Are You Willing to Pay the Price?
After only five weeks into the school year, my colleagues and I are singing a song that is typically reserved for year-end. “Are we there yet?” meaning the end-of-year. This is definitely a concern for me because I am usually one of few to help push the others through the next month, day, or hour. Now that I am part of the chorus, who can I depend on to pull me through?
Educators are leaving the profession in record numbers. According to one report, public school educators leave the profession or change schools at a rate of about 16% each year. (Fisher, 2011). The factors influencing this exodus range from stress, burnout, and shear lack of respect. Brown and Uehara reported in their research “stress is one of the many reasons teachers leave their jobs.” (Brown, 2012) Burnout can be attributed to factors such as the pressures of becoming highly qualified, lack of administrative support, or simply poor working conditions. (Fisher, 2011) Secondary educators are being reported as stressed due to poor student behavior. (Fisher, 2011) Fisher goes on to report “nearly 50% of teachers [are] leaving the profession before they reach their sixth year of teaching.” (Fisher, 2011)
I am in my tenth year of teaching and often question myself whether I made the right decision to leave corporate America. I am a product of educators, both parents. Growing up I vowed never to become a teacher. I experienced every up and down, every negative and positive, every good student and bad my parents’ schools had to offer. I thought. My parents paid a price to be educators. The sleepless nights, times away from their family, the interventions with other families are just a few of the extra miles they traveled that did not have a price. Together they served almost 70 years as teachers in public education. Granted, this was over fifty years ago that they taught but even today there is a price to be paid as an educator.
The question I would like to pose to those I serve beside daily is: Are you willing to pay the price? Teaching today is totally different than it was fifty years ago. Students’ behavior is “off-the-chain”, parents are unsupportive, and some school administrators are truly ineffective. No wonder teachers are stressed, taking mental-health days, and experiencing other health challenges. We have got to develop a method, a support system, or make an individual commitment to better cope in our roles as teachers. Many of us get up each day with a renewed mindset that today will be better than yesterday. I guess we can call it resilience. Some of us have lost the passion we once had to share the knowledge and wisdom we possess. Whatever it was that drew us to this profession, I would like to suggest we do some soul searching and determine: “Am I willing to pay the price?” As for me, I can only control my behavior and actions. I will be the one to pull myself through. I can be the best I can possibly be for the kids. I am not perfect but neither are those who are in charge. I love the quote “Teachers make all other professions possible!” I never planned to be an educator but now that I am here, I love it! It is not what I envisioned it would be. I have definitely had my bumps and bruises. I did not count the cost but I’ve made up my mind that I am willing to pay the price.
References
Brown, Z. &. (2012, 9 15). Pacific Resources for Education and Learning. Retrieved 9 15, 2012, from Pacific Resources for Education and Learning: http://www.prel.org/products/Products/Coping-teacherStress.htm
Fisher, M. H. (2011). Factors Influencing Stress, Burnout, and Retention of Secondary. Retrieved 9 15, 2012, from Current Issues in Education, 14(1): http://cie.asu.edu/
