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.

Teachers in Scotland are leaving the profession in droves. There are major recruitment issues in some areas.

As far as Curriculum for Excellence goes, I can't speak for other teachers, but in my experience I have spent a significant chunk of development/CPD time taking part in endless workshops/training days where we rewrite the outcomes, create (yet another) planning format, discuss it endlessly, try to group outcomes across the years., rewrite it again ad nauseum.

I really, really miss 5-14 for its clarity. Good teachers were imaginative and used different ways of teaching and lots of hand-in activities regardless of the wording of the curriculum. Teachers are under more scrutiny and pressure to evidence every miniscule thing than ever before in Scotland, certainly not unaccountable.

*hands-on (random autocorrect)!

Pebble, given our school starts at 8.40...(and I'm sorry if your school has let your dc down, but really!)

Really interesting (and very sad) thread. I'd be bloody scared if I had a child in a UK school.

The OP deserves credit too, for asking a genuine (and not leading) question and then actually listening to the answer .

Shame your government can't manage to do that.

Despite everything I've said I wouldn't be afraid to have a child in any of the schools I have worked/volunteered in. The vast majority of schools do amazing work and most children will never know how much their teachers are struggling, or how tired they are.

pippity I am not sure what your point is about your school starting time?

I recently saw another thread, about a different profession.

Another poster on that thread posted this:
"calm down dear, you're not Florence Nightingale or fighting in the trenches of WW1 or something! No one likes a martyr. It's not charity work you're doing - you're drawing a salary. If you hate it that much, do something else"

I am not saying this.

All I am saying is, that in my area, and some others I know, in Scotland, there are examples of teachers, and management, and LA's not being accountable. And that the CfE, so very unlike the old 5-14, facilitates this.
Obviously I cant prove this here and now, nor can it be disproved.
But I am entitled to express my (and others) experience.

I am not making the 'calm down dear' remarks.
Can you imagine? You would clearly all hang, draw and quarter me

queen my comment was more about the mental health implications of this insane pressure (on students as well as teachers).

Even if many schools are still good (and I am sure this is the case), how long can this last?

On this thread, one single person working as a teacher in England has posted to say that they still enjoy their full time teaching job. The only others who feel their job is manageable are doing supply.

It will become harder and harder to recruit and retain teachers, class sizes will get bigger, children and staff will get more and more stressed. At some point the house of cards will come tumbling down.

I have survived 15 years of teaching and I have no plans to leave. How?

1. I work part time (2 days)
2. I have no responsibility.
3. I work on a 'need to know' basis and ignore the non essentials.
4. Like a marathon runner I have settled into a comfy pace.

Every new minister for education feels the need to tinker. Bloody don't. Trust the people the system has trained to get on with the jobyou trained them for. I asked my year 10's what would help improve their grades. They said "smaller classes, comfier chairs and air conditioning in the summer". Job done.

Teachers have been complaining for years about the same things and all they are ever told is "leave then." They are never actually listened to and things never change for the better. Not surprising that teachers are leaving in their droves now.

Yes thatsnot, I'm considering doing that as opposed to leaving. Getting on with it, letting it all wash over me and remembering that so actually do know what I'm doing.

What has struck me is how different the reality of teaching is from the 9-4 long holidays myth. I suppose that should have been obvious to me given how many people want to leave.
It has the potential to be a national disaster. Wasted teaching skills and young people not getting the teaching teachers would like to give them.

Armchair- I'm afraid I was Born in 85! I'm almost 30 - been teaching 6 years and considering getting out now while I'm young enough (just) to try something else. I've just had my second baby too and dreading my return after mat leave- it was hard to do when I went back after dd but I've no idea how I'm going to manage. Especially as I'll have a couple of months to prepare resources for and plan teaching for an entire new GCSE and A level course. I can't even start now and get ahead because ofqual haven't approved either course. Sigh.

It's a massive shame because it could still be a lovely job. For me the kids are fantastic and I also find it enjoyable working with parents. It's the ridiculous targets and the sense that you can't do right for doing wrong that I find so grinding and depressing.

It is such a sad sad situation. I agree and can personally relate to everything that previous posters have said ... The endless changes, workload, stress of unrealistic government targets that certainly do not take the 'whole child' into account, the fact that every child has to be 'average'.... Which is not mathematically possible!
Experienced, successful and valued teachers becoming demoralised, over worked, pressurised, continually scrutinised, continually made to feel that every step of progress is not good enough and needs to be further improved.
All of the teachers that I know worked their damned hardest, work long hours and struggle to keep a work life balance... And feel exhausted...
I see tears of frustration, stress and exhaustion, including my own.
Despite actually loving the teaching side, the joy of working with children, it is the current government ethics that are making teachers constantly question and doubt their abilities.
It is true that this is the sad reality of teaching today.
I really worry about the future of education from both the persoevtive of the children and teachers.

