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?!

@JangolinaPitt

No chance! People who come from corps run back to corps, they see the light and are not prepared to put up with the ridiculousness and lack of autonomy.

Teaching is my second career. I love teaching. The actual part of standing in a room with a load of young people sharing knowledge, watching them learn and seeing that “Ah ha!” Moment when they understand something after struggling is incredible.

However, this is approximately 40% of my time spent working.

Paper work, ridiculous meetings, never ending form filling and the rest of this nonsense is soul destroying.

I am not sure the highs are ever worth the lows in this job.

[quote Tulipblacksmith]@JangolinaPitt

No chance! People who come from corps run back to corps, they see the light and are not prepared to put up with the ridiculousness and lack of autonomy.[/quote]
Would actually be much better for the pupils if yea here were recruited only from people who had working experience outside education but is obviously easier and cheaper to just pick up those who are still at university and have no ambition or energy to look outside.

Would actually be much better for the pupils if yea here were recruited only from people who had working experience outside education but is obviously easier and cheaper to just pick up those who are still at university and have no ambition or energy to look outside.
What absolute nonsense!

@MrsHamlet

Would actually be much better for the pupils if yea here were recruited only from people who had working experience outside education but is obviously easier and cheaper to just pick up those who are still at university and have no ambition or energy to look outside. What absolute nonsense!

Closed mind. Are you by any chance a teacher who was recruited straight from a first degree…😀😀😀

There’s many issues depending on what school you work in. But the main thing I think for many teachers is the psychological impact of being made to feel like you’re doing a shit job when you are working incredibly hard and expectations for what is ‘good’ are just not humanly possible. Not great when I think many teachers already suffer from a bit of imposter syndrome. That will grind you down eventually, I spent just 6 months in a school where it was like that but luckily found somewhere much better where senior leadership has a good and realistic grip on things, and genuinely care about the children. But not everyone is that lucky - most schools are under a lot of pressure from above and all directions and many Senior Leaders just don’t manage that pressure well, they lose sight of what should really matter and it all filters down.

Are you by any chance a teacher who was recruited straight from a first degree…😀😀😀
No. I'm a teacher who wanted to be a teacher because I was lucky to have some amazing ones. I chose my degree and my route into teaching accordingly. Nothing at all to do with lack of ambition or energy.
Or to do with massive bursaries which are the current incentive, and is totally failing.

The management is pretty amateur but that is unsurprising -would be better if people leading schools were primarily proven leaders rather than just promoted straight from the classroom. Using the terminology ‘leadership’ is so indicative of a culture that doesn’t demand effective management.

@MrsHamlet

Are you by any chance a teacher who was recruited straight from a first degree…😀😀😀 No. I'm a teacher who wanted to be a teacher because I was lucky to have some amazing ones. I chose my degree and my route into teaching accordingly. Nothing at all to do with lack of ambition or energy. Or to do with massive bursaries which are the current incentive, and is totally failing.

So… yes - a teacher who went straight from a first degree onto teaching… 😀😀😀

Went, not "recruited". I didn't need recruiting because it was always the plan.
Why is that such a terrible thing, by the way?

@Dizzyhedgehog

We've been abroad for nearly 4 years now. I'd like to come back to the UK eventually but no way would I want to teach here again. (I've got 20+ years experience. I love my job and I'm bloody good at it.) I'm currently "only" a classroom teacher and to earn the same in the UK, I'd have to be a headteacher of a middle-sized primary school. I work my contracted hours and nobody bats and eyelid when I leave at 4pm to pick up DS. I'm not expected to work outside of my normal hours. I have PPA time daily, to sort things out, get planning done, do assessments and paperwork. My class is comparatively big. We take a maximum of 24 children per class and my class is full. We have other classes with half the number of kids. How I teachnis left up to me. SLT trust me to do my job and I'm quite happy to be left to do it. I had one formal observation last year and one this year. That's it. No learning walks, no book looks, no planning scrutinies. In comparison, my class are making much better progress than my classes in the UK. However, that might be due to the fact that I taught Y6 in the UK and now have Y1. They start with me without any English and without ever having been to school before. By now in the year, they can understand, speak, read and write in English. They've made stellar progress. Ofsted would be impressed. Thing is, nobody stresses about it. I'm allowed to give my children time. They get support, if they need it. We don't set homework. If children are sick, they are sick. We don't monitor percentages of how often someone has been absent. We don't have to "include writing across the curriculum". My foundation subjects aren't English lessons in disguise, aimed at squeezing as much written work out of them as possible. My marking is my own issue. If I tick the bottom of the page, it's fine. We have workbooks for core subjects. Not every lesson has to be singing and dancing and no, they don't have to make progress from the start of the lesson the end of the lesson. It makes life much less stressful for everyone involved.

