So I'm reading Katy Farber's book, Why Great Teachers Quit: And How We Might Stop the Exodus, which explores the demands, challenges, and rewards experienced by classroom teachers across the country who are staying in the trenches of public education - or - who are choosing to leave the classroom. (Insert sounds of shock and awe here).
Just saying the phrase, "leaving the classroom," sounds sacrilegious to me. . . My breathing becomes more shallow, my eyeballs dart in a counter-clockwise motion, and my heart feels like it might jump out of my chest.
Teachers in their right minds don't consider this prospect very often. . .
Do they?
Currently, if you're not a classroom teacher - you're an Instructional Coach or some kind of administrator. End. Of. Career. Path.
Current reform efforts, however, seem to have built in ways for teachers to become peer evaluators and coaches; it seems there might be new ways to build in layers of quality, job-embedded support that have been, sorely, lacking in public education.
Things are, definitely, being shaken up in education right now. Some-shakes: good. Some-shakes: bad. Teachers who are faltering under the proverbial more-with-less mantra are leaving the profession in record numbers. But what about teachers, like myself, who like to have one foot in the classroom and one foot on a teacher-leader platform somewhere?
How does this type of teacher know when it's time to "leave" the classroom?
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I made the decision to leave the classroom because I was (and still am) searching for more. As much as I loved interacting with my students, I felt the walls of my classroom were confining. I see a great need for change within education, and I felt that being in one classroom, I wasn't doing enough. Yes, I know the power of touching just one child's life, and I understand there will be new students every year; however, I have a pull to something bigger. I know some people think I'm crazy (and at times I even wonder if they're right), but that's not going to stop me from trying. It's a constant search to fill that deep desire to make a difference in the lives of students and create an education system that inspires students of all ages to reach their full potential.
I left the classroom because, while I enjoyed the kids, there was just too much other stuff to do. I've worked in human resources, retail, publishing, and run my own business for ten years - nothing was more taxing than teaching. And the high-stakes testing (TX) made me really re-think the whole point of education and my role in it. I still do some consulting with smaller schools. I was born a teacher, but I wasn't born for the classroom or public school as it stands now.