Daughter urgently in need of direction

What's her subject?

At 31, with only six years of teaching experience, what other work has she done?

frankly it sounds an unrealistic ambition at this stage.
how can she expect to step into such a senior role with no experience ?
she is trained for an entirely different role.
could she not try to use her qualification in a different way, eg as a private tutor/ governess, further training into educational psychology, school inspection, further education etc

and the fact that she will not engage with a careers adviser suggests she might be depressed.
has she sought help from GP ?
or any self help support group.

I can sympathise with her. I think a lot of teachers "burn out" and it isn't a new phenomenon.

Perhaps she could find a temporary, less stressful, job - even supermarket shelf-stacking - while she decides what to do. Or maybe do some supply teaching. At least she has the experience for that but wouldn't have all the admin stuff to do.

She was a primary school teacher.
Thinking about it, time flies, she has been teaching for 8 years. One year after uni doing her SCITT course whilst working as a classroom assistant. She has just spent two years teaching in Dubai. She did spend six months as an “office manager “ in a small business which she is emphasising in her job applications.

Would she prefer to do teaching assistant work?
I know know a young man who changed to do that instead of teaching. He was just like your daughter but has started (last September) in this less taxing role and is enjoying life again.
His mother was very worried about him.

If she wants admin work she might have more options in a college or university, simply as they have far more staff and openings than schools. Her best bet would be to find what agencies they use for temporary staff and register with them, that way she's not committing long term and can find out whether she likes it or not. She is unlikely to step into a senior support role but if she'd consider anything it may well lead to further opportunities.

I am wondering why your daughter no longer wants to teach, From what you say she was successful although she seems to have changed jobs a few times. Does she confide in you about her personal life and relationships?
I can understand your concern but perhaps you need to step back while she gets her priorities in order.
Just a thought - high quality private 1:1 tuition is flexible and well paid.

Maybe, just maybe, she should get out of the world of education and academia altogether. I did, and it was like a breath of fresh air, even though I went back to it much later. In this day and age there are many opportunities out there, even setting up her own business. Of course, a lot depends on her attitude and enthusiasm. She could try one of those tests which tell you where your strengths lie, and in what job you might be best suited, to give her some direction.

why doesn't she go to a private emplyment agency and see what they have to offer.. or try smaller private schools/boarding schools

Why would you contact a career advisor on her behalf? She obviously didn't want that.

That might feel like you are putting pressure on her

Maybe you should step back a little and let her work it out, having Mum get too involved in this is likely making the situation more stressful

When I worked in an accountancy practice, one of our trainees was a burnt out teacher looking for a change of direction. She came in, at 30, as a trainee like the graduate trainees, and was very successful.

Thanks for the added information. What did she read at university?

I cannot remember, but a finance or maths type degree subject was not required for our trainee programme. In fact, the favoured subject was Psychology due to the high content of analytical and interpretation. I do hope this helps your daughter.

Thank you all for your ideas. I will put these suggestions to her.
She is doubly demoralised as all her contemporaries are engaged or getting married and due to Covid/living in Dubai she has yet to find a partner and is still living with mum.
I have “stepped back” now, it was a year ago I contacted the careers coach!
Thank you all again

She read History at Reading

I have been in touch with a careers advisor but my daughter will not engage with her.

No, take a step back, she is 31.
Just be there to listen as she talks it all through.

I know a young woman who did take a step down and worked as a TA but she did have a partner and they could afford the drop in salary.

You say she has been teaching in Dubai. Has she worked in a primary school in the UK? I know how pressurised it can be but there are some lovely smaller primary schools where the pressure does not seem to be as intense as large schools.

I know, too, that there can be as much out-of-school admin work which also adds to the stress.

It's sad so many feel they have to leave the profession.

X post, (one eye on the news) I see you have stepped back 🙂

With a history degree, what about working in a museum?
I always think it would be a lovely, calm place to work.

www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/creative-arts-and-design/museum-jobs

You could offer to pay for some career consultancy which would help her take a look at her skills and strengths and advise on what she might do next. Did this for DD at about the same age and it was hugely helpful. We just paid the bills - contact was only with DD, as it should be. Not cheap but a great investment in helping her work out what she wanted and needed.

We have said to each of our AC they can “reset” with our support.
Come home, be looked after, recharge and press the reset button.
Only one has done it, she was burnt out living in London working hard and in a bad relationship.
She had 3 months home, sorted herself out, went back to London and met the man she married.
Don’t put any pressure on her.

Evangeline

She read History at Reading

Thank you.

I did take the opportunity to look at some job specs on TES for PA to Headteacher roles. They pay very well, more than teachers in some cases so I don’t imagine these are jobs are without a lot of pressure and responsibility and need someone with experience who can hit the ground running. She’d be leaping from one high-pressure role to another.

With a history degree, if she likes working with young people then maybe something in the heritage, museums or library sectors would suit her or work as a media researcher, web content creator, archivist … lots of ideas come to mind.

It’s worth keeping an eye on dedicated heritage organisations or any organisations which are undertaking heritage projects. It sometimes happens that they have made a succesful bid for lottery funding for a specific project and need a project manager or indeed need someone to formulate a project and write the bid. Look at the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s website. They have a ten year strategy with £3.6 billion to spend. Take a good look around the site to see the kinds of projects that receive funding. It may spark some ideas that your daughter hadn’t thought of.

www.heritagefund.org.uk/projects

Evangeline

She read History at Reading

A degree in history limits you on career choices, obviously teaching is one, probably the main issue is finding a job that pays equivalent to teaching. Changing career at 31 is going to mean a drop in income and further training, she will have many of the skills for secretarial or administration posts so it should not be hard to get the qualifications.

A degree in History gives you lots of career choices - maybe not directly using her historical knowledge, but it is recognised as a subject that requires research, an ability to absorb and analyse information from a range of sources and perspectives, to write well and so on.

I agree with those who have suggested careers advice, but I also agree that the desire for this has to come from your daughter. Frustrating as it must be to watch her, if she has burnt out she doesn’t need you pushing her.

Has she considered going into careers advice as a career of her own? Or she could look at postgraduate degrees or diplomas to see what else is available by was of professional retraining. Marketing, PR, Librarianship, Human Resources are all possibilities that often suit ex-teachers, too.