Greetings
In most educational systems, teachers are expected to do more with less support and resources. Reports within education journals reveal that less numbers of persons are entering the field of education indicating that classrooms may soon have larger numbers of students per room. With NCLB, classroom must have highly qualified and certified staff in all classrooms. But are we asking professionals to do more with less pay and expect staff to remain in the system? Are we not creating teacher burnout and forcing the seasoned staff to consider retirement options?
Teacher organizations are reporting high numbers of memberships being initiated as professionals seek support and protection from all the constant expections of the classroom and administration. Teachers' performance appraisals now document student success. Teachers with high failure rates each six weeks are cautioned by administration to implement more support sessions to students to help their grades improve and never assign a report card grade that will have little possiblility of being brought up by the end of the term without numerous documented contacts with the parent or guardian.
When did the teachers become the sole responsible person for student success? How can teachers be held accountable when other elements that impact student success are apart of the problem also? When will the parents be held accountable for their child not achieving?
Are there any answers that can make the teaching situation less overwhelming for teachers or are we moving toward teacher burnout and retirement of our seasoned teachers?
Ivyspecial (Janis)
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2 comments:
Janis,
I think you raise some extremely important questions. Are teachers burned out because of the NUMEROUS jobs we must do? Does the pay compensate for all of the work? I think it is a mixture of everything. First, every single day, teachers are asked to go above and beyond their jobs. Initially, they were responsible for teaching children. Now, they play disciplinarian, teacher, therapist, parent, secretary, and sometimes administrator. In addition, we are expected to create miracles with test scores. I was once told children are like blueberries. Not every one of them is perfect. Yet, the government wants us to fit them in a perfect little box with a bow and deliver them with perfect scores. Sometimes this simply is not possible. Teachers are burned out because the pressure has increased and there is not outlet for us. We have nowhere to turn and are constantly living in fear of those dreaded test scores. So, it is obvious why teacher burnout occurs.
In terms of pay, let’s face it. Teachers did not become teachers for the pay. It has never been a high paying job. It has always been a thankless job in terms of monetary compensation. Yet, teachers become teachers for the children. Would more pay help, obviously. However, this isn’t an option. People already feel we get paid too much for a ten month job. Perhaps if the shoes were shared, others would feel differently after walking in them for the day. Fortunately, it is the kids that bring teachers back every single day. This is why we are here. However, it does become harder and harder to show up when there is no support from the administration and the parents are constantly beating and scrutinizing the way we teach. No one ever said the job was high paying or easy. That is why dedication and a love for children must be the number one reasons why teachers teach and continue to teach.
Great post.
Jenn
There are many trends and issues that effect the educational system. One major trend in the field of education is the high turnover and attrition rate of teachers. Every year, schools have to hire new teachers, and it is not because all the teachers are retiring but because of the amount of turnover and attrition experienced each year. There are many sources that show statistics on teacher attrition and turnover. All of these sources do not have the same exact numbers although all of these sources show the same trend.
Teacher turnover and attrition is a particular problem for teachers with less than five years of experience. There has been a good deal of research done on this topic. Research shows that there are many reasons that teachers decide to leave the field of education. By understanding why educators leave and learning from our predecessors, we have the ability to change this trend and keep more qualified teachers in the classroom.
The turnover and attrition rate of teachers is important because having quality educators is important to the success of students. Children need to have adults that they can depend on in the classroom. When a staff continues to change every year it makes it hard for teachers to create a learning environment and form teams that work well together. The consistency of the same teachers in a building is also important to student achievement.
A reason that research states that teachers tend to leave is because the stress of test scores. I have not heard from any of the teachers that left third or fifth grade that this is the reason they transferred, but I know that none of them are teaching these critical testing years anymore.
Teacher attrition and turnover is an important trend in the field of education. With the quality of teachers being so important, this trend is something that needs to be taken seriously.
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