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‘I didn’t go into teaching to reduce pupils to data and charts, but to ignite a passion for learning.’
‘I didn’t go into teaching to reduce pupils to data and charts, but to ignite a passion for learning.’ Photograph: Alamy
‘I didn’t go into teaching to reduce pupils to data and charts, but to ignite a passion for learning.’ Photograph: Alamy

Secret Teacher: in a stressful year, it's the children who have kept me going

This article is more than 6 years old

With management piling on the pressure, I often dread going into school. But my pupils and their parents remind me why I do this job

When I started teaching at my school it had a notorious reputation – parents refused to send their children here. Over time, things have changed. We’ve transformed into a place where parents want their children to learn. We have a waiting list. But with this has come increased pressure and high expectations from management.

More paperwork than ever is demanded of us. I spend a worrying amount of my week typing about children rather than having actual face-to-face contact time with them. The way management have told me how I should be doing my job (despite them having been out of class for years, and never having taught in the early years) has been infuriating and demoralising. I’ve often dreaded going into school for this reason.

In many ways, I’ve felt like an awful teacher this year. But through the stress and frustration, the children I teach and their parents have kept me going. They’ve provided some much-needed respite.

My class can be a handful, but they are also lively and eager to learn. Many of my days have been brightened by these incredible little people and their enthusiasm. Don’t get me wrong – I have children who demonstrate challenging behaviour and leave me exhausted by 3:30pm. But over the years it is those children who have helped me to develop my positive behaviour management, competence and personal growth as a teacher.

I’ve come to see that every child is unique, and that there are some who just need more support in understanding the boundaries and expectations in a learning environment. Sometimes, it’s the progress you make with these children that allows you to see most clearly the positive impact your teaching has on learning.

One particular child struggled massively with the expectations of school at the start of the academic year, lashing out at other children and using unpleasant words, and I spent a lot of time with them talking through how to be a good friend. Seeing this child a week ago showing kindness to a younger pupil who was hurt was one of the many moments that make you reflect on the incredible progress a child can make in a year.

Collectively, they’re a creative and imaginative bunch. They’re always brimming with ideas during carpet time, often involve me in their stories or games, and if we ever have fancy dress they go above and beyond. Their costumes on these occasions always outshine my own.

Working with parents, too, has become an increasingly enjoyable part of the job. I like having conversations with every one of the parents and carers of my class, and their support of the children and enthusiasm for them to continue their learning at home is truly impressive. They are a passionate and engaged cohort who often message me to share their child’s learning at home.

The pressure that teachers are under is often in the news. You only have to open the papers to see that the demands of the profession are causing both experienced and newly qualified teachers to throw in the towel. So my pupils and their parents are an important reminder of why I got into this job. It was never to satisfy the demands of management, tick boxes and reduce pupils to data and charts, but to work with children and ignite their passion for learning.

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