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?!

Your list didn’t explain what rigour in recruitment looked like.

Why does someone going into teaching from a degree mean it's a fallback option? That is nonsense.

Teaching is absolutely seen by some as a fallback option.

Beggars can't be choosers and while we can't get teachers to the standards we currently have and are taking any warm body and putting them in front of a class, talk of raising entry requirements is bizarre.

Make it a job people want to do.

'rigour in recruitment' means getting Barry from the corner of the staffroom and saying 'no' to the ones that just look like they won't make it.

Pumperthepumper
I think leaving a specialised job to teach shows a different level of commitment than teacher training because you couldn’t think of anything else.

All it could mean is that you could cope in the "real world" and saying that those going into teaching because they couldn't think of anything else is offensive.

And I’m sure there are many, many excellent teachers who that worked out for, but I think teaching being seen as a fallback option is not a good thing for the profession.

It could be seen that those coming in to teaching from a "specialist" job are using it as a fallback profession, it can and does work both ways.

I have an office full of degree qualified staff, get 5 weeks holiday a year and get paid less than entry level teachers.

Teachers pay really is not bad considering the amount of holiday.

I do have some friends who are very committed teachers, love their jobs but don’t seem to be on mumsnet

Exactly - make it a job people want to do.

@Pumperthepumper

Teaching is absolutely seen by some as a fallback option.

It has been promoted as such by various governments, media and those with an axe to grind.

Also see anyone that uses the phrase 'those that can' etc.

I have an office full of degree qualified staff, get 5 weeks holiday a year and get paid less than entry level teachers.

So why aren't they teachers?

newusername2009
I have an office full of degree qualified staff, get 5 weeks holiday a year and get paid less than entry level teachers.

If they are unhappy get them to become teachers, its apparently very easy and won't be looked at as a fallback profession because they have already had a career.

@MajorCarolDanvers

It's a good thing.

There are clearly lots of teachers who hate their jobs. That's not good for them or for children.

They should leave and do something else with their lives.

What's then needed is plenty of recruitment of new teachers.

Teachers generally don't hate the job and continue to do their best for the children, no matter what.

As a senior leader, I love teaching and I love interacting with pupils and watching them progress in all aspects (not just academically).

What is making me quit is the multi academy trust model which has turned schools into businesses with CEOs and accountants. The welfare of pupils is put on a back burner so that the MATs protect their "brand" at all costs. This leads to horrendous bullying of leaders who are not actually allowed to lead, pointless paperwork and difficult processes for simple things such as ordering pens.

I am a brilliant SEN leader and teacher but I cannot work in the toxic environment created by MATs plus the ever changing curriculum and goalposts set by the government who have never set foot in, let alone experienced working in, an SEN school.

As for the salary, it has been devalued for years. I can barely afford to live in a not very nice outskirts of London borough. The "London weighting" is a joke. I could live much better in rural areas but my family, partner etc are here so I am stuck.

@SirSamVimesCityWatch

Not surprised. I left after 12 years, I am so glad I did. It's no life. I now work in a job which pays me more for less work. I don't need to be on antidepressants now either. Wish I'd left sooner.

Can I ask, what do you do now?

People who have taught successfully for years and years are the ones that are currently leaving in droves because they feel like they can't sustain it any longer.

These are people who have wanted to be teachers since they were children themselves.

If they can't do it any longer, people who join the profession as a fallback option don't stand a chance.

I have a good Oxbridge degree.
I worked in The City for a while. And then in corporate headhunting.

I have now been teaching over 15 years and for the first time this year I have had the realisation I cannot do another 25yrs to retirement. I just can't. I have, for the first time had time off (by that I mean more than a day or two) sick. I am on my knees after 2 years of dealing with the Covid fallout.

My salary has declined in really terms. The behaviour of the kids significantly worse. The current yr7 crop have major deficiencies in their knowledge as anything other than maths and English fell by the wayside through lockdowns and their social skills are awful.

It's gradually, incrementally getting harder to keep up with the treadmill every year.

And I am fortunate: I teach on a decent school with superb colleagues and SLT. It's a genuinely lovely school and is keeping me in a classroom ...for now.

But I am now starting to look elsewhere for other jobs.

@MajorCarolDanvers

It's a good thing.

There are clearly lots of teachers who hate their jobs. That's not good for them or for children.

They should leave and do something else with their lives.

What's then needed is plenty of recruitment of new teachers.

The government have been trying to focus on recruiting new teachers for years now. To the extent that they've completely redone the induction process for teachers to something that they claim will equip them better for the challenges.

But it doesn't work. Because once new teachers realise how hard the job is, they leave and the vicious circle continues.

So nothing will change until they actually make it a better job.

For the record, most teachers, myself included, don't complain about the pay. They pay is fine, it's the workload.

You can’t know they’re all people who have wanted to be teachers since they were children themselves.

Out of interest , what 'skillset' could an English graduate pick up before teaching that would make them a more suitable teacher? Other than an English degree.

I complain about the pay. They pay doesn’t reflect the responsibility or the hours, and teaching is one of the few professions with very little pay progression.

Equally you can't know they're all using teaching as a fall back option.

I guess it would depend on where they worked? Publishing?

@Hercisback

Equally you can't know they're all using teaching as a fall back option.

At no point did I say they all were.

Whilst everyone is arguing about whether its well paid or easy, the reality is my son isnt being taught maths by a maths teacher

If, as a society, we want a well educated workforce we need to do something to attract, properly train and retain teachers and bickering that other jobs are paid less or are harder doesnt make people want to teach.
If a survey inducates workload is the thing making them leave then surely itscrwally easy to sort? What woukd reduce workload? Either more teachers so smaller classess or less tasks a teacher is meant to do. Which tasks that teachers do for governors/ofsted/government hoops, do they feel benefit pupils least or could be done more efficiently. I am sure they know.

In no way whatsoever would publishing prepare you or help you to teach English!

At no point did I say they all were.

So we're agreed that people go into teaching at different times and with different motivations. There doesn't appear to be any correlation between 'life stage when entering teaching' and 'effectiveness of teacher'.