Earlier this year, I spoke to teachers. A lot of teachers. We’d completed our pilot (the initial stage) of franchising and I was keen to ensure the views and opinions I had about teaching and franchising were correct. Whilst I’ve built a tutoring business full time, recruiting tons of teachers over the last 5 years (so figured I had a pretty good idea already) I decided it never hurts to check your theories!
The top 5 reasons teachers leave the profession are below.
- Not enough money for the work they do.
Whilst most people said the pension was very good, the pay was a different story. Whilst some of the more senior teachers said the pay was good (and above the UK average salary), it was the additional work they were putting in which threw things. Quite a few teachers pointed out that when you worked out their pay per hour, it suddenly was very poor and unappealing! If their pay was based on a 37.5 or even 40-hour week it looked pretty good; but when you started considering 50, 60 or 70-hour weeks, one of them worked out they’d be paid more at Aldi stacking shelves! Whilst on the surface it seemed to be a good salary, when you looked at the work they did for it, a lot said it wasn’t.
- No support – from anyone!
This was a resounding yes from nearly everyone I spoke to. A fair few teachers cited this issue, stating that there wasn’t the support they needed on the job. A lucky few said they were fortunate enough to have wonderful support from their immediate line or colleagues but recognised they were in the minority. Even for those who had support, when they’d raised it at a senior level there was nothing that could be done. They cited how their SLT didn’t have any extra capacity to be able to support them and were swamped themselves, busy firefighting various issues.
There were a few references to the government too – that there was a general lack of trust and that as professionals they were not empowered to do their job or able to fix issues.
One teacher explained she was disillusioned with the education system in general “I’m at a high deprivation at my school but we’re still doing the same things I used to do at a different school (not in a high deprivation area) and the same as other parts in the country. There has to be an alternative…”
- Heavy workload
Every teacher we spoke to gave a huge big YES to this one!
Some mentioned that lesson planning and differentiation was the hardest. Others mentioned the high turnover – with many saying they’ve lost staff that haven’t been replaced and one teacher explaining she’s supposed to be job sharing part-time but the other teacher is off on long term sick so she’s had to pick up all of the extra work.
We think one teacher summed it up very well when she said the following:
“People don’t have any idea of the workload and how unmanageable it is. We don’t realise there is an alternative.”
- Lack of CPD
There was a mixed response to professional development. Most said they were given opportunities – however, they went on to explain the opportunities were very poor quality, not led by the right person or team or had been delivered multiple times before. Generally, anything costing money or time was a no-no!
One teacher said “Oh yes – you’re allowed to do CPD as long as it doesn’t cost any money and you’re not required for cover. I used to go on a fabulous CPD course by Nrich (Maths specific CPD) – it was very inspiring but there’s no time or money anymore to do it.
- Stressful schools
A stressful work environment was another thing we picked up on. Some teachers mentioned the constant testing and exam taking (in both primary and secondary) was taking its toll, whilst others mentioned that people were being stressed too thinly to do their job well. One teacher spoke about her mental health and how it had affected it.
“It’s not good when you wake up with a sense of anxiety” one teacher said. “We have lots of low-level behaviour issues and there is no support. Students spit at teachers, push us against a wall, threaten to rape us. It’s not an environment anyone should have to work in”.
It was so sad hearing this – because this teacher is absolutely right – this is not an environment anyone should have to work in.
Which leads me nicely to my next thought … why don’t teachers leave? This was a fascinating area to understand and I’ve written a whole other blog on this exact topic!
If you’re feeling constrained by the school system, why not read our blog to find out about other opportunities teachers can do?