Making the Decision: Is It Time to Change Your Teaching Role?

Navigating the annual staffing shuffle can feel like a high-stakes chess game for educators, and we're here to coach you through it. Get ready to gain valuable insights into the decision-making process that can determine your next move in the world of teaching. Whether you've received an unexpected grade-level change or you're contemplating a transfer within a unionized system, this episode peels back the layers of complexity involved. We share stories from the trenches about the pivotal role of prep coverage, teaching partners, and classroom dynamics, along with the often-overlooked personal factors that can make or break an educator's experience.

The question of whether to stay rooted or to transplant oneself to new educational soil is one many teachers grapple with. In this thought-provoking conversation, we weigh the emotional toll of leaving behind a familiar environment against the exciting potential of a fresh start. By tapping into the collective wisdom of seasoned colleagues and considering the impact on personal well-being, we provide a compass for teachers standing at this career crossroads. This episode isn't just about making the right choice—it's about understanding the intricate dance of assignments and recognizing when you're ready to leap into a new chapter, or when the best path is to nurture the growth where you are.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:15

It's a time of year again and teachers are going through the staffing process, and that might mean that you get an assignment you are super happy about. It might mean you get an assignment you're not so happy about, or perhaps you're deciding whether or not it's time for a change and you're looking at changing schools. So I want to talk about this whole staffing process from the perspective of a teacher and how to decide whether or not it's time to make a change for your career. Now, while each region and district may run staffing a bit differently, depending on what board you are in, we all generally follow the same type of procedure where we are provided our assignment details for September, including our grade. This happens anywhere between April and June, and these are for obviously permanent teachers, and within that process is the staffing opportunities where there are jobs posted and you have the opportunity to post out and leave your position and take a position at another school. So there's lots of different factors that may influence this decision and help you decide whether or not moving is the right choice for you or it's time for a change and you're ready for something different. The first thing is looking at a change, whether or not you can simply just take a change in assignment within your same school and whether that might work. Sometimes we get assignments that we're really happy with, such as we get to stay in the same grade or work with the same people, and this is great if that's what we're looking for. But it's a good opportunity for you to express yourself to your administrator if you're feeling that time is worn itself out and you're ready for a slight change, but yet you want to stay within the same school. Now there's also the changes that we don't expect, the ones that we weren't anticipating, and this is when we are simply placed in a position that we were not expecting, something we didn't ask for, something we didn't want, and we're wondering whether or not this is just change we should embrace, or whether it's time to move on to a different school. Now this often happens where we are provided assignments that it's not ideal, it's not really what we are looking for. Perhaps, if you are lower on the seniority, that happens. Perhaps your principal has a different idea of where they think you should be teaching versus where you feel like you should be teaching, and they're trying to balance things out. There's a lot of politics when it comes to staffing and staff placement. So it's important to realize what was behind the decision as to whether or not what assignment you were given. So really having an understanding of why you were provided the assignment you were provided is going to be an important factor in determining whether or not you decide to stay or you decide to take a change and leave for another assignment.

Speaker 1: 3:03

Now there are a few factors that you should consider when evaluating whether or not you're happy with your assignment. One is the grade level you were given, and this is important for you to decide whether or not this is something A you have have experience with. B what the workload is going to be to, say, change grades. Whether or not you are changing grades by choice or by force. You also want to look at your timetable and who is covering prep coverage, what prep coverage you might be providing for other teachers. This is an important factor For myself as a part-time teacher. This is an important factor For myself as a part-time teacher.

Speaker 1: 3:43

Just as important as the grade level that I'm assigned is the schedule that I'm asked to follow. If I am required to be teaching mornings, then afternoons, then mornings, then a full day. That throws a wrench into things like child care, as well as consistency. I personally am somebody who thrives on consistency, so I often advocate for myself to receive either full mornings or a full afternoon schedule. So schedule for me is just as important as the teaching assignment and looking at when you get your preps, what kind of preps you're looking at, who's covering you, what prep coverage you have and what your responsibilities are in teaching. You want to make sure that you are not overloaded and given a lot of subjects to teach whereas other teachers, perhaps on your timetable are just given coverage without any curriculum expectations to cover, without any subjects in which they're reporting on. So you want to really be careful and look very closely not only at your grade assignment, who your teaching partners will be, who your class building and schedule will be. You want to look at who potentially would be coming up into your classroom and would make up the class that you would eventually be teaching next year.

Speaker 1: 4:55

So really, looking at the grade you're assigned, your timetable, your schedule, your team, as well as who will be in your classroom next year are all going to be factors for you to consider as you are looking forward to decide whether or not a change is necessary. Are some of the pros and cons of why you might decide a change is right for you and or whether or not you're ready to just stay put, perhaps take an assignment you didn't anticipate or just stay where you are. So for me there's a lot of different factors that I might want to put into place to decide whether or not I'm going to stay in my current position. One is going to be stress from outside sources. So if my life is already really chaotic, I will probably opt to stay in my position for that consistency, because change is going to cause some degree of stress. So if there's other elements of my life that are very busy or very stressful or there's a lot of change happening elsewhere, then it's probably not a great time to put some change also in my life by changing my job assignment and changing my school and essentially starting fresh or starting over.

