Uncategorized | Mar 14, 2011
Why Great Teachers Quit (book review)
By Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
Why Great Teachers Quit (book review)
By Angela Watson
Teacher attrition is a topic that’s constantly on my mind. The primary reason I maintain my website and write books is because I’m passionate about helping teachers overcome energy-draining setbacks and actually enjoy the profession. So, when I read this post, I was immediately intrigued by the book’s title and asked the representatives at Corwin Press for two copies: one for me and one for a blog reader. I rarely do that because there’s no guarantee the book will be any good, and I don’t want to give away something I wouldn’t recommend. However, I could tell from the online reviews that this book was going to be a worthwhile read…and I wasn’t disappointed.
Why Great Teachers Quit And How We Might Stop the Exodus is written by Katy Farber, a classroom teacher currently grappling with this subject on a daily basis. She interviewed dozens of teachers and includes their experiences as she explains the various issues faced in the classroom. I found it simultaneously comforting and distressing to know that teachers all across the country are dealing with the same problems. In nearly every quote from classroom teachers (and there are hundreds), I found myself nodding along and thinking, Yes! Thank you! Yes! That’s it, exactly! The problems described in this book will undoubtedly ring true.
Farber organizes the book into eight primary reasons why great teachers quit:
- Standardized Testing (including effects on students and the school climate)
- Working Conditions in Today’s Schools (i.e. violence and small problems that add up, like not being able to use the bathroom)
- Ever-Higher Expectations (including useless professional development on new mandates)
- Bureaucracy (committees, closed budgets, and scheduling constraints)
- Respect and Compensation (the martyr system and paying for supplies)
- Parents (unrealistic demands and no limits)
- Administrators (the pressure cooker of principalship)
- School Boards (uses and abuses of power)
There was one reason I expected to see and did not: there is no section on students. As much as I’d like to assert that children are the reason why we teach, they’re also frequently the reason why we quit. Is Farber pretending that “it’s all about the kids” and that our little darlings are never a source of stress? Nope. Instead, she accurately assesses the root problem: teachers quit over their powerlessness to place students in an appropriate academic setting and enforce appropriate consequences. These problems fall under the categories of Respect and Compensation and Working Conditions (as well as Parents, to an extent.) The underlying assumption is that it’s NOT the students, it’s the system that has given teachers too little power to meet the needs of the students and maintain order in the learning environment.
After explaining each overarching reason why teachers quit, Farber includes Recommendations for Teacher Leaders and Administrators (practical, proven suggestions), Words of Wisdom From Veteran Teachers (advice from teachers to teachers), Success Stories and/or a Silver Lining (which keep the problems from seeming hopeless) and Additional Resources you can read online and in print to address the issues of that section.
I wish this was required reading for school board members and legislators…parents would benefit, too. Often educators complain that no one really knows what’s it’s really like to be a teacher, and this book does an excellent job summarizing the main challenges of the job and the type of solutions that are needed. Katy Farber has written a powerful resource for everyone who cares about education. It’s my hope, as well as hers, that this book will make a difference in teacher retention and help great teachers maintain their efficacy and enthusiasm.
WIN A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK! Simply leave a comment to this post that briefly shares your experience: why do you think great teachers quit, and/or what can be done to encourage them to stay in the classroom? On Sunday, March 20th, I’ll choose a comment randomly to win a free copy of the book, courtesy of Corwin Press.
3/20/11 Edited to add: CONTEST CLOSED.
Angela Watson
Founder and Writer
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Teachers are sadly viewed as “non- professionals” by so many now, that you feel like your hands are tied in managing your own classroom. I can remember being in school, and having a teacher phone home would have brought ridiculously serious consequences. I have some parents on speed dial, and it doesn’t even matter- their child will still behave the same way, and still not get the support needed for them to be successful. I recently watched ” Waiting for Superman”, and was moved by a parent’s comment in the movie- Be the kind of teacher you want for your own children. That has always been my mantra, and the reason I work so hard to build relationships with my class from day one. It has been difficult to maintain that attitude this year with thirty plus fourth graders, unmotivated students, and a heavier workload with zero pay increase. I love my job, but I hate this year. I keep reminding myself this all cycles, but I fear the trend is less “cyclic” now- we are expected to be counselor, nurse, parent, teacher, administrative secretary, with no respect from the community and little financial support from our state. Thank goodness I work with an amazing staff, and solid administrators, or I would be facing more severe burnout than I am feeling now.
Hi, Melanie! I think you’re smart to remind yourself that each year will be different, and there’s no guarantee the same problems will exist next year. Though it’s easy for our minds to run rampant and start to anticipate problems, it’s much more helpful to remind ourselves that the future is impossible to predict and we’re only responsible for handling what’s before us in the present. Hang in there. 🙂
I’ve grown up in a family of teachers and graduated in May with a degree in Elementary Education. Although I have a passion, and I’ve been told a natural talent for teaching, my heart has strayed from the classroom. As a substitute, I see very little support given to teachers who have to reach the highest of expectations- many of which are unreasonable. I see (the good) teachers devote all their time to doing what they can for their students. My mother is a fourth grade teacher in New York and she acknowledges that our family has taken a back seat to her job.
I am disheartened that education is increasingly becoming about data and numbers, when students are losing out on a childhood full of experiences. What happened to learning about the solar system and dinosaurs? What happened to imagination, and letting them MAKE mistakes to learn from? There is no room for error in today’s classroom.
Hopefully I will return to the classroom with passion. For now though, I’m going to do something else that makes me happy- and not feel scrutinized and ridiculed for every single thing I do.
Hi, Rebecca! Your experiences are very relatable. Substitute teaching is extremely challenging. I hope you’ll find something in the field of education that taps into your passion and allows you to make a difference. 🙂
The teachers who led the occupation of Wisconsin’s Capitol in February captured the spirit of educators who are fed up with being blamed for society’s problems. This is a quote from Kristine, who’s a graduate student and teaching assistant at the University of Wisconsin, who left teaching and spoke in Madison:
” I wish it was easier to stay in teaching. I feel like some of the best ones leave. Because as teachers, we feel like we want to take on everything, but we can’t. Those of us who want to actually do the job the way that it’s supposed to be done realize that we’re working under impossible circumstances.”
I’m a 1st year teacher at a title I school in North Carolina and I can relate directly to Kristine. There are so many impossible circumstances that we cannot control as teachers but we try so hard to overcome them that it breaks us down bit by bit. In addtion, we have been harassed over and over again from politicans, media, etc. as being overpaid workers that get to work from 8-3 and have our summers off. We need a national teachers movement that will grab hold and take control of the education we want for our students. Control of the curriculum based upon what is best for our students, control of testing, and teacher control of unions. I believe without this we will continue spiraling down into an abyss that will look completely different to the schooling we have today. Education based upon profits and business and not on educating students to become life long learners.
Hi, Meghan, I can relate to Kristine’s words, as well. Trying to do the job “the way it’s supposed to be” feels impossible at times. Many of the ‘lazy’ or ‘ineffective’ teachers I’ve seen have become that way because they realize that no matter how much they do, it’s never enough. Doing less becomes a coping strategy and the only way they can can survive.
I think the traditional answers of lack of support, testing, and the demands of our job are definitely a big part of why great teachers quit. Part of the reason these teachers are great is because they are people who want to go above and beyond to find methods to help the children. However, if they aren’t receiving support from parents/admin for their methods/philosophies, the job can’t be done well. I know a great teacher who would leave if she could because of one child. No one stood up for her and she lost some of the spark. Then when testing is taking away bits and pieces of time that could be added to exciting teaching, the job becomes less thrilling. Everyone wants us to do their proven method. There is never one true method. Finally, when my time is being spent doing pointless tasks, there isn’t as much time to develop awesome ideas. Awesome ideas take time, but when time is not available, those ideas can’t fly as much as you would like them, too.
While those three big reasons are the main reasons I believe teachers leave, I feel there is a growing problem that is killing the morale: the lack of respect for the teacher, especially in the media. As NCLB has grown, suddenly the teacher has been blamed for the failures of our children. The teacher has become the scapegoat. If you listen to the commentators on the news over the past 4-6 weeks with the issues in Wisconsin, you will hear nothing but negative comments about teachers. They have been ridiculing teachers for only working 9 months of the year and only working half days because we got off at 2:30. They have been calling teachers greedy and only reporting about the bad teachers. It is hard to show up to any job when you aren’t appreciated for the work that you do, much less one that requires the demands of our job, both financially and effort. I was very fortunate that my students actually thanked me for the job I do today and said the reason they were doing so well in their math competition was because I was their teacher. I will hold that comment near and dear to my heart. It is not too often that you hear that anymore. How sad is it that we can’t practice such common courtesy of saying “thank you”?
Hi, Tricia. Thanks for that comment–very powerful. Little things definitely add up and cause teachers to lose that spark, as you put it. Over time, the flame goes out completely unless we find ways to inspire ourselves. Increasingly, that encouragement MUST come from within us, because it’s not occurring on the outside.
Angela,
I met you last year in San Antonio and you had dinner on the Riverwalk with a colleague and myself. I have been teaching for over 20 years and it seems there is little time in actual teaching and I am teaching to the test. The students are under stress to perform at an acceptable level. I have noticed an increase in disruptive behavior from some students over the years and I do feel exhausted sometimes from trying to find out what is causing a student or students to react in a negative manner. Some of them have such anger and they don’t know how to channel it. I wear many hats and I’m not just a teacher. A teacher’s job is rewarding, but it is exhausting work because I don’t punch out at 3:30. I still have paperwork to complete after I tutor and get ready for the next day or the following week. A teacher’s job is never finished. Teachers follow a curriculum guide and there are many skills that need to be taught in all subjects. It is exhaustive, but rewarding work.
Hi, Frances! I was just thinking about you guys the other day! Hope you are doing well! Sounds like the same challenges are still occurring in your school–I’m glad you feel that teaching is still rewarding work. Sometimes the angriest, hardest-to-reach students are the ones that make the whole year worthwhile; they end up appreciating you the most and making the most growth. I hope that will be the case for you. 🙂