8 Reasons to Keep Teaching

Hey, Teachers!

On St. Patrick's Day we can reflect upon the good work we do with our students despite the myriad of hardships in the industry. ☘️

Recent restrictions and destructive policymaking stifle our liberties. Classroom challenges that have always been part of teaching are intensified. The pandemic has negatively disrupted the flow of instruction, quality of instruction, and productivity in learning outcomes. Teacher attrition rates are high. Violence is on the rise. And administrators seem to care more about keeping the machine running than what's best for students--or us.

We often feel invisible, unheard.

We struggle with feeling inadequate, overwhelmed, and demeaned. 

We show up for our students no matter what's going on in our personal lives, and we smile and carry on so we can perform our job duties even if we're crumbling inside or struggling with our own mental or physical health crises.

And in 2024, our educational landscape is rife with divisiveness. Turmoil. Lack of support. And heartache.

So, why keep teaching?

Following are 8 REASONS TO KEEP TEACHING if you identify as a teacher and once really cared about the opportunity to influence young minds positively.

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1. You're still excited about the content and lesson plans

If you're enthusiastic about the material you teach, you haven't lost the last thread of hope. Your challenging situation likely stems from other issues on the job that hopefully, you can resolve with the right strategies and timing.

You're the one who can ignite a certain fire or passion among students in your field of expertise, whether it's preschool or seniors in high school.

And you love that.

2. You still care what happens to students

If you're motivated to help students academically, personally, socially, and in other areas of learning, you're likely in touch with some of the original reasons you went into the profession. Even if you're working with a tough crowd (students, staff, parents, or other stakeholders), you may find that next year isn't quite so unbearable.

Your genuine care and concern for the youth of this country might be the one thing that keeps you in this profession right now.

3. You recognize the job limitations objectively 

If you're seeing your school organization for what it is, not what you'd like it to be, and you aren't internalizing criticism, feeling like a bad teacher all the time because of a cultural dimension you can't control, and have discovered some stabilizing resources and personnel to rely upon on bad days, then you may have "just enough" to keep yourself moving along without completely losing your grounding and purpose.

That small circle of friends makes a big difference in getting through sudden shifts, new troubling policies, or communication deficiencies on the part of administration or local leadership.

4. You're learning how to destress and compartmentalize hardship

If you're starting to make headway because of intentional efforts to improve your situation at work, then this course of action may be your "saving grace" because you'll continue to build upon these strategies and insights down the road. Knowing your triggers, fears, dealbreakers, and breaking points can help you prioritize what you'll let yourself stress over.

Being able to move through the day without letting categories of oppression, discrimination, bullying, or other interpersonal challenges (with students or colleagues) diminish your productivity and progress as a teacher, is essential. You're learning how to self-regulate better when environmental stressors appear, and that's a skill many teachers who've made it 20-30 years have mastered.

FIGURE OUT BETTER COPING STRATEGIES. BOOK YOUR FREE DISCOVERY CALL WITH DR. SHEA

5. You're setting boundaries that work

If you're setting boundaries in the problem areas that have been weighing you down, then you're likely seeing positive outcomes from those intentional efforts. Setting boundaries with supervisors, colleagues, students, and parents (and of course, yourself) is the mark of a wise teacher. This also sets the stage for building confidence as a teacher because you have a foundation in place.

And it's all in how you do it--diplomatically, kindly, and up front. The more boundaries you can set in place including mindset (how you think of yourself and what you'll let yourself ruminate over), in your teacher-student relationships, in your relationships to others, and in time management strategies that prevent additional overwhelm or burnout, the less stress you'll have about how you're being treated or lines you believe are being crossed. Setting boundaries won't fix everything, but at least you've determined what you can control. This is that "work/life" or "harmony" balance you've heard other teachers talk so keenly about.

6. You understand the ebb and flow of bad school years

If you're clear about the nature of education and understand the patterns at the federal, state, and local levels, you're more inclined to stay in the profession because you realize that what's going on right now may not be the same situation next year. Yes, our national climate is a grave concern because we're dealing with more and more threats to our emotional, physical, and instructional safety than ever before.

However, teachers who employ the "broader picture" and remain more neutral about what they can't control, exercise voice in what they can control, and avoid feeling that everything is lost or destroyed because of negative circumstances, are the ones who've learned how to sustain a lifelong career in education.

7. You know that teaching is your calling on this planet

If you're confident that you were called to do this, then consider what is causing you to want to quit, and determine what changes you can make to avoid that decision. This might mean you're making shifts in mindset, reframing thinking on the current job, and applying new approaches to the teaching and learning dynamic. This also might mean a better position or environment could resolve some of your issues.

If you know that you're "called to teach", then problem-solving efforts should go straight to what you can do to preserve yourself so you can keep that desire alive. Think about what the root of the current challenges are, and develop a plan of action so you can get back to how you want to identify as a teacher.

8. You haven't experienced a dealbreaker

If you're working as a teacher and you're bothered, upset, frustrated, degraded, depleted, ignored, criticized, hurt, exhausted, confused, or any other number of negative emotions or experiences, BUT you haven't hit what in your world would be a dealbreaker, then you might consider staying in the profession.

A dealbreaker in this sense is anything that breaks your own personal code of ethics, crosses a personal boundary, or causes too much pain in your teaching world for you to continue teaching.

And some of us have had to make those decisions.

If you're able to see a way to manage the pitfalls of education with enough resilience or "bounce back" to keep yourself rewarded with the growth you're seeing among students and in other roles you play, then you haven't hit a dealbreaker.

Teachers who have left the industry truly may be happier in another profession or job or may have retired. But teachers who leave "too soon" may not have truly investigated the options. 

These 8 REASONS TO KEEP TEACHING are important for every teacher to reflect upon. 

Knowing who we are, why we teach, and how to keep teaching even in the murkiest and most disheartening of situations helps us to become strong teachers.

None of us is unbreakable, and we are all connected in this life-giving work whose merits and significance far surpass narrow-minded lawmakers and unfeeling supervisors.

No, we don't get the respect. We don't receive the accolades. We don't earn the pay we deserve. And we're easily forgotten except in the eyes of students who remember Mr. or Mrs. so-and-so who changed their lives.

That's the reason I made it to 30 years. Because I know that somewhere in the midst of all the pain and personal growth, that what I was doing was more important than the suffering of any one school year. 

Keep your eye on the prize. If you love teaching, there are ways to cope with the massive disappointments and drawbacks. These strategies are gathered over a lifetime, and you never fully master them...or the art of teaching.

Good teachers have fine-tuned the intersection of enthusiasm, practice, intuition, and flexibility.

There IS hope.

FIGURE OUT BETTER COPING STRATEGIES. BOOK YOUR FREE DISCOVERY CALL WITH DR. SHEA