It started with small things, like little criticisms for doing things differently (because frankly, I didn’t know any better). Worse, the bully was supposed to be my teaching partner. When I was younger and less experienced, I was so grateful to have a job that I ignored the fact that I had a bully. A copy of the journal can be found in the Resource Library or we can send you a copy when you sign up to our email list. You might find our Teacher Gratitude Journal can help you write down your thoughts and think about your decision in a tangible way. Over my lifetime, I have quit my job four different times and all for different reasons. And society will blame you for all the wrongdoings with “why isn’t that taught in schools?” rhetoric without doing the research to know that teachers don’t actually decide what is taught in school.Īnd if you’ve been teaching for more than five years and have made it beyond all that, then teaching is your calling.Įvery year I’ve taught, I have considered quitting at least once. People who struggled in school or come from families who don’t value education will constantly complain about schools, taxes and teachers in general. There isn’t much middle ground for normal people. Holland’s Opus) or they are a disaster (like Bad Teacher). Somehow the media only has two versions of teachers: the amazing teachers that sacrifice their lives for the betterment of their students (like Mr. While we grow up believing that teachers are adored for their selflessness, that isn’t always the case. That’s normal-especially during report card time. Even though teaching has always been mine calling, there have been times during my career where I have considered quitting teaching once and for all. Mary Bousted, general secretary of ATL, said that their survey showed the government need to review the current inspection system.You will know if teaching is your calling because you can’t imagine doing anything else with your life. When asked what teachers dislike about their job, a staggering 63% said Ofsted. However, it’s a point that appears in the report in other sections. The inspectorate found that students are losing up to an hour of learning each day in English schools because of bad behaviour.ĥ) Ofsted This didn’t come up in the top reasons for quitting but it wasn’t an option in the survey. This comes alongside criticism for low-level disruption with an Ofsted report published last year saying that teachers are not doing enough to tackle unruly behaviour. When asked what would have a positive impact on their teaching, 83% said that they wanted more time to plan and prepare and 42% required mentoring or coaching from experienced colleagues. When asked what they wanted from the government, new teachers called for meaningful consultation and for reform to be taken more slowly.Ībout 25% said difficult behaviour made them consider leaving teaching. There’s been dramatic change to the curriculum, changes to pay structures and GCSE and A-level rerform. The last five to 10 years has seen a great number of changes in quick succession. Although teachers in the UK were above average in feeling valued, at 35% (unlike France where the figure was only 5%), they still fared quite poorly.Ī trainee in his third year at a primary school in Bedfordshire said: “Teachers feel undermined and unappreciated.”ģ) Constant changes A quarter of respondents said “attacks on teachers’ terms and conditions” was another reason they had thought about leaving. This follows an OECD report released last year which found that two-thirds of teachers felt undervalued. An improvement in work-life balance would involve “less unnecessary paperwork”, the survey found.Ģ) Teacher bashing in the press This was the second most popular reason given for thinking about quitting. A worrying 81% of teachers said that they do not have enough time to participate in hobbies and 80% do not get enough time to relax. When asked about work-life balance, 79% of young recruits felt they didn’t have this quite right – with 46% working an average of six to 10 hours over the weekend. A further 53% said that they felt they had insufficient time to reflect on their practice and 31% complained about report writing. It was also a popular choice for why people didn’t like teaching: 87% said workload was the worst part of the job. Five reasons new teachers want to leaveġ) Heavy workloads This was the most cited reasons for considering leaving teaching of those who had had second thoughts, 76% claimed it’s the amount of work that’s the problem. We look at these statistics in a bit more detail. Contrary to popular belief, just below 20% went into teaching because of long holidays. One of the most popular reasons (75%) for joining teaching was a desire to make a difference, and 80% said they taught because they enjoyed working with children. This may seem disheartening, but some positive statistics also came out of the report.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |