What would tempt you to return to teaching?

[TeaTowelQueen]

If you're a teacher that has left/thinking of leaving the profession for whatever reason, what would tempt you back to the classroom? From a Governor who is trying to get creative with recruitment....thinking more job shares? more training and support? any other bright ideas?

Can't change the political environment unfortunately but how can we make our school an attractive prospect, we're Good with Outstanding features, have a fab Head, fab staff, happy and confident children, rural but not small...

Merciful couldn't have said it better myself!

I'm supply and I love it, although I earn half what I did before.
Mercenary teaching is for me, you do the best job you can, bring your own equipment if necessary and you choose whether to stay or leave. The SLT don't expect your sould and have no claim on your sanity. Services for pay.
What would persuade me to become a citizen of an unpredictable, insane dictatorship again, trapped and terrified? Subject to every whim and prevailing wind with no escape? Caligula's reasoning?
Nothing. I chose freedom and poverty.

Encourage less micro management and allow teachers to take control of their own classrooms (Ofsted seem to want this too, but it hasn't filtered to SLT). It annoys me that on the one hand we are held absolutely accountable, but on the other we are told exactly what strategies to teach with, how to mark, etc in a one-size-fits-all approach

What kinky said!

And also totally agree with everyone who has mentioned that there is a huge need for more positivity. It gets wearing when you are only told about the things you haven't done perfectly usually things that you haven't prioritsed because they make jack all difference to the students learning and you only have 24 hours in a day e.g. double backing display work

I got out after my first year despite getting on very well in my NQT year and having permanent work.

It was constant. Silly photocopying rules, logs for everything. No free time.

after a stressful Ofsted in my first term the Head said 'why don't you treat yourself to the weekend off' and that was it, I didn't like how much of my own time was expected to meet silly demands.

Dont work so hard making a living that you forget to make a life.

What are learning walks?

Basically mini-inspections/observations mrsmeerkat where SLT come around with clipboards to make a list of everything you aren't doing exactly as school policy dictates.
Yes, I'm bet you're gutted you are missing out on those now you've left teaching.

There's a clear theme here: autonomy, trust us, acknowledge successes and help problems. Plus the last-peroiod-free idea is genius!

Get rid of the attitude that if a child doesn't meet their target it must be the teacher's fault and then SLT spend a disprortionate time drilling that teacher about it, making them feel dreadful. I've seen good colleagues have breakdowns over it. The biggest factor is the student; sometimes it's the crazy unrealistic target the child has been given that they have no possibility of realising; oh and recognise the marking of the exam paper sometimes is terrible. If a whole class is astray, yes, look at the teaching. But one child?! And if it's a Pupil Premium Child...[mimes slitting throat]

That is the fear that drives all my colleagues.

Prune the excessibe marking load. I physically cannot keep up with it & everything else is sacrificed to it.

Infrastructure that works - especially technology. I spend too much frustrating time battling unwieldy clunky systems that fail.

Stop being slave to the league tables - be a brave head that took that stance.

Friends talk of financial bonuses, event days, private healthcare, canteens manned by chefs, air con! ...I'd like a classroom that doesn't heat to 31 degrees in the summer.

Disproportionate*

Holding teachers solely responsible not only for their pupils' exam but for every tiny increment of progress they make or fail to make isn't only illogical and unfair to teachers, it encourages pupils to think their achievement is somebody else's problem.
*
Yes this 100%!! It's a big problem in my school at the moment. Parents as well who question teaching because their (lazy) child isn't getting an A**

A loaded gun against my head
Well said.
And like another poster - I love supply - do what I want, when I want, all the fun of interaction with the kids and if I feel like a day off I just have it.
No working in evenings or weekends.
I re-trained as a teacher after another career, with all the idealism we see so often on here of eg people who love literature thinking of a lovely easy job that fits around their kids' school holidays.
Chose not to do the NQT year after seeing others driven to point of insanity.
Never have or will do a perm job as a teacher unless I chance upon a PT job in an indie.

I think the parallel thread going on currently about a poster's husband having, or rather not having a day off to take his child to an important medical appointment is also a key issue.
If I wasn't lucky enough to have a HT who is flexible and understanding that we have lives outside of school, then I too would be off out the door and changing careers.

I have found that doing very little teaching over the past few years (while still keeping my hand in with part time temporary bits), plus witnessing the system through dh's experience as a deputy head, have given me the time and headspace to reflect a lot on the state of our education system and rant about it to anyone who will listen .

If one is 'just' a classroom teacher it must be tempting to blame it all on the senior management in your school, on the basis that if they are not making themselves part of the solution, then they are part of the problem.

