Not everyone is cut out to be a teacher.  People go into the profession for all sorts of noble reasons, and end up leaving because it wasn’t what they expected.  You want to teach, to impart some knowledge or wisdom, to educate – but what you run into are bureaucratic headaches, bumbling administrators, crazed parents, and uninspired students.  The burn-out level is very high with all teachers, and nowhere more so than in Special Education.  My school has a Special Education department of around 20 or so individuals, which includes teachers, counselors, therapists, and paraeducators.  Between the end of last school year and the beginning of this one, we lost four full-time teachers.  Two were not asked back, one got a job at a different school, and one left the profession altogether.  That’s roughly a 20% dropout rate overall, and a 40% dropout rate if you count just teachers.   I’d think if you were trying to evaluate the benefits of staying in this field, based on a very small sample size, you wouldn’t be crazy by choosing something else.

Sometimes people ARE cut out to teach, but just need to do something else.  My friend R. works at a private school, and has been teaching English for many years.  In stark contrast to what I do, R. often works with the highest level students on his campus – which is to say, their reading, comprehension, critical thinking, and writing skills are generally high – demonstrated not only by standardized test scores but also by in-class performance.  His lessons are engaging and thought-provoking, and he is constantly trying to improve himself and the quality of his instruction by trying new things, attending and speaking at conferences, and utilizing new and emerging technology in order to impart the knowledge and wisdom that he knows he can bring to the classroom.  That is a long-winded and eduspeak-y way to say: I think R. is a good teacher.

The last few years, though, R. has been unhappy.  In short, the administration at his school has not been overly supportive or enthusiastic about some of the changes he feels need to be made.  He has felt like he is spinning his wheels.  As an seasoned educator that has endured the various trials and tribulations of his profession, has experienced firsthand the aforementioned bureaucratic headaches, bumbling administrators, crazed parents,  uninspired students and lived to tell about it – the question becomes: do you stick it out or leave?  Leaving becomes progressively more and more scary as we get older.  The regularity of teaching, however frustrating and initiative-numbing it may be, is oddly comforting.  The bell rings and I know that it’s time to eat my snack.  In fifteen minutes another group of kids will come in, and I will teach them the same thing,more or less, that I taught the kids in first period.  Another bell will ring later and I know that I have time to go to the bathroom and eat lunch.  Finally, at some point a bell will ring and I can go home.  Or, a the very least, the students will go home and I can finally get some work done.  R. took the bold step, the scary step, and he has decided to leave.

It remains to be seen if R. will stay away from teaching altogether.  He is giving himself a year, and has plans to write a novel.  When I first met him years ago, he told me that he had a degree in Creative Writing, and had always wanted to write a book.  The demands of work, family, and just having too much time go by had forced him to the sad realization that actually taking the time to write something was never going to happen.  That, in fact, he needed to place his dreams on a dusty shelf somewhere and forget about them.  Now he has the opportunity to live his dream, and possibly help out with the laundry a little more. He had the courage to leap – not peer into the unknown and recoil, but jump.  It makes me wonder if we should all  take that opportunity.

Have heart teachers.  Don’t beat your head against a wall if the 40-something  version of you looks radically different from the 20-something version.  Don’t feel stuck in your profession.  There is still something left to give, even if you’ve already given so much, and maybe what you have left should be reserved solely for yourself.