Teachers’ Exit: Why They're Going And What Parents Can Do
The reasons that teachers are leaving are many, but there are things that Parents can do to help their child’s teachers that will make their job much easier.
Teachers are exiting the profession at an alarming rate. In fact, one in every ten teachers leave the profession within the first three years. It's no secret that teachers often feel overwhelmed and under-appreciated.
Teachers are expected to continue to work through problems that were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and are now experiencing more severe stress than usual. A survey of elementary and secondary school teachers found that an increased number of them are thinking of resigning from teaching permanently due to teacher burnout. In a May 2022 survey, 13% of teachers said that they are considering leaving the profession. Historically, 8% of teachers leave the profession yearly, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. It is essential for us as a local community to make sure that our teachers feel supported. Ninety-eight percent of teachers feel that they're undervalued. Teachers are specialists devoted to their students' success. They should receive that same commitment and dedication from their communities.
Overall, the reasons that teachers are leaving are many, but there are things that Parents can do to help their child’s teachers that will make their job much easier.
Get to know your child’s teacher and build a relationship of mutual respect.
As a parent, it is important to get to know your child’s teacher and build a relationship of mutual respect. The key here is mutual respect, teachers want to work with the families of the children who are respectful and easy to work with. The teacher knows that when they reach out to the parent or guardian that they will have a conversation about the child’s progress instead of being scrutinized.
One way to build this respect is to reach out to your child’s teacher regularly, the easiest way to do this is via email. This can be challenging if your child has more than one teacher however you can choose just a few teachers, maybe focus on the classes that you know are challenging for your child. This way they can let you know when they have smaller concerns, and it can help you to stay on top of what your child is learning and the upcoming tasks that they need to complete.
As you are communicating with the teacher, get to know your child’s teacher’s expectations. What are their rules and procedures? What is their discipline policy? This way you can support your child at home in meeting the teacher’s expectations and you can get any clarity that you may need.
Help your child with their homework and projects at home and reach out to the teacher if you need support or have questions about assignments or grades. This helps the teacher to see that they have a partner in this work and that partner is you.
Do your best to attend school events and parent-teacher conferences. This will show your child’s teacher that you value their time and effort. Attending these events also helps you to stay current with the events, opportunities and resources offered by your child’s school.
While it is important to communicate regularly, it is also important to be respectful of your child’s teacher’s time and space. This means that you should give them an adequate amount of time to respond to you when you reach out and if you want to meet with them in person, set it up in advance instead of just showing up and demanding to be seen.
Help the teacher by sending in supplies or volunteering for classroom activities.
All schools and teachers love to have helpful volunteers or the supplies that they need for their classroom. While teachers may not need volunteers every day, they may have a special event or project in their classroom where they could use an extra set of hands. If you have some time to volunteer most teachers would really appreciate it. If you don’t have the time to volunteer, you can always send supplies that the teacher may need. Items like hand sanitizer, tissues and pencils go a long way and are needed all school year. You don’t have to spend alot of money considering that many items that teachers need can be found at the dollar store or Walmart.
Be supportive of the school and its policies.
We all know that schools have policies and procedures, some of which parents and guardians may not agree with. However, it makes a teacher’s job a lot easier, not to mention the administrators’ jobs, if parents and guardians support the school procedures and policies. This means that when the teacher needs to enforce the rule, they know that they will have the support of the family and the family will reinforce those policies and procedures at home. One procedure that always seems to be divisive is the procedure surrounding the use of cell phones, this is especially true on the middle and high school level. Most families want to be able to communicate with their child throughout the day and most schools want cell phones off and away since they tend to cause a multitude of distractions during the day. Having parents and guardians who support a procedure such as this, understanding the needs of the school, makes an important statement to teachers. Even if you don’t agree with the policy or procedure, finding a compromise with your child is key. For example, telling your child to keep their phone on vibrate and away during the school day could work. This way you can still reach your child and the school doesn’t have to worry about the phone being a distraction.
Support is key.
Parents and guardians can do several things to help, the most important of which is to be supportive. That is the running theme here, being supportive doesn’t cost any money or time. It means the world to a tired and overworked teacher. One of the biggest stressors that teachers face are the interactions that they have with parents and guardians. If every family that they had to come in contact with was supportive and communicated effectively, it would lift a tremendous weight off of their shoulders.