This sounds absolutely blissful (I teach Y1 in the UK)

@JangolinaPitt

I have worked in both sectors and am now a teacher. Massively less stress than in the corporate world and long holidays. Most teachers haven’t worked outside education and have no idea of the reality of a job where you do absolutely work long hours but don’t have the holidays. There is also a tendency to assume that they could command a higher salary elsewhere but not a massive demand for embittered ex-teachers who want an easy life. I would not recommend that anyone goes into teaching straight from university, but as as second or third carer is a very palatable alternative to the stresses of the corporate world.

This is my experience too.

Ah the holidays. And how much more we'd be paid if we didn't have so many. And yet there are lots of jobs out there with quite a bit of leave, and decent pay, but people keep quiet about that. Dh earns the same as me and gets 6 weeks. But every evening and weekend is his own. And he can pick his times. He also gets to wfh if he appointments etc.
Paramedic friend of mine gets 10 weeks a year, so he tells me.

Apparently I'm on my Easter holidays. I've worked since 8, marking mocks. Need to feed the kids but then I'll be spreadsheeting.
Planning tomorrow.
In school to teach revision sessions (unpaid) wed and Thurs.
Off over the bank holiday.

I get a lot of job applications from teachers and I have only ever employed 1, most do not leave when they see the salaries and pensions/holidays in private sector.

@MrsHamlet

Went, not "recruited". I didn't need recruiting because it was always the plan. Why is that such a terrible thing, by the way?

It is not desirable that people go into the profession without other life experience. It is the easiest option for a graduate - the thing that graduates typically do if they don’t have other options -but children deserve better. Of course it won’t change because it is easier and cheaper to hoover up those graduates and would be a brave government that insisted on recruiting people with other experience so sadly won’t happen.

If teaching so great, why are we so short of them?

@Horridcreature

I wonder if there should be compulsory term or two shadowing a teacher before starting pgce maybe on a grant so that those starting a degree in education or pgce know what they face before getting student loans and schools investing time training and person leave after weeks. Save them and tax payer fees and time and their stress failing when they actually start.

That might reduce the number of students. Do teachers think it might mean those that train would stay for longer?

No the government but the trainee teachers as most them are paying their own fees. How will those potential trainers support themselves and if they have them families?

It is not desirable that people go into the profession without other life experience. It is the easiest option for a graduate - the thing that graduates typically do if they don’t have other options -but children deserve better.
You don't half talk a load of nonsense!
In what way deserve better?

@noblegiraffe

If teaching so great, why are we so short of them?

Shortages in every sector - haven’t you noticed the world outside teaching?

The most common job for Oxbridge grads is teaching. I hardly think they are just allowing themselves to be 'hoovered up'. Teaching yo some is a vocation. The very best teachers I know are career teachers tbh.

@noblegiraffe

If teaching so great, why are we so short of them?

I think due to lack of wage progression, boredom and ability range within classrooms becoming more and more unmanageable.

What's your subject jangolina?

So, @JangolinaPitt, you think that the teaching profession shouldn't be open to those who know from the off that they want to teach? The ones that actually have a vocation should be shut out?

@saraclara

I know right, my mother was a nurse from the word go as that’s all she ever wanted to be. She excelled in her career and ended up as a consultant nurse managing homes. Ridiculous to assume all vocations need “life experience” first.

Having life experience can also have the opposite effect. You’re more likely to sniff through the bullshit, and you’re far less mouldable.

@saraclara

So, *@JangolinaPitt*, you think that the teaching profession shouldn't be open to those who know from the off that they want to teach? The ones that actually have a vocation should be shut out?

I know this isn’t directed at me, but I’m leaning towards agreeing with it. Teaching should be seen as a further specialisation.