Teaching is the best job. I enjoy every bit of my job. It has its ups and downs but on the whole it's fulfilling when you help youngsters to leave school with decent grades and know they have a future.

I love teaching. I revel in sharing learning with students who want to learn. The current celebrity culture where fame and money are obtained through how you look and what you possess seems all too often to make 'learning' an 'uncool' thing. The recent Cambridge research about 'being bland' in order to fit in does explain a great deal about the poor attitude to learning and the great effort made to avoid it (especially if it makes you a 'boff'). Praise for good learning has to be done in secret rather than celebrated in the open! I am tired of bureaucracy, targets, performance management, educational veneer for the sake of avoiding Ofsted and having to take on board initiative after initiative (PSHE, citizenship, being British, etc.) which once were the responsibility of parents. I don't believe standards are rising in examination results; students tend to be spoon-fed to pass the examinations and very few show genuine academic ability. This has been particularly noticeable in the transition between Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5. Students don't know how to think for themselves, how to organise themselves and how to meet deadlines. I think I've said enough - there is more that could be said. Lifelong learning - how can this be restored? Get rid of targets, return responsibilities and accountabilities to families, and let the professionals (teachers) advise.

Teaching is the best job. I enjoy every bit of my job. It has its ups and downs but on the whole it's fulfilling when you help youngsters to leave school with decent grades and know they have a future.

I teach in a lovely school where the vast majority of parents and pupils are very respectful and supportive of the school and the staff. I know that many teachers' experiences are very different to mine.

Sometimes it's the best job in the world and sometimes it's the worst job in the world!

We mustn't forget how lucky we are to do this job even though it can be difficult.

I love it. I love the students and their continuing ability to amaze me. I dislike the increasing duplicate paper work. Either on paper or the computer, but not both. Bureaucrats need to do some teacher shadowing to see how our jobs really work...or not.

However depressing the changes to teacher remuneration may be, once your classroom door is closed it is still a wonderful job!

I thoroughly enjoy teaching and making a difference in children's lives. It is an honour to be in this role. I feel torn between targets driven by government and knowing the children as individuals and giving them the best I can.

Children are people not targets! I wish for more freedom to do my job better and trust to do this rather than being driven by constantly changing paperwork!

Teaching is the best job ever. I love it.

I am planning to retire in the next three years, so am no longer interested in promotion. I was a latecomer to the teaching profession, and have never had a job I enjoyed as much or received as much satisfaction from. It is hard work though, and requires a lot of energy and commitment to do the job properly. 
Teaching was never going to be an easy ride. It is for those who enjoy being challenged and enjoy children. It is not for those who want an easy job with 'a 12 week holiday' or people who do not like children. That is non-existent.

Teaching in the classroom is a joy. However, increasing redundancies and changes make the job more and more difficult. Planning has become more and more about ticking off criteria, decreasing the time available to produce creative, productive and effective planning. The new Ofsted criteria has been reduced so far that it could be interpreted in different ways. Yet another new curriculum must be introduced gradually to prevent rushed planning and poor teaching. Any new curriculum must come with training opportunities, INSET and time.

I love the children and usually they are a delight to be with....The problem is I just wonder if I'm good enough…

It's fantastic. Most interesting job I can imagine. Just wish that a) the workload could be more realistic and b) staff in 'tougher' schools could be more supported. I work in a high achieving large rural comprehensive with largely excellent behaviour and motivation and feel drained at the end of each day by the demands of the job - I dread to think how it feels to be doing all that PLUS dealing with much more intense behavioural/ etc issues.

Teaching is an incredibly rewarding job. The probationer system in Scotland has had a detrimental effect on the efficacy of our department, as the principal teacher is constantly working with an inexperienced teacher and never reaping the benefits once this member of staff is a few years into the job. The probationer system should be abolished.

Teaching is an incredibly rewarding job.

A truly vocational profession which is undermined by constant change, poor funding and moving targets. On a good day, I don't want to be doing anything lse but it can be spirit sapping.

I love the job, but the kids become more and more distracted and unable to follow anything for more than a few minutes.

I love and have always loved teaching and encouraged many young members of my family to go into it. BUT teaching is now a highly stressful, work laden job leaving little energy for what we should be doing.

I love my job but I am increasingly worried that state education will vanish alongside quality education in the early years as child care on the cheap takes over.

An enthusiastic and professional Spanish Teacher, I am passionate about my culture and my country. It is a wonderful experience for me to teach my language to different people. I enjoy engaging and motivating pupils to learn a foreign language helping them to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding of a different language and culture.

Best job in the world.