To start with...

Hi
Well I suppose I don't really know why I'm writing. It's a bit like writing to no-one but maybe it's theraputic? Anyhow, the idea behind this blog is to record and share the experiences I'm having in leaving my teaching career. None of this is intended to be a moan or a rant at or about authority.

My reasons for leaving teaching are varied but essentially I am leaving for these reasons:

1.       I am not valued as a professional

Every teacher feels this I’m sure. Our profession has lost the status it once had and our judgements in the classroom day to day are checked and scrutinised as never before. We work under the general assumption that we are all looking to cut corners, collect our pay and relax in our long holidays. It has got to the point where I feel that I am spending as much time proving to others that I’m doing my job than actually doing it! I became a teacher because I wanted to teach children and inspire them. 

2.      I work in a very negative climate

Our school has recently been graded by Ofsted to be inadequate. Certainly the school is not deserving of the category “good” but inadequate it most certainly is not. Since the inspection we have learnt that the SATs results from last year were amongst the best in the school’s history. We have also had a new management team. This new team has in a very short space of time eroded the community feel of my school and created a “them and us” mentality amongst the staff and the management. We are constantly told to do more or do things differently and whereas before if someone came into my classroom to observe I would welcome it, now I feel paralysed by fear of the criticism which will inevitably follow. Before the Ofsted inspection I had never before received a grade 4 in any observation and had mostly “good” judgements and a couple of “satisfactory” lessons taught under the old framework. Now I only hear, “This lesson requires improvement,” if I get any feedback at all!

On the issue of Ofsted I should say that I have no problems with there being a system of monitoring schools. There should be. The fact is though that Ofsted is hurting more than helping at the moment. The approach taken to inspections is heavy handed and often it seems that inspectors have made up their minds before arriving at the school. The system needs to be helpful if it is to be any use. 

3.      Work / Life balance

If you know a teacher or are a teacher then you will know that there is no balance. In term time we are buried with work with maybe half a weekend off in a week. If we’re lucky. Holidays are more of a recovery period before plunging head first into another term. Even taking into account the long holidays, teachers are still among the hardest working professionals in the country in terms of average hours worked. I admire and respect the teachers who are able to sustain this working pattern but I am not one of them. I will take less holiday in trade for a better balance thank you!

 

4.      Statistics

Statistics and Ofsted are two of the most frequently heard words in staff meetings or the staff room at my school and it’s probably the same in your school or your child’s school too. A child’s attendance is discussed in terms of how it’s affecting the attendance statistics rather than the child’s education. We discuss progress not in terms of “So-and-so learnt to do this today!” but, “Have they made the required progress so I will meet my performance targets?” Parents I’ll tell you now, your child is becoming nothing more than a data point on a graph, a percentage point that teachers and management can use to justify actions. They are described in terms of the data groups Ofsted use to make their judgements. We are required to put on our plans the names of the children in our class who have free school meals so that we can proactively target these children in our teaching. The reason for this is not genuine concern on the part of the management about Child X who happens to have school meals. It’s to try to boost the statistics.

5.      Education is a political football

Education is a very politically driven industry. The curricula and structures drawn up by different governments reflect the different political ideologies of those governments and individual ministers in those governments. As a consequence statistics are used to score political points and changes are made that affect everyone in the system: pupils, parents and teachers, without any sound reason to do so. My opinion (for what it’s worth) is that the education of our nation’s children is too important to be left to the whims of governments. I would encourage a governance solution that involves members from the various political parties and teaching unions. There have to be valid educational reasons for changes to our system and curriculum. The trouble with education is that people consider themselves experts simply because they went to school. They are not. I went on a plane once. Does it make me a pilot? 

6.      The Future

I’m leaving the career I dreamed of since I was a small boy because I have failed. I have failed to adapt to the changing environment of education. I also left because I can see the future in my colleagues. I can see dedicated, hard working people with families and young children to support soldiering on because they must. They are trapped in a profession which is under constant attack and are always looking forward to the next holiday or to retirement. One colleague regularly says “Just X more years and then I can retire!” X by the way is a two digit number. On the first day of the new school year another said to me “Just seven weeks until half term!” I do not want to wish my life away. I do not want to think like this.

I'm signed off sick with stress, depression and anxiety at the moment. I have been informed that I will not be allowed to leave at Christmas and must carry on until Easter. I am applying for a wide range of graduate schemes and will take any job offered to me. This is going to be a year of change. I'm simultaniously excited, nervous and relieved that I've made the choice to get out. Who knows what the new year will bring? Who knows where I'll end up? 

If you've read this and feel like joining me on my journey to who-knows-where then I'll try to write a post once a week or so.