There are of course some really shitty HTs and DHTs but the pressure they are under is immense and most of them (like most of us) are just doing the best they can in a crappy system while trying to pay the mortgage. It is the whole culture in the system that needs changing. Enough with the constant tweaks, pointless interventions and papering over the cracks.

At one school I worked at, they regularly handed out staff 'wellness' surveys. They were always a bit horrified by people's answers. Their response? Provide free cake in the staffroom once a month. But the thing is that they were powerless to make changes that would ACTUALLY make a difference.

I left because of my work/life balance.

I could be a teacher before I had children because I had enough spare time. With children I don't have 80+ hours to give so something had to give.

I became a SAHM (in 2007). I doubt I will go back to teaching until my children are teenagers/adults. My time is too valuable.

what would tempt me back to teaching?

• Negotiable part time hours

• A local school, minimal traveling. I'd consider some hours at my child school, if offered. OP have you thought about advertising to parents at your school who are teachers?

• other non-teaching routes into school. I have thought about admin, office staff, TA, or technicians roles (since got me it's not about money) as a way to get to know the school and build my confidence (having been out of work for a long time). Then I might consider a teaching contract once I know the school.

I advocate not easing up on high teacher expectations. I realise there are a lot of resentment here from teachers being put under a lot of pressure. But as a parent - I expect the teachers teaching my own children will be pushed to perform as high as possible. So I expect nothing less from all teachers, including me.

Trust in our professional development - if I've studied how to teach my subject at Masters level and kept up to date with subject CPD with the relevant prof body, surely I know at least as much as an external advisor that's never taught my subject?

And don't require us to rewrite every lesson in every Ks3 SOW two years on the run.

Oh, and a gun to the head too....

'At one school I worked at, they regularly handed out staff 'wellness' surveys. They were always a bit horrified by people's answers. Their response? Provide free cake in the staffroom once a month. But the thing is that they were powerless to make changes that would ACTUALLY make a difference.'

So why bother asking, and adding yet another pointless task to the list the teacher is already staggering under? Just another tickbox political exercise.

In one of my schools, SLT expected detailed weekly planning for all subjects from the NQTs, including the questions the teacher would be asking and entire passages of narrative setting out what was going to happen, step by step.
They also expected that level of planning from all other staff, regardless of time served, knowledge and confidence with the subject and experience.

the pressure they are under is immense and most of them (like most of us) are just doing the best they can in a crappy system while trying to pay the mortgage. It is the whole culture in the system that needs changing
I agree.
Much as I would hate being a permanent teacher, being SLT would be even worse.
A school near us had to advertise twice for a HT..
No candidates first time
The second time they only had a few candidates - all of who were immediately available and picked the 'best' of those.
By all accounts, not going well

Boojum - yes I agree, in that school in particular the SLT were just keen to look like they were doing something to address the misery and stress of staff, while actually not giving a monkey's about anything except data. They had just been rated Outstanding a couple of months before I started there. It was in many ways the worst school I've ever worked at.

That's why I don't feel sorry for a large number of SLT members.
A few are doing their best within the rules and are still in contact with the realities of being a class teacher.
The majority have thrown in their lot with the lizard overloards and are totally focused on keeping themselves out of the line of fire by dumping on or blaming the underlings. Especially those that don't have a teaching comittment along with shouldering responsibility for failure. Easier just to tick the boxes and point fingers.

For every new initiative, scrap one or two old ones!

If you want your school run like a business / in a corporate way, make sure that the leaders you employ are qualified to do just that. Teachers can be brilliant in the classroom and inadequate as managers/leaders.

lesleyknope45

I would hope your pay was backpaid to the beginning of this PM cycle. Don't let them get away with not paying you because they've dragged their heals.

Wow everyone, thank you for all of this - loads to digest.

Not only have you given me some insight on recruitment but also some really important areas which I should be asking our SLT about.

I guess there are some things as a school we are powerless to change e.g. marking policies (we put a policy in place but then had to cut it back severely as it was simply impractical, regardless of Ofsted requirements) and assessment data, so we have to concentrate on the things we can influence. Job sharing, flexible hours and perhaps a quota of 'family' days are things we need to offer.

shuffling off to put my thoughts in order now!

In the UK, nothing would induce me to return to teaching ... excluding adult ed.

You can absolutely influence marking.

Marking policies vary wildly between schools - some have an absolutely insane internal marking policy and some are actually ok ("one piece of quality marking per half term", local outstanding secondary).

And some primaries have every piece marked with positives comments in one colour, next steps in another, responded to by the pupil in another colour and the teacher acknowledging that the response has been seen.
As well as correcting SPAG and content.