Perspective

And yet still people believe that myth of the 9-4 and the long holidays ChazsBrilliantAttitude - if only they were pure holidays rather than a chance to catch up on everything.
One of the threads that annoyed me most on MN were people upset because teachers had their own child in their school and brought them in early with them- apparently this was unfair!

I love my job. Have been teaching for 6 years (did change key stages in that time). Will honestly say I have never thought so much about packing it in and keaving as much as I have in the last few 4 weeks.
Due to these reasons:
Local Authority disorganisation, no you can't tell me at 11am on a Friday you need xyz papers work done on every ks2 pupil in the school by 8am Monday!! Even if I just spend 2 min a child that will take me 16 hours!
Constantly having to put family and friends second place. Last minute meetings (or non stop meetings) means I an non stop going can't do that or cancelling stuff.
Assessment- honestly who gets rid of an assessment system without putting anything in place- thanks for that government!!
And then there is the class room pressure. Constantly having to be happy smilies around answering 34 questions (in 3 languages).
Teaching to every learning style and in the different languages (due to nature of school all staff speak 2 languages and teach in both every lesson).
Parents expect/ want residential but moan at the price. Sorry but it cost me more to lead these trips by the timely have sorted out child care ect!

As for bankers having more stress, I think it depends where you work all my friends who went in to banking work in places with good skiing or on small Islands and love there job and work life balance.
If it was not for comments mainly (SD) I would be loing to moving abroad.

I love the way that some parents think being in charge of 30 teenagers in a foreign city is a free holiday!

I imagine that bankers can at least go to the loo when they want and get a cup of coffee. They don't work non stop and then go out on playground duty, without time for a toilet stop, and have to hope that someone remembers to bring them a coffee.

Sorry, Pebble was not clear.
It was in response to your Scottish teachers working 9-3 and merely pointing out that as our school, in Scotland, starts at 8.40, you are not factually correct for all Scottish teachers.
And don't worry, the new testing being brought in this year will help to add to the pressure here nicely.
The CfE may seem 'woolly', but it has not meant Scottish teachers suddenly skipped into school late and strolled home on the bell with nary a backward glance.
We do not all need a big stick to make us hard working.

Exactly..kayak, "we haven't written it yet, we didn't want to take away your autonomy, make your own up"....which will inevitably wrong.

Kayak: ah yes, there's also the 'let's abandone the levelling of outcomes for pupils' but ' schools have to now create their own assessment systems'

its so sad that I am now desperate to leave a job that I once absolutely loved. A job that I thrived on; the satisfaction of knowing that each day I made a difference to a child and you were 'trusted' with that child's well being and education.

I love teaching in my school but it is a very small independent with small classes and lovely children. Having said that we have a new member of management who has come from a state school (as I did years ago) and he is trying to bring in new initiatives which frankly are a load of shite. If he persists with all the added bureaucracy I will be registering a formal complaint. He's actually said he has come to us for an easier life as the state school was outstanding but at the price of staff and there is very high staff turnover because of the pressure. If he's not careful the same will be happening at my place.

I don't think I could ever go back to state ed with the massive classes, shitty initiatives (unfounded upon any pedagological evidence) and snivelling, back stabbing management. I would if I HAD to but I would rather go back to working in a supermarket which I used to enjoy.

My real point though is what effect is all of this have gone our children? How effective as a person (not even considering the role as a teacher) is the teacher who is stressed to the point of illness? How can they give all children in their classes what they need when they are barely holding it together for themselves?

Of course there should be accountability and a desire to improve situations for all (Staff and pupils alike) but for God's sake just let teachers teach! Leave them alone. Let them build relationships with their children, let them teach in a way that reveals their true passion for the subject which will then enthuse their pupils. Allow the teacher some autonomy and trust their judgement. But also, support the teacher. Get rid of the disruptive pupils and make the parents of said pupils accountable for their child disturbing the learning of others in the class rather than saying 'the teacher isn't engaging enough.' Give teachers training in areas they would like to develop rather than in some boring, half-baked initiative. Send teachers home on a Friday at 4.00pm and tell them to enjoy their weekend and not spend all of it worrying about Monday morning.

In a nut shell back off and leave teachers to be the professionals that they have been trained to be.

Phew rant over!