte or Booz Allen what they do all day? Usually it doesn’t come close to the impact of educating dozens of children each day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a normal middle class job with a perk of getting summers off (and a lot of downsides).

There is no summer off. Teachers are paid for 9.5 months only. It's about 6 weeks that just happens to be continuous, as other jobs have year round vacation or sick weeks , but we are working a lot over the summer, regardless. Additionally, young teachers or teachers who are primary earners are working second jobs in those weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this post real? I think teachers make more than you think, OP.

Starting salaries are $50k and max out around $100 after a lot of years. Full time retail is really not any better compared to the low end of the teacher scale.

Starting at DCPS is $65k if you only have a bachelor's degree and no experience. Maxes out around $150k. Also depends on whether you teach 12 months or not. https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/page_content/attachments/WTU%20ET%2015%20Salary%20Schedules%20FY25-28.pdf

Also, summers off are not as long as people think as teachers usually have to stay after the end of school and return earlier than the kids. And, that is if they don't teach year round.

[Anonymous]

It’s not a hobby job unless you can do it part time. But it’s a job with a good vacation period.

I’ve been doing it for decades. And I’m pretty good at it. But I refuse to be a teacher martyr. I get my work done fast and move on.

Private school with smaller classes

[Anonymous]

Teaching is a noble profession but that doesn't mean all teachers are in it for passion and service. Most settle for it due to lack of better options. Unless we start paying more and create competitive atmosphere like in medicine, we'll have to keep accepting whoever has no where else to go. Teachers who are competent and passionate are noble and parents should appreciate them as a novelty.

[Anonymous]

^I say that as someone who has about a dozen teachers in family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teaching is a noble profession but that doesn't mean all teachers are in it for passion and service. Most settle for it due to lack of better options. Unless we start paying more and create competitive atmosphere like in medicine, we'll have to keep accepting whoever has no where else to go. Teachers who are competent and passionate are noble and parents should appreciate them as a novelty.

I know no teachers who are teaching because they lack better options. It’s not an easy job that people do because they can’t find anything better. The teachers who are left should be prized because they have the ability to put up with a ton of crap coming at them from all directions. It’s an overwhelming assault on your senses all day every day. The majority of jobs are much easier. Most parents who volunteer in schools walk away saying that they could never do what we do. The alternative certification folks typically don’t last long. In the last 5 years I think we only have one teacher from Teach for America who is still teaching. The rest quit within the first 2-3 yrs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am jealous that teachers get summers and all holidays off, but I wouldn't ever want to be in that profession.

You're jealous of unpaid time? How strange.

[Anonymous]

I think teaching can be a professional job or a hobby job. It depends on what you’re teaching and why you are doing it.

I’m a lawyer, and I once had a colleague who had retired from his fed legal job and was working part time. For him, that was a hobby job. He was doing it for the mission, rather than the money; he had a lot of flexibility over his schedule, etc. His hobby job was my professional job, but so what.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never heard of the term ‘hobby job.’ Is that something Boomers say?

Ha ha. Boomers have more understanding of how the world works. It is what trad wives say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching is a noble profession but that doesn't mean all teachers are in it for passion and service. Most settle for it due to lack of better options. Unless we start paying more and create competitive atmosphere like in medicine, we'll have to keep accepting whoever has no where else to go. Teachers who are competent and passionate are noble and parents should appreciate them as a novelty.

I know no teachers who are teaching because they lack better options. It’s not an easy job that people do because they can’t find anything better. The teachers who are left should be prized because they have the ability to put up with a ton of crap coming at them from all directions. It’s an overwhelming assault on your senses all day every day. The majority of jobs are much easier. Most parents who volunteer in schools walk away saying that they could never do what we do. The alternative certification folks typically don’t last long. In the last 5 years I think we only have one teacher from Teach for America who is still teaching. The rest quit within the first 2-3 yrs.

Same. I don't know one person who is teaching because they lack better options. I don't know anyone doing it because they weren't able to do anything else. Some people get far enough along that they are kind of stuck, but all of my colleagues could have easily done many, many other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching is a noble profession but that doesn't mean all teachers are in it for passion and service. Most settle for it due to lack of better options. Unless we start paying more and create competitive atmosphere like in medicine, we'll have to keep accepting whoever has no where else to go. Teachers who are competent and passionate are noble and parents should appreciate them as a novelty.

I know no teachers who are teaching because they lack better options. It’s not an easy job that people do because they can’t find anything better. The teachers who are left should be prized because they have the ability to put up with a ton of crap coming at them from all directions. It’s an overwhelming assault on your senses all day every day. The majority of jobs are much easier. Most parents who volunteer in schools walk away saying that they could never do what we do. The alternative certification folks typically don’t last long. In the last 5 years I think we only have one teacher from Teach for America who is still teaching. The rest quit within the first 2-3 yrs.

1,000 times this.

I’m one of the rare people who went through an alternative certification program and survived. Teaching is easily 10x harder than the job l had before. It’s exhausting in every way: emotionally, physically, mentally…

There are times I regret switching. It isn’t about the pay. It’s the work. I switched because I wanted something more meaningful than the corporate work I was doing. I got that, but it came at a price. My own health and my family suffer.

This isn’t a hobby. Reading is a hobby. This is a profession, and a ridiculously hard one at that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching is a noble profession but that doesn't mean all teachers are in it for passion and service. Most settle for it due to lack of better options. Unless we start paying more and create competitive atmosphere like in medicine, we'll have to keep accepting whoever has no where else to go. Teachers who are competent and passionate are noble and parents should appreciate them as a novelty.

I know no teachers who are teaching because they lack better options. It’s not an easy job that people do because they can’t find anything better. The teachers who are left should be prized because they have the ability to put up with a ton of crap coming at them from all directions. It’s an overwhelming assault on your senses all day every day. The majority of jobs are much easier. Most parents who volunteer in schools walk away saying that they could never do what we do. The alternative certification folks typically don’t last long. In the last 5 years I think we only have one teacher from Teach for America who is still teaching. The rest quit within the first 2-3 yrs.

I think it depends on what time frame you’re talking. I think in the not too far past women could basically only be nurses, teachers, or secretaries