Career trajectory of a teacher
Happy Summer! I’m writing this from my sister’s camper up in NH while on my annual summer vacation at one of my favorite places in the world. I come up here every year to take a week away from the city, be on the lake, and reconnect with family and long-term friends.
One of the things I love to do is walk around the lake. This summer I’ve taken trips around with my sister, with a friend I used to work here with, and with two childhood friends. Interestingly enough, they are all teachers. Each has had a different path to becoming a teacher. And each has taken different routes to being a teacher at this point in their careers. Our walks have provided me the opportunity to not only catch up with each of them but also reflect on many different teaching career trajectories.
I was reminded that a teacher’s career doesn’t have to be so stagnant. The feeling I had when I thought about being in that position for the next 30-40 years until I retired was one of the reasons I left. It literally made me want to throw up. And while I’m glad I listened to that feeling and found a better career fit for me, one thing I never considered then was how varied a teacher’s career can be.
Take my sister for example. She taught an elementary ESL classroom for 4 years. Then, she had her first baby and went down to a part-time reading specialist. A few years later, she decided to home-school her kids. This led her to be a part of the local home-school cohort and teach a variety of classes there. Now, she is actually a youth pastor (a job she didn’t plan on but fell in her lap) and uses her teaching skills to mentor and teach middle and high school students a variety of subjects outside of a classroom setting. Oh, and she tutors a few kids online on the side. It’s not the path she planned on, but it worked out for her. She still teaches, but it’s not in a traditional classroom setting and it allows her to use her skills and strengths in many other ways that are fulfilling.
Or my friend that I used to work with here at the lake. She was an English major in college. That led to teaching high school for a while. After a few moves and having her own kids, she decided to pick up work at her town’s local library. It also wasn’t a job she planned on, but she was able to get involved in her community in a new way and still be connected to her love of reading and literature. Now, she has also picked up teaching a few classes at the school her husband works at. Since it’s a private boarding school, the schedule is different than a regular 7-12 school. And while she’s still working with an age group she loves, she has a schedule more like a college professor so she doesn’t have to be “on” all day and can keep her part-time library job - which she loves.
And then there’s my childhood friends. The three of us were all teachers in our 20s when we lived in Chicago. One of them was my roommate during that time and she and I quit teaching the same year after 4 years in the public schools. She took some time to figure things out where she worked at Starbucks, lived with her parents, and decided to move to a new state and get her masters degree in social work. After a few moves and life changes, she found herself in a small town where there wasn’t an art teacher at their school. She advocated for herself and her skills and was able to be hired as a contracted art teacher. Over time, the small school realized how beneficial she was and now she’s their full-time art teacher. My other friend also took time after leaving teaching in her 20s as her husband moved all over for his job. Once they were settled in a place they wanted to stay, she went back as a one-to-one aide before going back into the classroom as a first grade teacher.
I’m here to support and coach teachers to finding a better career fit for them. For you, this might not mean leaving the classroom or education all together. This might mean trying something else out before finding a better community and district fit. This might mean finding a job in a different field that still connects to your love of working with kids. This might mean piecing together some different part-time jobs that still provide financial support without completely draining you. Or, you might be like me and think about these options and still know that teaching is just not a fit. All of these are ok - as are any other combination of career trajectory that you could think of.
If you’re having trouble thinking about what to do next, that’s what I’m here for. I love helping teachers think through their strengths, skills, and values so that they can find the best fit for who they are. Your career trajectory doesn’t have to be the next 40 years in one spot. There’s always. room for change.
