Keeping motivated - exam factory world!

[Olive30]

Teach secondary, core subject for 18 years! Middle management level now and work 0.8. Pretty good work-life balance, overall but I have a niggling concern that I have fallen out of love with traditional education...!

Love the education process in general and seeing students develop, work in a "nice" school with great colleagues but pressure for results is constant. I want students to do well (of course) but resenting the feeling of being part of an exam factory. How do you cope if in similar situation? Part of the problem is large minority of students (and parents possibly) just want to know how to get high grades but don't really care about the learning process or knowledge. Feel I am looking around for an alternative system...that does not exist! Would consider tutoring in the future to have more of a one to one impact but can't do that right now.

See that I am being slightly ridiculous but does anyone empathise? Wanted to start a discussion as can't really talk about it irl as outwardly I am very fortunate iyswim.

Thanks for reading.

For a lot of students school is simply a means to an end, so hoping for a love of your subject from all of them is too much.

If you want to get more involved with the ones who are interested in the subject itself, can you set up something extra-curricular?

I mean this nicely but since you are middle management are you , in fact a cog In the wheel of the problem? Certainly , in my school it is they who are the 'how high would you like me to jump?' types. Can you fight back or change things (even if a littlie) from within at all?

I agree with both of you. It is an utopian idea and I am part of the issue...hard to know how to be different. Maybe time for a different skill but that is difficult with my own family responsibilities.

I know what you mean. Other factors are what keep us in teaching and in management, too.

They rely on us to put up or shut up!