Nearly half of teachers plan to quit in the next 5 years

[freebritknee]

I saw this from a survey carried out by an education union.

Unmanageable workload is a significant factor.

This is madness how have the unions allowed the state of teachers employment to get this far where nearly half of them want out?!

@noblegiraffe

What about teacher strikes?

Teachers went on strike in the Gove years. It achieved nothing and whipped up public hate. Now teachers unhappy with conditions quit instead (as many on MN have told them to do).

This 100%

We realised we were totally powerless. We gave up. It’s not the job it used to be.

@MrsHamlet

Nor does any job ... what's your point ? What makes you so special? Precisely nothing. But then I didn't say that it did. You're the one making claims about preferential mortgage rates and my attitude to work... which I will reiterate that you know nothing about.

Are you thinking of leaving in the next 5 years ? And if so why ?

@Bedsheets4knickers what’s your job please?

www.onlinemortgageadvisor.co.uk/mortgages-for-professionals/mortgages-for-nurses/

rightmortgageuk.co.uk/2020/03/27/mortgages-for-police-uk/

All that these pages and the teacher one do is talk about specific issues that affect people in different jobs.

I entered teaching aged 39 so with approx a decade and a half experience of other types of job. The main difference is I used to do 50-60 hour weeks in some of the other jobs but I was younger and had more energy, plus didn't have children so could recover when I had time off. It was also easier to change job as notice periods were shorter.

Something that's not been mentioned on this thread is some of the other unusual and old-fashioned aspects of teaching recruitment. You have to reveal to your current school you are job hunting (due to the child protection requirements), heads know each other (over a surprisingly wide geographical area), the real terms and conditions of the job vary widely between schools and are hard to discover from the outside and it's not uncommon for it to be difficult to discover what the actual salary is, even when you've been made an offer. You often get the feeling the offerer feels you should be grateful to get the offer at all...

Therefore I suspect people hang onto the few good jobs while some others change hands frequently. Covid has worsened all this too.

There is also often far too much risk to an individual wanting to enter teaching - yes there are some subjects with large bursaries but some sixth form only or more niche ones with nothing on offer at all - there is no organised 'way in' at all.

As my students would say, the whole thing is a hot mess!

Are you thinking of leaving in the next 5 years ? And if so why?
No. Because I love what I do.
Am I concerned about the number of people who are? Absolutely.

Ive stopped taking student teachers as, without exception in the last 6 years, they've been terrible

-Poor numeracy skills (training to be a maths special)
-Poor communication skills
-doing literally no planning
-often not turning up
-masters degree but incapable of 'dumbing down' to teach at GCSE level
-in it for the bursary
-answering their phone in class
-late more often than not
-expecting me to print all their resources when they rock up at 8.55 for a 9am lesson

[quote Pumperthepumper]@Bedsheets4knickers what’s your job please?[/quote]
I work part time on nights at tesco then I work part time assisted living at Macarthy &Stone

Twitter discussion about this too

twitter.com/Strickomaster/status/1513635991827148800

Oof, I could not be a carer. That’s a tough job.

@Pumperthepumper

Oof, I could not be a carer. That’s a tough job.

It's only a little bit of care as is assisted living not a care home but it's the most valued I've ever felt x

@Bedsheets4knickers
Have you ever been a teacher? Or do you just enjoy telling us how our job is?

My husband is a career changer at 54, has a PhD and is desperately seeking a full time teaching position. Because he's not like the other teachers he's finding it really hard to get a permanent role. The pupils adore him for his enthusiasm and energy. Next term he's moving on to another temporary position. It's demoralising after a year but he's determined and will persevere because he knows he's making an impact.

That’s good then, I’m glad you enjoy it.

In what way is he not like other teachers?

It's only a little bit of care as is assisted living not a care home but it's the most valued I've ever felt x
See... this is the thing. I couldn't do your jobs, and I wouldn't want to. But neither would I presume to criticise you for your choice of work.

@Bedsheets4knickers that's a very bizarre stance to take 🤔. No one claimed we were special. Someone asked why teachers are leaving, we told them, and a select few think we should be shackled to the front desk upon completion of our pgce or we are ungrateful. Here is a newsflash for you: teaching is a job, people are free to come and go as they please. They go realising there will be a drop in pay. They go realising they won't have the same amount of holidays. They go realising they may not have the same 'job security' (which as explained upthread, isn't the case any longer). People leave jobs all the time without being called workshy, so why are teachers any different? My ex husband hated working in the gaming industry and when he said how shit the work conditions were, no one disbelieved him or said "yeah but you get paid 60k to sot playing video games all day so suck it up".
Part of me wonders if this mentality and lack of respect stems from it being predominantly a female profession.

*sit

@Pumperthepumper for a start he's 54 and an EYT, he has 30 years of corporate experience, a PhD and 20 years in the USA. So much for wanting to recruit new teachers. He's plugging away for a £26k job because he wants to make a difference, yet younger teachers with far less world experience are getting the jobs it seems. It's only certain subjects where there is demand.

[quote Hercisback]@Bedsheets4knickers
Have you ever been a teacher? Or do you just enjoy telling us how our job is?[/quote]
No but My closest friend is a teacher and her work woes seem so minuscule. She's got no idea how the real working world is right now . I don't say this to her because my working life is so much harder . I do not get Xmas off or the Fuji Easter or summer but yet I stiii work in a stressful environment...
look I'm not god but I'm just saying the other side is beyond rosey .

What's his subject @hernamewasrio?

@Silverclocks

I've worked with teachers who've been planning to quit for the last 20 years. The reality is the salary is nowhere near as bad as they think it is, when they start looking for alternative work.

I wish they would go, instead of just talking about it though. Staying and moaning/kidding themselves they're leaving is doing no one any good.

If the unions are at fault, it's because they've managed to get the job so well paid it's hard to leave

This.

No but My closest friend is a teacher and her work woes seem so minuscule. She's got no idea how the real working world is right now
This "real working world" shit is nonsense. There are plenty of things I deal with in school that I don't share - some because I can't, others because people who don't do my job wouldn't understand. Every job has its own pressures. You don't know her woes and she doesn't know yours. It's not "real working world" versus "schooling with magical unicorns"

"She's got no idea how the real working world is right now"

There it is again. What, exactly, do you mean by the "real" working world?

@MrsHamlet

What's his subject *@hernamewasrio*?

History, but he's currently teaching English and Media and prefers English as he sees the students more regularly...all in the West Yorkshire area. His encounters with some SLTs would make your hair stand on end...but that's his motivation - he wants to have an impact on the students as he isn't jaded. He refuses to apply to private schools.