Australia’s teaching profession is in peril.
This statement is unfortunately not an exaggeration, I know because for five years I was a teacher and saw it first-hand.
There are many reasons for this, many reasons why there is a massive drop out of teachers remaining in the profession (one in three leave within the first five years).
Some of these reasons include: navigating often challenging relationships with parents, a fixation with teachers competency, the widespread teacher bashing, poor public image, standardised testing and poor salaries. But for me, none of these are why I left.
We call our favourite teachers, just to say thank you. Post continues below.
You see, for the five years I was a teacher I gave 200 per cent of myself to groups of students who appreciated it and groups of students who didn’t.
For the five years I was a teacher I worked while I was in the classroom, in the yard, in the staff room, at home, each week day, each week night and most weekends.
The work rarely ever stopped.
For five years, every day was different, my environment was different. I could never rely on it to be consistent because, simply put, your students are different each day. In its most basic form (perhaps, dare I say it, ‘superficial’ form), students come to school to learn but they come with a huge variety of backgrounds, temperaments, home life, strengths, weaknesses, health conditions, issues, behaviour and mood. This can be great but it can also be utterly taxing.
Top Comments
I'm a teacher who left after being in the job for nearly 20 years. I just couldn't sustain the amount of 'self' that has to go into the job to do it well. I also wanted to get back some of my life after work, on weekends etc. While I genuinely miss teaching the kids and also do believe that I had a lot to offer, ultimately I had to look after my own health and the health of my relationships. Teaching is draining. I know other jobs are too, but this is the job I had and is what my own experience was. I now work in a job that ends when I walk out the door by and large. I don't get the same number of holidays and my official work day is longer but it has been worth it.
For those who think that teachers are just a pack of whiners that's fine... you mustn't know a teacher well. But the reality is that the numbers of teachers leaving is rising and the numbers of successful academic achievers opting to become a teacher is declining. So this presents us with a problem. Rather than just resorting to the tired old retorts about the inadequacy of teachers, it may be time to recognize the problem exists regardless of whether you think it should, and consider what can be done about it?? Maybe all these people who think it's such a cushy job should consider re-training to become one. I hear the holidays ste great!