To think that no one ever regrets leaving the teaching profession in England?

[Restlessness]

I have been noticing a lot of posts ex teachers mentioning how much happier they are now that they have left the profession, and it has got me wondering—does anyone ever miss it? Or regret their decision? Or maybe even decide against leaving in the end and choose to stay?
For context, before entering teaching, I worked in a mix of charity and not-for-profit roles. While those jobs paid less, they didn’t feel nearly as stressful in comparison. Of course, I’m not saying that’s the case for all jobs—there are certainly challenges in WFH roles or other careers—but teaching has its own unique pressures.
My circumstances have also changed since I first started teaching. I now have a toddler in my life and only just returned to work from mat leave. I’ve gone part-time, but I find it really difficult not to work on my days off. It doesn’t help that I’ve essentially been given a full timetable, with an unqualified cover supervisor taking my classes on the two days I’m off. This means the majority of the marking falls on me, along with all the parents’ evenings and the responsibility of overseeing their learning. Knowing that the cover supervisor isn’t equipped to handle the more challenging lessons, they’re left to supervise easier tasks like library sessions or assessments on my days off. As a result, I’m left trying to cram everything else into the days I’m in.
I know that leaving teaching might mean a pay cut, but I think I could manage it—I’m fairly sensible with money anyway, and I’m already on a part-time salary. My DS is still a baby/toddler, so having term-time holidays doesn’t make a huge difference right now, or maybe I’m just too new to parenthood to feel the full benefit of it yet.
So, is there anyone out there who left teaching and wished they hadn’t?
YANBU = Anyone who actually left is glad they did
YABU = Of course, some people regret it.

Take a closer look at your child's school, and I'd be astonished if they are not reliant on cover supervisors to fulfil their obligations regarding contact time / directed hours.

The youngsters are keen and eager to please. They may have oppressive mortgages and no children of their own (yet).

This is particularly true in secondary. The young teachers end up leaving, burnt out, and this at least partly explains why there is such an imbalance between inexperienced and experienced teachers. A good school should strike a balance between experienced, seasoned teachers and those who are (relatively) newly qualified. A great many schools fail to achieve this balance.

Somebody once told me that being a teacher is a bit like being in an abusive relationship.

Younger teachers don't always realise the extent to which they are being coercivly controlled until it's too late.

If you can escape you should and NEVER go back; just like an abusive relationship.

It really really isn't. The medical profession, the nursing profession, healthcare professionals, the legal profession, childcare professionals, and, yes, the social work profession, mental health professionals, caring professions. All widely used.

It's why so many ex and retired teachers have stressful dreams which feature drop-in observations / the photocopier won't work / they can't get the class under control, etc.

I've read such dreams are a form of PTSD - that's how stressful the job can be.

I haven't once regretted leaving teaching. I do regret that the profession that I spent 4 years training towards, then getting through the NQT year, has been so utterly destroyed with little semblance to the job that most of us believed we were getting into.
I sometimes feel disappointed in myself that I couldn't stick it as leaving has had a big impact on our finances and it's hard accepting that you need to almost start from the bottom again.

I don’t regret it at all, but I do miss working with children. I volunteer at a Brownie group now instead - much nicer!

Its less about the kids and more about what the parents want now.
Some molly cuddle there kids to the point that if a teacher tells them off the teacher is blamed for being abusive.
Some drop the kids off in play school even reception year still in nappies and its the teachers fault for not potty training them at the age of 4.
School gate mums having drama and asking teachers to sort it there grown women parents shameful.
Then theres my child cant help it they have SEN and some push and push for a diagnosis when truth be told you child is fine they are acting like kids its normal.
Or the bigger kids that think the world is theres and everything they do is right and can bully and swear at teachers and other kids yet the parents blame the school.

Thats why 2 teachers i know left after almost 30 years of teaching.
Not one has any regret either.
One now works at an antique shop and the other works at a cattery both love it with no plans to ever go back to teaching.
Less pay but well worth the peace.

