Why I don't quit teaching

After reading the article From Àlex Torío, I wonder why more professionals don't leave teaching. I've asked several teachers about this. And in the face of Àlex's angry, fatalistic defeatism, which reflects a part of reality, I've found another kind of experience: that of a vocational, critical optimism. The answers I've received inform this article.

Maria: "I haven't even been in education for 10 years. I'm a primary school music teacher and I really like the job [...]. What I like most, without a doubt, is being with the students, teaching. I have a great time. I'm tired of some teachers who blame the staff, their colleagues [...]. Something's wrong if we complain so much, but after this, I always ask myself: what can I do about this situation? And I do. Sometimes I feel alone, but I don't give up [...]. I've always been in highly complex schools because for me my job goes beyond teaching content, which is also important [...].

Mia, director of a public school: "I've often considered leaving. I've been very unhappy with the department for a long time. I'm in a neighborhood of vulnerable people, where we're the only cultural reference point and the only contact with Catalan."You can't retire, we need you."They tell me. I could do it soon, but I won't. Families are very disoriented. Nothing we do shines, but we do a lot and I'm happy: I give back to society what it has given me. Within a well-off family, life has made things easy for me. For me, well, it's a personal and professional challenge. I've come to change things. Seeing that some students have ended up studying medicine or aerospace is a great joy."

Judit: "I'm part of a teachers' cooperative, where we all help each other and work as a team. We have a stable faculty. We work hard, but we enjoy it! We don't have the diversity of other schools, which should be taken into account. I prefer to say I'm a teacher and not a professor because it includes more than just the academic aspect (especially those of us in ESO). Being a teacher allows me to stay connected to life, to have contact with young people, with parents, with people from very different backgrounds." It's a very social job, one of connection with the world. It's a constant learning process, in which you give a lot and receive a lot. There's a great satisfaction in seeing how they grow, how they get what they want, how they listen to you. It enriches you as a person. It's a constant challenge: it requires imagination, a sense of humor, respect, and the ability to adapt. It's a job you have to feel; like everyone else, I suppose. Here we work with very sensitive material, boys and girls who are the future. You have to be responsible and careful. This doesn't mean treating them with cotton wool; they're sponges and they want challenges, too. They want us to be demanding, to prepare our work, to connect what we've learned with the world they live in. They need to know the purpose of what you're explaining to them. Being a teacher is the best job in the world! No one has said it's easy, but what is easy?

Silvia: "I work as a teacher because I enjoy the day-to-day life in the classroom. It can be tremendously intense, but there are also rewarding moments. It's very motivating to see how they learn and progress, for example, how they become more interested in reading or how they listen better and better during conversations. I've been working in the field for a relatively short time, but thanks to the experiences I've observed with some colleagues, I can confirm that project-based work, cooperative work, and learning environments can be great drivers of learning. It can also be the opposite if they're applied from a place of ignorance. I've had a lot of freedom in all my schools. Therefore, I apply what I see works. And I don't overlook the importance of systematic work and memorization. It's paramount, and I advocate for it everywhere I go."

And another Silvia, a teacher at a state-funded school: "Despite the changes in recent years reflected in Torío's article, with which I strongly agree, I really like the job of a teacher. When you're in the classroom, none of this is on your mind. You have children eager to learn and many families to help, who appreciate what you do. Not everything is the fault of the schools or the department. Society is changing. There is a general laxity in all areas, with very rapid changes without reflection. In some charter and private schools, the fear of low enrollment has led to a relaxation of educational standards and beliefs. I don't have much time left, but I will continue until the end."