Speaker 1: 6:12

I also want to really look within my school as to what is my support system look like within the school that I'm in. So, even if I'm assigned a different grade that I wasn't anticipating, do I still have the skills and do I have the support system around me from other staff members that would really aid in my success in this unexpected position. So if I was placed in a grade three position, I would or a grade one position. I would really have to look at the support system around me and whether or not that change would cause undue hardship or unnecessary stress for me in that position and whether or not the support system that was around me would be there. Now, frankly, if I had a drastic change in my assignment and there wasn't really a logical reason for why that assignment was there and was given to me, I would assume that that is going to damage some of my support system, that perhaps the people, such as administrators that I thought were on my side I thought were supportive of what I was doing. I would take that as a note that perhaps I am not going to be supported or there isn't the level of support I thought there was going to be.

Speaker 1: 7:30

Now, there's always going to be times where you just happen to be lowest on the seniority and things happen. It's not what anyone wants, but there's no other option because we work in a union environment and you just happen to be the person that drew short straw. In that case, I would look at that's a different scenario and you would still have the support system in place, because people would know that you drew the short straw and they would probably be crawling and bending over backwards to help and support you in that new role. So I think that's really something to consider when you're deciding to stay is that support system that you have built around you is going to be really important? If you feel that your job assignment is going to lack a support system, that's going to be a factor. So you really want to make sure that you have a strong support system in place that's going to help to do your job. Because the reality is is that, although we each have our own classrooms and we teach sometimes all on our own, the people that you are around, the people that are there for those hallway conversations, those shared experiences, the shared frustrations that you know we need to lean on each other that support system is going to be really important for your success as a teacher and your ability to handle all of the things that are going to come your way next year.

Speaker 1: 8:54

You also need to look at how you might handle the unknown, so the prospect of moving and the whole saying of it's better the devil you know than the devil you don't. Perhaps some things have happened and you're really considering a change. This is one where you may want to say, hey, you know what, it's not great right now, but there's no real option outside. I don't know what the posted positions will be, so I'm not just going to volunteer to leave. So in my board we have the ability to. After we're given our assignments, we have a time period in which we can voluntary transfer out, which means we don't know where we're going to go, but we ain't staying here.

Speaker 1: 9:37

So the idea that you might want to just pull the ripcord and leave with no landing spot to end up at you don't know. You know you'll be somewhere, but not where it's got to be for me pretty bad that I'm 100% sure I'm leaving and I'm not going to change before I would actually pull the voluntary transfer ripcord. There's plenty of circumstances where it is just not fixable. The situation, the teaching situation you're in I've been there where I've worked in circumstances where I'm like it doesn't matter, I'm not doing this and if that's a situation you're in, then it's okay to put in for that voluntary transfer, because the unknown is far better than the situation you happen to be in right now. So in that case that fear of the unknown might be worth it for you. But if it's not, then you're willing to take that effort.

Speaker 1: 10:30

Maybe you're only like 60, 50, 40% sure you want to leave. You're sort of on the fence. Maybe taking that like ripcord approach to leaving might not be it. Maybe you want to wait to see what the postings are. Maybe you want to have a pick of what you want to apply to. But then if there's nothing really that it catches your eye or attracts that attention for saying, hey, I do want to go, then that would be an opportunity where you'll just accept the position you're in and you'll be happy either way. If there's a better opportunity, you'll jump on it and take it. If not, you're happy to stay where you are. So those are also factors that may help you decide whether you want to stay.

Speaker 1: 11:12

The other aspect is the whole groove. So if you're in a groove, if you're teaching the same grade for multiple years, things start getting a little bit easier. So, even if some other factors may not be great, the idea that you can shut your door and teach and stay in the groove because you've already taught, say, grade six in some shape or form multiple times. So teaching another year of grade six will just be easy because you're not going to deal with all of the fresh grade stress that might come into play. So you might not be able to get that in postings. You might not be able to get the same groove.

Speaker 1: 11:50

Maybe the fact that you know the kids, you've got a relationship in the school with the students that are coming into your classroom, so you're going to have that groove Maybe you already have that relationship so you know it's not going to be a big deal when they move into your room. Those are all important factors to consider when you change, because as you start in a new school it is going to be a bit of starting over, even if it's starting over building that community, having students get to know you. You're almost going to walk in in September. If you start in a new school you will walk in sort of as the fresh blood and you are going to have to build relationships with students and sometimes that takes a couple of years to actually build relationships beyond your classroom as students come in and leave, as maybe you coach or run teams, other students who have not been in your classroom get to know you. They see you at recess duty, you get to know them. So there's a groove that develops when you're in the same place for a while and when you have that, sometimes that makes it easier to say put up with a grade level change, put up with, perhaps, a class building that's going to be a challenging class, or perhaps dealing with some internal conflict, or perhaps not a supportive admin. So all of those things are going to be factors that may influence your decision to stay.