@cooljerk Except for PPA cover, my daughter is being taught by a qualified and experienced teacher at all times.
I wouldn't put her in a school in which cover supervisors/HLTAs taught her more than this.
As a teacher myself I know this is certainly not always the case and this is not OK.

Explicit teaching is the way forward. It's effective and knowing how to do something because you have been taught it, practised it, rehearsed it, and retrieved it are the basis for both liking a subject and being competent at it. I was taught in the 60s, in a sec mod. We had explicit teaching and text books which we were able to take home with us - they were signed out to us at the beginning of the year/term and woe betide you if you lost them. Homework was learning French verb endings, drawing and labelling a map, learning a list of spellings (I only ever cracked spelling after learning French, our French teacher taught us the relevant phonics and I was able to transfer them to English - I was a voracious reader but spelling, until then, eluded me!), reading a novel and answering comprehension questions. I liked it. I would like it for children now.
We were differentiated by stream. No differentiation in the class.

You're in for a rude shock when she gets to secondary!

No but I regret how much of me it took and going into the profession in the first place, as sad as that sounds. I loved my job but it really affected my quality of life. My husband said he felt like the woman he fell in love with returned when I left.

@cooljerk I also have two sons - 15 and 18. They attend a selective grammar and hoping our daughter will go to the same. Again, they are taught by qualified teachers for the vast majority.

i started dreaming when I left as I finally had enough deep sleep to remember dreams apparently. Isn't that shocking?

Spare a thought for the poor huddled masses at non-selective mainstream, then.

I wish there was a react emoji suitable for some of these responses. I'm really saddened to read some of these responses and I wonder when I finally leave will I begin to realise just how much crap I put up with?

I worked in a school where the headteacher would get his PA to send really terse emails to teachers for really silly things e.g not remembering to send nominated pupils from their form down to his office to receive a headteachers award, these emails were fired off without trying to first find out what the circumstances were so when my father died unexpectedly on a Sunday evening and on the Wednesday morning I was attending the funeral I received one of these emails telling me off for not sending a pupil down for his handshake and stupid paper certificate.

@cooljerk Hang on - wasn't it you that said teaching isn't a "profession" and that basically anyone can do the job?!!

No.

I left at Christmas, I started to crack around the end of last (school) year, I would cry on my way to and from work and have dreams of being unprepared for an observation or being pulled into the office to be bollocked about something. It was soul destroying and my physical and mental health seriously suffered. I didn’t have another job lined up so I’ve been doing supply while I find my perfect job, it will not be as a class teacher.

This is sad. It sounds like a vicious circle where teachers leave due to stress, then ones who remain are overworked, become stressed and start leaving too.

I’ve been interested to read on this thread how the teaching itself has changed. When I was at primary school, we’d often do some exercises from a textbook, sometimes while the teacher got on with some other marking! Also, we were often told to do several minutes of silent reading.

At secondary school, our homework was sometimes just to go over what we’d learned in class, in preparation for a test. And we’d mark each other’s test papers in class. I don’t have a problem with any of this. I definitely think our teachers had a better work/life balance in those days.

I can’t believe you’re a secondary teacher and you’re putting up with this crap. I’ve heard of it happening in primary, but honestly?! I’m 0.6 and the rest of my non timetable is filled with other people. Of course. Why wouldn’t it be? I teach kids for 3 or 5 periods a fortnight. Easy to make adjustments. You’ve been had here. Get out. What do you teach? You’ll be snapped up. I find 3 days a week pretty manageable and school pretty good with work life balance. If you like teaching move schools. If not put it in your exit interview and go.

*and do no further planning or marking for cover supervisor. It’s illegal. Qualified teachers should be taking regular lessons. Tell whoever is checking books.

Gah it’s a disgrace.

I left teaching in a school in December 2019.

Before my departure I had started to build up a tutoring business and that's now what I do from home.
I love it, the teaching, doing things on my terms, no scrutiny, I feel valued.

I was working 2 days a week and make the same money now working 10 hours a week from home.

No regrets at all.