"Never Say Never Again"

Yeah I know its a Bond film title, albeit an unofficial one.

Way back at the end of the 90s I remember playing Bioware's "Planescape: Torment", an RPG based on their Infinity Engine used for classic games in the "Baldur's Gate" series. It was very philosophical in places, much like the Planescape setting for AD&D itself, which I have always loved. A recurring theme throughout the game was change - "What can change the nature of a man?" was a regularly asked question.

It's a good one.

This April will mark two years since I quit my long-term, full-time teaching position and swore that I would never go back into the profession as it simply wasn't worth the time/effort that someone has to put in. I said "Never again!" Turns out that I shouldn't have.

It's February 2008 and, thanks to the supply agency, I'm working in a high school in Pensnett, a relatively poor economical area, covering for a female English teacher for approximately five weeks (excluding, I believe, this coming week, which is half term).

Obviously I did a bit of research before I went in. Having been away from the area for a good 8 years, I had no idea what Pensnett was like, and knew nothing of the school. The OFSTED report isn't brilliant, and friends and family alike warned that Pensnett wasn't exactly the best of areas.

So it was with a fair amount of trepidation that I went in last Monday, teaching four periods of Maths before spending the afternoon conferring with the teacher I was due to replace.

And to be honest, it wasn't as bad as I expected. I mean, okay, the amount of foul language that comes out of the kids' mouths is complely inappropriate for a school environment, but I could probably spend the whole of each 50 minute lesson trying to discipline them for that, and at the end of the day, I'd much rather they learn something that's going to help them pass their exams/SATs/etc. I wasn't threatened with any kind of physical violence; I didn't particularly feely in any danger: both factors sorely lacking in my final couple of months at Our Lady's.

The staff at Pensnett are lovely. Sure there's a lot of stress flying around in the staff room, but I'm not surprised. A lot of staff seem to shrug off a lot of the problems with a great deal of humour, and this really helps to relieve the tension from a hard day with some of the lower ability classes. The PE department, especially, make me laugh a lot.

So, week one may have been a fluke. I'll see what happens after this half term is over. I think its only a four-week stint till Easter anyways, so it can't be all that bad, and by the end of it I should have a tidy sum to pay for a holiday and, hopefully, some driving lessons over Easter.

Am I a hypocrit? Maybe. I did say that I'd not go back into teaching, after all. But maybe I've just changed the rules of the game. No marking on an evening, no planning of lessons. Just go in, get the job done, and come away. The money isn't as good as regular teaching, and obviously the work supply-wise can be patchy in the long run. But if it helps me avoid the stresses of "real" teaching, I honestly don't care.

Will keep you posted on how stuff turns out!

Half term! Writing novel, playing games, preparing myself for a month at Pensnett.

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~J