Speaker 1: 13:09

However, there's always going to be those times where you know you're done and it's time to move on. And it's totally okay and it is a little scary, and I think that, recognizing that this change is scary, that change is sometimes hard to accept. It's different. There is an element of the unknown. It's kind of like you're jumping off a cliff and that makes it a little scary. However, there's some great benefits to moving and changing and I think it's important to discuss that flip side of the comfort, the familiarity of staying versus the refreshing, sometimes energizing, yet scary opportunity of moving and leaving. So, for me, some of the factors that I consider before I decide to move is the idea that I'm feeling burnt out or stuck.

Speaker 1: 14:10

Now, let's be honest. I think a lot of us as teachers are feeling elements of burnt out. But there's the level of despair, burnout, that we just don't feel like we can make a difference and we just don't feel like we're making an impact. We are not really seeing it and sometimes that's a factor of the community that you're teaching in. Maybe you just need a different community, a different culture. That it's not helping.

Speaker 1: 14:38

So when you're feeling that despair or that burnout, feeling that you're just like I just can't do it anymore, something is happening. That's a good indication that perhaps a change will reinvigorate that passion. You get to try differently. Every school is different. Every school has a different culture, has a different sense of itself, the students are different and sometimes a change and a different community is all it takes to help you reinvigorate that spark that makes you like going to work every day, or at least going to work most days, because it's not going to be great all the time. But I think sometimes, when we get to that point where we've just been in the same spot for the long time, we feel stuck and I think, for me, feeling that stuck feeling, feeling that burnout feeling is what starts to get me to say you know what. I'm going to look at those postings, I'm going to see what's out there. Perhaps a new change and a new opportunity is a good thing right now and it might re-inspire and reinvigorate what I might be thinking or what I might be doing, because different kids have different skill sets. You might be able to try different things with different groups of kids.

Speaker 1: 15:51

I think there's also an element and it's almost an elephant in the room that we need to address, and that is again the support system. There are plenty of opportunities that, as a teacher, you lose your support system. Or perhaps you don't have a support system If you have colleagues that are critical, colleagues that aren't collaborative, if you have administration that is on your back or they have made judgments about you and your teaching style and your teaching ability. Perhaps you just don't jive with the administrator that's in your building, or there's been issues with the community, perhaps there's something that has transpired and you have a group of very vocal and active parents that are making teaching really difficult for you. They've just made their mind up about you, that you're not the right fit for their kids, and it happens right, wrong or indifferent. Those elements happen.

Speaker 1: 16:50

One of the benefits about teaching is you can move and you can go to a different place. You can go to a different principal. Not all principals are created equal. Not all principals are correct in their assessment of your teaching ability. But what you want from colleagues, from parents, from administrators, is you want there to be a level of respect and a level of appreciation for the things that you do. Is it always going to be perfect? No, we're always going to get difficult parents, we're always going to have difficult colleagues and we're always going to have to watch the relationship with our administrator.

Speaker 1: 17:28

But sometimes, when things have transpired and it just didn't work, it's okay to just pull the ripcord, try something new. Because almost definitely, if you go for an interview and that principal hires you, they probably see or believe something in you and you have an opportunity for a fresh start. And that's not a bad thing either, because probably no one at your school will know any of the history. They probably won't see things that you saw before and it's a fresh start and that has a lot to be said to adding to your stress level as a teacher. When you get that fresh start and you get a different opportunity when maybe you've been wanting to teach grade three forever but you can't because the grade three teachers at your school have just been in those positions forever and they're not leaving anytime soon and you're like, but I really wanted to try that, or I want to try phys ed, or I want to try instrumental music. If it's a job change you're looking for and there's something available in postings and you think that's where your passion lies, then take the opportunity to get a fresh start and take that position and try it out. And it doesn't matter whether you're brand new and you've only been at the school for six months or for a year or for two years or 15 years.

Speaker 1: 18:52

Sometimes it's important to acknowledge when it's time to leave. So in this round of staffing in the springtime, it's important to really sit and think what is going to be your best choice. Is it going to be perfect? Probably not. Is it going to be a difficult one, especially if you're opting for a change? Yes, and I think it's important. We ask our friends, we ask our family, we talk to our colleagues that we like and trust. We perhaps post anonymously in Facebook groups describing the situation and polling the audience. All of those things are possible and may help you in making your decision. But regardless, when you are deciding, what is in the best interest of you, protect your mental health, protect your stress levels and try to find joy in what you do. You've gone into teaching for a reason and sometimes it's okay to put what you need first. For whatever reason, good luck in the staffing process.