TEACHING IS LIKE AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP – YOU ONLY STAY FOR THE CHILDREN
According to figures released by Labour this week, 50,000 teachers quit last year. The mother of a friend of mine summed up the current situation perfectly after yet another tearful phone call where her daughter was considering whether or not she should leave the profession:
‘You know, listening to you talking about work is like listening to someone who is in an abusive relationship. You know you don’t really want to be there. You know you are being treated badly. And yet you continue to stay stuck because of the effect it will have on the children.’
‘You know, listening to you talking about work is like listening to someone who is in an abusive relationship. You know you don’t really want to be there. You know you are being treated badly. And yet you continue to stay stuck because of the effect it will have on the children.’
This week’s figures come as no surprise to me. I’ve worked at the same school for more than a decade and until just recently, the only reasons people left were to be promoted or retire. In the past year, however, I have seen three amazing colleagues leave teaching in the UK completely.
The first had been a Head of Department in art for more than twenty years. Not being a ‘core’ subject and therefore not affecting the school’s position in the league tables, her department was sidelined as unimportant. In an example of psychological stress made manifest, her inability to be ‘given a voice’ at work resulted in her physically losing her voice completely. She left the profession, and is now a full time artist.
The second was a brilliant teacher who had consistently excellent results but because he didn’t conform to the Ofsted mould, management put him under constant observation to try to force him to become the children’s television presenter they wanted him to be. He eventually decided he’d had enough and walked out. He now teaches abroad where they don’t care how the hell you teach as long as your results are good.
The third is a young teacher in his twenties who was appalled by the recent government Teaching is Like an Abusive Relationship - You Only Stay for the Children | Cultured Vultures: