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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I’m a graduate teacher in Australia, and after 4 weeks (yes….FOUR) I already feel like quitting, so disillusioned am I.
I am a career-change mature-aged teacher, who has worked as a casual relief teacher (CRT) for 2 years. For the most part, I loved it! I want/need to work part time (health, other commitments), and until a part time role came along, CRT suited me. There was no shortage of work, and I worked in a few schools constantly. Subsequently, both schools offered me a part time role on the same day, when they got funded for 2 year specialist roles. I had difficulty choosing, but I chose the school and was ecstatic. I knew the school, loved working there, and felt full of hope and enthusiasm.
And then I started. I found out that I am paid for 0.5. but it is impossible to manage the administration/meetings/behaviour issues as a part-timer. I only have 2.5 days over which to work through lunch/recess to get the extra stuff done. One night I’m expected to stay till 6pm at meetings, the other night has seen me partaking in PDs some weeks.
We are forced to do online testing by March 2, so I have half the class to do. I receive a half day CRT cover to do this. I get through 5 kids.
I have 3 ADHD kids in my class, with no aide. Two are severe learning difficulties, one is severe learning difficulties. Another new child to the school has serious behavour issues. We tee up formal meetings with parents, the principal, assistant principal.
I go home exhausted, I then have to plan lessons, since there is no/little time at school to plan.
Lessons go to pot most days due to behavioural issues. I don’t feel I’m teaching at all!
I was lured to the school because the school valued me highly as a teacher and really wanted me. I now feel like a shell of who I was, lacking confidence, lacking support, with no foreseeable improvement.
The system is the problem. As a graduate, I am in so deep, I cannot see out. I am not 21 years old, with no experience of the world or working conditions. I have worked in a corporate environment, where I did not clock watch. I did a good job, I was well paid, I had self-respect, and my work was valued.
Now, I work for very little, I have disappearing self-respect, I feel it’s impossible to do a good job, and my work does not seem to be valued.
So as I enter week 5, I am taking steps to improve things. But I am not hopeful. I see that a few weeks from now I will be throwing in the towel. Maybe I should try for longer, but with the class I’m in, I just see that affecting my health. I’m stressed to the eyeballs now, and tired. I know no aides will be forthcoming, no letup on meetings and mandated testing will happen, and constant management of ADHD children will leave me feeling I am failing the other children in the class. And they deserve better.
I feel for you Aussie. I have been in the same situation all year long. My kids are crazy and only getting worse every day. They steal, bully and hurt eachother everyday and I have to deal with all that before I can even think about teaching. I have one SEVERE behavior problem who is hardly ever in my room for a full day let alone a full week, but he is in there long enough to wreak havoc and set all the others off before I can justifiably send him out. Otherwise administration sends him straight back. GRR
Oops, this “I have 3 ADHD kids in my class, with no aide. Two are severe learning difficulties, one is severe learning difficulties. ” should read “I have 3 ADHD kids in my class, with no aide. Two are severe learning difficulties, one is severe BEHAVIOUR difficulties. “
I am so grateful I found your site. I’ve been teaching for 22 years and up until this year, I could honestly say I looked forward to the start of a new school. This year has changed all of that. The pressures I feel to continually “produce” students (as measured by state standardized testing) is beginning to take a toll on me as well as my students. I don’t feel as if I ever get a chance to let students explore a topic and really get to know it in detail. My daily lesson plans have simply become a checklist of things that have to “get done” in order for students to pass a standardized test. And with my state (Minnesota) considering becoming a “right to work” state and the general public coming down on public education, it is really just becoming too overwhelming. I really want to focus on the positive. I just don’t even know where to begin anymore. Thank your for your site!
You are welcome! Glad you are here. I’m going to be reviewing (and giving away a copy of) a new book called “When Teaching Gets Tough” by Allen Mendler. I think you’ll really enjoy it!
You might also want to check out Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Transform Your Teaching: I share my story of how I went from overwhelmed, exhausted, and burned out to having contentment and enthusiasm again. 🙂
I’m right there with you Jeanne! I got a pink slip for the fifth year in a row, and this in itself is enough of a reason to quit the career and move on to something else. We appear to be disposable and replaceable now. It’s not going to get any better. I’m trying to focus on the students and making them individuals who can think for themselves when I get the chance. They’re the reason I go to work every day…but it’s getting to the point where sometimes it’s not enough of a reason. Too many demands on us, not enough support or materials or time! I have read your replies Angela, and maybe the answer is going to another place to teach. I will consider it this summer. Thank you for your kind words and advice.
I’m a first year teacher and miserable. All the demands and pulling apart the data leaves no time for me to actually use the information to help my students learn. Plus all the unrealistic demands, paying for supplies out of my own pocket and the push, push, push from administration with no help in meeting the out of reach goals and demands.
I am an RN and I became so burned out in nursing that I went back to school and am nearly finished with BSed degree. I will student teach in the fall and after reading all these posts I hope I’m not jumping out of the frying pan and into the fryer. I love working with the kids!! I am doing an internship in a kindegarten class right now and I’ll admit it has its stresses but for now–I look forward to going in there. I hope it never changes.