‘I can’t stay. It’s not enough’: why are teachers leaving Australian schools?

No educator is surprised by the teacher drought Australia is now in. They’ve been watching the landscape change over the years, observing the weather patterns that don’t bode well. And now they’re leaving. Rivers of teachers drying up and no rain in sight.

Why does a teacher shortage occur? Ultimately, it’s because our education system is operating under a business model which treats students and parents as customers and teachers as expendable workers expected to function as told, rather than as autonomous professionals tasked with the unique and complex responsibility of guiding young people’s learning.

Having made my departure from the profession eight years ago, I now consult with teachers who are planning their escape. I mentor them through the decision-making process as they step away from a career they thought they would enjoy forever. Their stories share common threads and the overwhelming theme is clear: teachers do not feel valued.

‘Our skills are not respected or valued’

Rosalie* has been a secondary teacher for a decade but will be leaving as soon as she secures a new job. “Our expertise is ignored and our legally outlined working conditions are treated as an inconvenience by those who make decisions. It’s always implied that lifting student outcomes would be easy, if teachers would just ‘be better’,” she says.

“Our skills are not respected or valued. I am a university educated professional, but this year I have spent hours of planning time handing out RATs to students, a task that anyone could do. Why am I doing this? Our deadlines are not extended when planning time is taken away because we’re expected to use our weekend to catch up on work.”

‘The expectations are destroying me’

Sarah* is soon to take a new job in management for a private company, but for 20 years she was a primary school teacher. “We are expected to work miracles. In every lesson, every day we have to make sure we’re meeting every need of every child, from the one who’s experienced trauma through to the (parent diagnosed) child-genius.”

Marie always dreamed of being a teacher. She’s an experienced primary teacher who’s choosing to retire early. “The expectations, directives, mandates and overloaded curriculum are destroying me. The joy has faded,” she says.

“My days are filled with behaviour management, the bombardment of emails, writing programs, marking work, giving feedback, reporting to parents, setting student goals, writing individual programs, attending meetings and professional development to remain registered. And, dare I forget, the uploading of data into the system before deadline. If only I could just teach!”

‘We are not actually trusted’

At the core of this clash between what is felt to be the low perception of teachers’ work and the high expectations placed on them, is the issue of trust.

“We are expected to do these things… and we are ‘trusted’ to do these things; but we are not actually trusted,” Sarah says. “We know this because decisions in education are never made based on what teachers need or what teachers advise. Decisions are always based on what a politician wants. Or decisions are made by someone in the department who’s trying to make their role seem relevant.”

Theresa is a secondary teacher at a “good” public school. Parents buy into the zone so their children can attend. Even so, she says sensors are installed to detect vaping and teenagers engage in sexual acts in the playground. She’s reluctant to leave teaching and longs to help create change. “I wish teachers had a seat at the table,” Theresa says. “If I could change something it would be the mandates placed upon educators from positions so far outside the classroom they don’t have any concept of the impact they are making.”

Elisabeth, 53, is a primary school teacher readying herself to leave the profession. Her frustration is palpable. “There’s no response to concerns, such as the high percentage of teachers who leave teaching in their first five years, unsustainable workloads and chronic teacher shortages – all widely publicised and reported on.”

‘There’s a general baseline of stress’

Teachers also report unsustainable workloads. Those I spoke to are conscious that their energy and health is finite.

Hazel is a secondary school teacher, eight years on the job and just coping with working three days a week. Police make regular visits to her campus. She speaks thoughtfully about the emotional labour of teaching. “There’s a general baseline of stress,” she says.

“You need to be patient and kind with a thousand second chances up your sleeve, no matter how you’ve been treated. Then you have to switch into the firm-but-fair disciplinarian. Then, a counsellor, consoling the damaged and heartbroken and knowing that most of their difficulties are well outside of your control.

“Actually, nearly everything is outside of your control.”

‘Jumping through hoops trying to secure a job’

Lack of job security and casualisation of the profession is a significant contributor to the teacher shortage . Gone are the days when teaching offered a secure, reliable ongoing job. One in five teachers in the New South Wales public school system are on temporary contracts and without a permanent position, educators can struggle to secure a mortgage or maternity leave. This casualisation introduces competition into a profession that serves student best when relationships between colleagues are collegial.

Elisabeth again: “One-year contracts are how the department likes to mete out its employment opportunities. I have a particular concern for the mental health of teachers on temporary contracts. When I expressed these concerns to my area director of educational leadership, he told me: ‘That is the lot of the temporary teacher.’

“With a substantial proportion of staff on a temporary contract, teachers are kept busy jumping through hoops trying to secure their job. They won’t question anything or cause trouble.”

‘We’re not dealing with the impact of the pandemic’

Brian is a mid-career primary teacher who’s actively seeking alternative employment. “Some days I’ve put up with so many student behaviours that I come home at the end of my tether.

“When my own daughter wants to show me her artwork from daycare, or refuses to eat her dinner – like every other four-year-old – I absolutely lose it,” he says. “Someone else’s child gets the best of me at the cost of my own.”

Management of student behaviour weighs heavily on teachers. We know more than ever about diagnosed needs and trauma and we are navigating a global pandemic. Yet ratios in classrooms and human infrastructure to support students, such as counsellors or learning support staff, remain much the same as they have for decades.

“We’re not dealing with the impact of the pandemic,” Theresa says. “Our students are lacking a sense of belonging, resilience, commitment and organisation on a grand scale. Rather than addressing this, we’re told to get students ‘back to normal’. But you know what? It wasn’t so great before.”

Nicole has been teaching for seven years. She applied for three other jobs just last week. She says she has witnessed inappropriate behaviour from students.

“Class sizes are too large to be able to give all students the support they need.”

‘There would never be enough of myself to give’

“We are burnt out,” adds Nicole. “So many amazing educators are hitting a wall, and it is being ignored by the government over and over again.”

The decision to leave teaching can be painful. Teachers report feeling incredible guilt and a debilitating sense of failure.

Maddie is leaving the profession as she studies to begin a new career. “I felt there would never be enough of myself to give in order to meet the needs of my students. I thought I was not enough, that I would never be enough,” she says. “I feel immense sadness walking away from teaching. Overwhelming grief.”

Rosalie says teaching has negatively impacted nearly every aspect of her life. She too is leaving.

“Heartbreakingly, I know the victims of this will be the students, but I can’t stay. It’s not enough.”

*Names have been changed