Last week I was asked how I was able to stay a classroom teacher for the seventeen years that I have been teaching. It was an interesting question, and one that has stayed in my mind for several days. When I think about the classroom teachers I know, most of them have been teachers for less than ten years. The majority of teachers that I have known since the beginning of my career have eventually gone into a specialist role, an administration role, a part time role, or have left teaching completely. Why is it that I remain a classroom teacher?
I recently completed a master’s program in Literacy Studies. Part of the degree was an endorsement as a reading specialist. However, I can’t see myself as a reading specialist, and currently have no desire to leave the classroom. The one year that I was a librarian made me realize how much I liked being a classroom teacher. I missed the community we built together. I missed having “my kids”. I missed the day to day routines, rituals and connections that are a part of being a classroom teacher. I missed celebrating a lost tooth, mourning a lost pet, and getting sticky hugs after lunch. There were some things I didn’t miss that year…report cards, testing (!!!), and collecting money for field trips, to name a few – those fun things. But overall, I missed being a classroom teacher, and went back into the classroom after only one year of being a librarian.
So why do I stay in the classroom? It’s a hard question to answer. But I think the bottom line is that I love what I do. When I talk about my job, I rarely call it a “job”, or say I’m going to “work”. I say I teach and that I’m going to school. I can’t imagine doing anything else in my lifetime. Sure, there are days when I come home after a 14 hour day, and wonder what it would be like to have a 9-5 job where I could walk out with only my purse over my shoulder. There are days when I think there is no way I can go back in that building the next day and do it all again. But when it comes right down to it, I love lugging my professional books, my children’s books, my markers, post-its and planning notebooks home each day. I love to learn. I love thinking of new ways to engage, excite and reach those hardest to reach kids. I love seeing my kids empowered and feeling that they make a difference in the world. I love that I don’t leave my job at school – that it’s a part of me all day, every day. I love being “Ms. Keier”. I love the kids. I love that my day can be full of reading, writing, painting, exploring nature, playing and listening to stories. (how can you beat that??) Even the most difficult days leave me challenging myself to think of a way to have tomorrow be better. (sometimes it takes a few hours of tears to get to that point, but I always get there eventually!) Teaching is an incredibly stimulating, challenging, creative profession to me. I guess that’s why I choose to stay in the classroom. It’s a passion for teaching and learning. I can’t imagine doing anything else.
I could name hundreds of reasons why teachers leave the classroom. And that makes me sad. We lose so many good teachers each year who come into teaching with a vision of making a difference, and are disillusioned by the realities of NCLB mandates, unsupportive school systems, and challenging kids and parents – to name but a few. But there are a few who stay in the classroom, year after year. If you are someone who is a classroom teacher, why do you remain in the classroom? Please share your stories. Perhaps what sustains you, and what keeps you teaching year after year, could make a difference for a young teacher debating whether it’s worth it or not.
I look forward to hearing about what keeps you in the classroom!
I was in the classroom for 31 years and loved every minute of it. It seems to me that the basic thing that keeps one in the classroom is the love of children and the love of learning. I always hoped that I passed along that love of learning to all of “my” children so that they would become lifelong learners. I always wanted them to learn something new every single day – a philosophy to which I still subscribe The hugs and the thanks from parents made the biggest difference in my staying. Seeing students who had grown up, become gainfully employed, and were contributing to our society made what I did worthwhile. Meeting them on the street and hearing their memories about things they remembered about my class kept me going and reinforced that there were lots of things that I had done correctly.
Education has changed a lot since I began teaching in the 70’s. While I certainly approve of standards, I believe that “No Child Left Behind” has gone beyond this to lengths and documentation that are taking more time than the actual teaching of content and ideas. In many cases, I have seen these standards stifle creativity and discourage higher level thinking skills. I think that this ‘Jeopardy” type of education will be detrimental to our society in the future unless we begin to encourage more creativity, problem solving, and application of knowledge to solutions. I think this is one of the reasons that some folks leave teaching.
I think another reason that teachers leave is a change in the job market. In general, people are not staying with jobs for an entire career. In most jobs, people only stay for 5 years or less; education is no different in this regard.
And, of course, there is the salary issue. While the glass ceiling has been broken, teaching remains a predominately female profession. Education has always been underfunded, and this certainly includes salaries. Part of the issue of lower salaries is that of too many females in the profession, but the largest contributing factor is that our society does not really value teachers and the job they do. Why else would so many jobs that do not contribute much to society pay so much money? It’s all in what the society in general values.
Those who stay are those who love what they are doing and recognize that they are making a contribution to children and to the country and perhaps even the world. I always believed that our children were our greatest resource, and while this is often quoted, it’s not a true belief in our country. If it were, we would be doing so much more than we have done. I hope we can find others who will make the commitment to stay in education. If you love children and want to make a difference, stay and do it.