To wonder why so many teachers want to quit

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

Inspired by other threads but I didn't want to derail.

What is going on in education that is making teaching so stressful?

I work in the City and you don't see too many people quitting with stress even though the work can be stressful. Certainly, not the numbers you see in teaching.

As for those who asked about whether prospective teachers are warned by those in the profession - I was, repeatedly. I was really naive and just thought 'oh, I know it will be hard so I'm ok' and 'maybe they're just not dedicated enough'. I had to experience a little of it myself before I understood.

I am seeing my teacher friend next week. It ought to be easy, being half term but she is working most of it.

I do teach in Scotland pebbletime and I find your post quite insulting. I know of no teachers who arrive at 9 and leave at 3. Its true that we don't have the demands of teaching in England (I am English and used to teach there - am so glad that I'm now in Scotland), but to suggest that we just laze about and have no stress at all is really unfair. Whatever your views on the Curriculum for Excellence (which I myself am not a great fan of) we all work hard.

Is there anything that we as parents can do to help with this? I don't want my son pushed to be brilliant at age 5. I just want him to have a chance to take his time and learn things and enjoy his early schooling. I especially don't want barrages of tests.

Is there anything that we can say to a teach in the 20 seconds that we get, to let them know that we are on their side?

The job is full in when you are in the classroom with not a moment to yourself. All the work that goes with it has to be out of the classroom and there are just not enough hours in the day!
Teachers would be so much better if they had a life- time with their family, an evening out, hobbies and weekends free.
I wouldn't mind so much if anything had improved -but it hasn't!

Full on not full in.

ipsos Saying , 'thank you' to your child's teacher is lovely! As a teacher I love feeling appreciated by parents, feeling that they know I value their child as an individual and want what's best for them .

Honestly, you want to arrive at 9 and leave at 3 and have no stress at all?
Come to Bonnie Scotland.

There are many issues with the Scottish system, but lack of commitment in the workforce is not one of them.

Pebbletime, I scrolled down to read your full post before replying....
I'll now be applying for a job in Scotland.

Actually I won't, but I am wondering how you know with certainly that these people aren't taking home piles of work.
I suspect your comments would be better addressed to the school with which you have an issue, rather than making a sweeping generalisation about the entire profession.

Directly above this thread right now is one entitled
To be really taken aback by this
Have a little read. Now, this teacher was clearly wrong to have said what she did, joke or not ( and of course it was a fucking joke). She was misguided to say the least. She has apologised and as someone else on the thread has said must have been stewing all day about it, found the person concerned and apologised. This person now wants to fucking complain. For fucks sake, let it go and the teacher will love you for ever, complain about it and she might lose her fucking job.
That is in part why so many teachers are leaving, we are just not allowed to get anything wrong.

I wish that there was ipsos.
You could stand up for them on MN when they get a bashing - with those who go storming in with all guns blazing over some problem instead of trying a friendly word first over what is generally a misunderstanding.

Wow. I suspect, like most of the public, I have been completely unaware of the challenges.
You do an amazing job. I remember lots of my teachers fondly. Please keep up the good work.

Why is it that public sector workers who arguably have the most important roles - educating our children, looking after us when we are sick, etc are the ones who are shat upon most spectacularly.

Payrise and appreciation for teachers, doctors and allied healthcare workers!!

The person doesn't want to fucking complain. The person actually said in the fucking thread that she isn't going to fucking complain. So stop lying about other threads to make your point.

Cross posted Flossyfloof- that was just the sort of thing I meant! Not read the particular thread but teachers make mistakes- they are human!

It is the workload more than pay and appreciation.
It is unrealistic. There is also a lack of trust. You know you have spoken to the pupil about a piece of work, they know- why on earth have to write down that you have spoken?! Especially silly when the child is so young they can't read it!

I teach Early Years. Currently in Nursery.

I'm too tired after a painfully stressful half term to go through all the reasons why this job will likely send me spiralling into ill health, but what follows is what is expected of me during an average lesson observation:

A class of 39 3-4 year olds.
3 adults. (Only 1 a qualified teacher)
Two adults expected to carry out a 'teacher led activity' with focus children (all heavily differentiated)
The other adult is expected to manage the remaining children and support them, extending their learning in their 'independent' activities. Whilst wiping backsides, clearing up after accidents, caring for injuries, stopping arguments, and all the other associated chaos that comes with almost 40 3 year olds in a confined space.
These activities (planned by the teacher) are expected to cover 9 areas of learning (which each have further sub areas)

In order to be considered outstanding ALL of these children need to make progress during that observation.

These children are THREE.

The system is absurd.

Oh and for my PM targets set this week, my first of 3 targets is to ensure that 85% of my children (I am solely responsible for 68 children in total across AM and PM sessions) make expected progress in highlighted areas.

I'm rambling and this is probably a terribly worded post. I'm sorry, I'm exhausted. You know how tiring 3 year olds can be? Multiply that by 68, then add to that the ridiculous expectations.

I apologise she did not say she was going to complain - but I believe a few people are encouraging her to.

One of the reasons I left teaching is that I realised that I'd be expected to teach until I was 68. That isn't going to work for many teachers. Most of the ones in their 50s seemed to have health problems already. I'd guess that those in full on city jobs are able to step away well before 68.

As has been said before, the combination of high responsibility and low control is well known as a cause of stress.

Also with budget cuts, and classically public sector, admin and support isn't great in most schools. Whereas in stressful high wage jobs your time is so valuable that they will get admin staff to do whatever they can.

One person flossy.

And 'she' did more than 'not say' she was going to complain - 'she' explicitly said the opposite.

Because the parents rarely support you - much more likely to report you for a comment or for something their DC said you said that gets misunderstood.

No respect any more - not from the pupils, not from the parents, not from the governors or anyone really. I wouldn't dare work in a school.

It is a real shame.

I don't think it's going to change anytime soon.

Like many other teachers when Gove went I thought maybe things will be different now.
Like tens of thousands of other teachers I took the time to fill in Morgan's Workload Challenge, naive enough to think that someone would actually give a fuck. Absolutely nothing has changed for the better and doesn't look like it's going to.
and it annoys me that I almost didn't swear there because I've identified myself as a teacher

In my school, everybody's performance management target is that 100% of children meet their targets.

It is so utterly ridiculous. I could cry, and quite often wake up in the middle of the night in tears. But it's half term now and I'm sitting here with a glass of wine planning my escape.

Each year I've been teaching, the demands have got more and more. I can't put into words what exactly it is that makes me so unhappy, but previous posters have mostly summed up my feelings.

It's just sickening.

Out of 7 of my friends (and myself) who did teacher training together, only one is still teaching in school (and it's not me). That's a pretty poor indictment on the state of the profession.

I absolutely loved teaching when I started. I didn't mind the ridiculous hours (despite the fact that everyone thought I worked 9-3 and had endless holidays) because there was so much else rewarding about the job. Gradually all that has been eroded and I became a puppet on a string for the government, wondering what the heck I trained for.

I'm currently really struggling for money. A few people have asked why I don't go back into class teaching. Honestly, if the pay was 5 times as much, I'm still not sure I'd do it. You have to sell your whole life to a culture where you get very little appreciation and 100% of the blame, when you had no control over the system in the first place.

Frizzy

That would be funny if it weren't so tragic

Pebble
I am a teacher in Scotland. I get to work at half seven. You obviously don't rate your children's school but it bears no resemblance to any other school in Scotland I know of if staff work 9-3.