Personal Development
they know better than the teacher.
You don’t have to look too far to find
articles and blog posts chronicling all
the things that teachers ought to be
doing. Teachers are observed within
an inch of their lives. Their plans are
examined, their books and marks
scrutinised and if they should ever
make an error they are soon labelled
as “bad teacher” or “in need of
support”. This lack of trust will drive
the most well-meaning teacher to
breaking point. Teachers, especially
younger teachers, will not tolerate this
lack of trust for very long. It is hard
to find another profession that is as
scrutinised. Teachers are fully aware
of the delicate nature of their job and
they also know that some amount
of scrutiny is necessary as they are
dealing with young children who are
vulnerable. When teachers feel like
they have to always watch their backs
they become paranoid. This paranoia
can lead to stress and anxiety which
will drive them out of the profession.
Family Commitments:
Recently I heard a teacher say that
teaching and starting a family do not
mix. The lack of work-life balance,
makes it hard for teachers who want
to start a family, to remain in teaching.
Teachers can easily work seven days
a week. There had been a lot of talk
recently about teacher well-being, but
the fact still remains, that the workload
can be unbearable and if you have
a young family it can easily become
unmanageable, so some teachers
choose to leave the profession when
they decide to start a family.
Career progression and
compensation:
No one enters the teaching profession
to get rich but like others, teachers
have financial and career goals that
they would like to fulfil. Often times
these goals cannot be reached if one
remains in the classroom. Staying
in education and earning a decent
salary frequently means exiting the
classroom, to either become an
administrator or take on a similar
promoted role within education.
The skills gained as a teacher
stands you in good stead, in many
professions, so many teachers use
the skills and experience gained while
teaching as stepping stones into other
professions. Many young adults are
also now choosing to enter teaching
straight out of university as a way of
gaining valuable experience, they also
see it as an opportunity to give back
to society almost like charity work.
This new school of thought is being
fuelled by programmes like Teach
for All in the United States and
Teach First in the United Kingdom.
Graduates from top universities
enter the teaching profession for
two years and some may stay on
longer, after which they go to work
in the corporate sector.
Career Diversity:
This can be mistaken for career
progression, but it is completely
different. People have several
passions and unlike before, when
you might have just settled for
one career and work at it for life,
people, especially young people
are choosing to follow their various
passions at different times in their
lives. You might be a teacher
who wants to become a blogger
and then move on to become an
entrepreneur. The move may just
be lateral, but it allows you to
explore another area of interest.
I have known teachers who left
teaching to become chefs, open
salons, become a fashion designer
etc. Career diversity is becoming
very popular and people now have
very interesting and colourful CVs.