Plain School Teachers Needed

[temporal1]

About the teacher shortage, think about it. The position typically requires a long-term, full-time commitment, requires a high degree of mental and some physical energy, and likely does not pay as well as many other jobs. It can of course be uniquely fulfilling and rewarding, but is also likely to be draining and tiring. Not that other jobs don't have some of these elements, but stack all of these up, and it is easy to see why many people who might make excellent teachers choose other jobs.

in my experience, esp elementary school teachers provided the second income to the family. pay was not the primary motivation, esp not in private schools.

teachers we knew were happy to work for less, to not be unionized, etc., in exchange for quality students+supportive families (quality, meaning, students present+prepared to learn, not necessarily from wealthy families.) also, teachers liked family-friendly hours+schedules that aligned with their own children’s school years.

they were happy+motivated because of the total package, not just money.

i believe there have been changes. not sure this holds today.
there are more jobs, and, being married is not the priority it once was.

i noticed, in the Catholic school my grdaughter was in, gov politics and demands, fear of litigation from parents, etc., impacted teachers+staff. litigation has consequences.

[mike]

I was happy as a teacher. In fact there was a point where I planned on it being my career. However it would have been relatively difficult to raise a family of our size on a teacher's salary.

[Josh]

I have heard surprisingly little about the lack of pay for school teachers (for single girls) being an issue. Schoolteaching is a lifestyle that is competitive or superior to other jobs out there, in terms of getting summers off, opportunities for professional advancement like teachers' workshops at Faith Builders, and personal fulfilment.

This makes me think that if teachers were suddenly paid a lot better, we'd still have a shortage of single girls to be teachers. I would agree with Ernie that the issues at hand relate a lot more to school boards and administration. The teachers I know who are happy work for a school board and administration they respect and that has their back, even though the pay is worse than other schools I know of.

I know teachers outside of the plain world who are well paid, but have endless problems with the administration. They are not very happy.

[PeterG]

Lack of pay for 18–25 year olds who teach for 1–5 years as a sort of VS is probably not much of an issue. Lack of pay for mature adults (even single adults) with rent or a mortgage to pay and a future to plan for is definitely an issue. (Let me emphasize that it is NOT an issue for me personally. My salary has always been sufficient or more than sufficient.)

I'd say it's true, though, that issues such as workload and parent/administration/board relationships are usually of greater significance. I'll elaborate later if I get some time for it.

[PeterG]

Why do so many conservative Anabaptist schools struggle to remain fully staffed? Teaching is mentally and emotionally demanding in any case, and many, if not a large majority of, conservative Anabaptist schools operate under circumstances that make long-term teaching extraordinarily difficult.

The small size of most schools requires each teacher to take on a large number and range of duties. A teacher may have a small number of students, but they will typically be spread across several grades. Let's say a teacher has grades 5–8, a normal situation in many schools. That's at least four math classes and probably at least two English classes and two reading/literature classes even if multiple grades are combined in one class. You could probably get away with only one class each of Bible, science, and history, but it would be better to have at least two of each with that range of ages and abilities. Not to mention things like health and music. Thats about 12–16 classes to take care of, most of which are taught every day, with the rest being taught twice a week or so. There could be administrative and janitorial duties to top things off. Even with a small number of students this kind of workload is unsustainable for most people, especially inexperienced people with little or no training.

As mentioned, struggles with the board/administration and/or parents are often major factors in motivating teachers to quit. Sometimes people just have a hard time working together. But some widespread attitudes toward education also contribute. For many Anabaptists a school's purpose is limited to providing a "safe" place for children to learn the "3 Rs." There is often conflict when some faction in the community (often some part of the school's board or staff) wants the school to embody a more robust pursuit of knowledge. Even when such conflict is absent, this limited vision for education makes school a drudgery. I'm happy to say that, in my observation, many communities are making significant progress in this area.

For what it's worth, I'm privileged to teach at a relatively large school where economies of scale allow for greater specialization, although I once taught at a small school like the one described above. And I can't say enough good things about the highly competent, purposeful administration I work under. (The main thing wrong with the administration at the smaller school I worked at was that I was the administrator. And I'm not good at that.) I've always found teaching deeply meaningful and fulfilling, even when I have not worked under the favorable conditions I now enjoy.