Every August, I would lose my mind (and half my paycheck) at back to school sales. Did you know there are an infinite number of ways to design a delightful classroom? Catchy themes, notable quotes, color schemes – joy! rapture! highlighters! Where would our imaginations take us this year? We read mythology and hosted our own Greek Olympics; we analyzed poetry and performed original works at our Poetry Slam; we studied Renaissance art and painted modern masterpieces. We read and performed Shakespeare with a resident actor. And all that learning paid off – my Language Arts classes had the highest reading scores in the school. I was rated “Satisfactory.”
I loved teaching. I just hated being a teacher. I resigned in April and felt the wave of relief that accompanies right decisions. But this is not a blog post about why I left. If you want to read one of those, you can go here, here, here, or here.
You already know why I left. Hardly a day goes by without a cathartic blog or cheeky op-ed from teachers, parents, and politicians waxing poetic about deplorable school conditions, misguided school and district leaders, poorly implemented evaluation policies, and the sheer physical and mental exhaustion of teachers. Several idiots post snide comments about getting out of work at 3pm and having summers off.
We already know why teachers leave, but what would make them stay? “Stay,” because there is not actually a problem attracting teachers to the profession – we just have a problem keeping them for more than five years. Programs like Teach for America have proven that attracting people to the profession is mostly in the marketing. Lots of people like the idea of teaching; precious few can tolerate the realities of the profession. We are left with a pool of martyrs and masochists, mostly, which does not smack of sustainability.
I have spent the past month in my first professional non-teaching job. Let me tell you about the luxuries of my new job.
I have discovered that there are more than 25 sites on the Internet. Gosh, some of these news articles and videos sure would have been helpful when I was teaching Social Studies. Speaking of which, I now have time to read the news. A lot has happened in the world these past three years, during which I was buried under a mountain of bureaucratic tasks.
I have regained the freedom to pee as I please. I can’t overstate this. Gone are the days of dehydrating myself until 4pm. A bevy of beverages! Water, coffee, tea, juice – as much as I want. (I don’t even have to ask to use the restroom. I may just go.)
I have learned that there are happy hours on days other than Friday! People all over the city enjoy an hour (or three) of happy every day.
My boss does not stand at the door of my cubicle and watch me work. We do have meetings every week, though.
At lunchtime, I eat my lunch. Sometimes we go to Chipotle, which is a real thrill.
I’m not being flip. I’m reclaiming my life, my autonomy, and my personal health and happiness, which somehow got lost in the shuffle as I let teaching consume me. A teacher’s work is never done, because their charge is Herculean. And instead of lauding teachers for the tireless super-heroes and heroines they are, we vilify them. We closely monitor them. We strip them of autonomy and professional choices. We call them lazy, because they’re trying to do the work of 10 people and come up short.
Why do half of teachers leave the profession? Why do half of teachers stay?
This is a blog about solutions and staying power. Let’s talk sustainable systems and long-term planning, instead of bemoaning band-aid fixes and emergency certifications. Let’s create schools and classrooms that will allow teachers to enjoy the anticipation of August all year long.
Sad to see you leave teach because I know what you brought to the students. Happy to see you reclaiming your life! Rock and Roll!
Very well said.
You’re absolutely right that a 50% burnout rate is unsustainable, if the goal is grooming professionals and not low-cost temps. And piling on more test-based ‘accountability’ is just adding to the heaps and heaps of already-existing stress.
I especially resonated with your comment about autonomy and choice. If we really trusted teachers as professionals, we would allow them more autonomy, not less. A scripted curriculum ensures (at least in theory) a base level of performance. But it stifles excellence. And it drives creative people nuts. But loosening restrictions takes trust. And trust is hard.
I wrote my thesis on teacher motivation. It wasn’t great (teaching, and all that ;-)) but I could send it to you if you like. Dan Pink was really interesting. His idea of “Motivation 2.0” is one composed of employers seeking to provide autonomy, mastery, and purpose to employees. Think Google’s “20% Time.” I’d like to talk to you more about things of this nature.
Thanks Eric! Future posts for this column will address in depth many of the issues you’ve mentioned – autonomy, trust, motivation, and innovation time. I would love to see your thesis and look forward to your comments in the future!
Hi Jess,
Really beautiful piece. I just left my corporate job for very similar reason to start my own business. I am also a Penn alum and got the link to your post from Ty Furman. Will be following your blog and journey.
“You are spot on Jess, teaching is a tough ass job that does not get the appreciation it deserves.
I’ve only experienced it as an outsider, watching Steph struggle with it and others in my family who have pursued the profession, only to leave when they realized it was not the job they envisioned.
I think helping students is the easy part, it’s the bureaucracy and lack of freedom that is the tough part. I heard one teacher come back from an interview where he was excited because they treated him like an adult! That’s a horrible thing to be thankful for, of course you should be treated like an adult. But the system doesn’t do that, it doesn’t trust you as the professional to make decisions.
The other component that I think needs addressing is, there is no benefit to the system for keeping teachers around. In fact, it is in their best interests financially to hire new teachers every 2-5 years and retire the seasoned ones. Teachers who have more years of experience are worth more. They have experience and that should make them more valuable. Unfortunately, most school systems have freezes on even cost of living adjustments to pay. I know a number of teachers who have not seen a raise in the last 5 years. In fact, most of them are making less now then they were when they started because their benefits aren’t even as good so they have to pay more for coverage, resulting in deeper cuts into their net income.
So from the systems point of view, they can let an experienced teacher go who may be earning 45-50k/year and hire a fresh out of college teacher for 38k/year. If they do that enough, they won’t have to cut as many positions but the quality of education decreases. It becomes more like McDonalds, where you have very few “Chefs” and a lot of “Fry Button Pushers”.
I’ll end my rant there 🙂 It could go on for so much longer 🙂 I applaud you for finding happiness in your new position. Education let a very valuable resource go when they lost you but you need to be happy, you don’t deserve to be a martyr.” – Shawn Grimes
Let’s start with providing educators the opportunity to create innovative methods of teaching & learning.
Love it! Always enjoy your blog posts, Jess. Keep ’em comin’!
teaching indeed is a tough job as well as undervalued and underpaid. Kudos to those who stick to their calling!
Good Evening Jess,
Your blog really hits home for me…and I thank you for that!!! I am in my twenty-fifth year of teaching and I am ready to stop teaching and begin a new career. I am only 47 years old and I feel very excited for the future. I believe strongly that I can make this big leap. I have begun sending out my resume to a few businesses. I am writing to ask you for guidance.
Thank you so much,
Suzanne