Teacher unleashes Facebook tirade about why she is quitting after 30 years
Many teachers have it real tough, and one Australian teacher has had enough.
Kathy Margolis, from Brisbane in Australia, posted an open letter on Facebook Tuesday, dishing the dirt on why she decided to quit after spending almost her entire working life in the profession.
The letter, which she says was intended for the Courier-Mail newspaper, detailed the reasons why teaching is such a difficult job and claimed the education system is in crisis.
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She said she had written the scathing letter to create a public discussion on the role of teachers, the pressures on young students and the changes in education. She hopes it will allow other teachers to speak up without being afraid of retribution.
"Education in Australian schools is in crisis and someone has to listen to those who are game enough to speak up," Margolis wrote."I have been a primary school teacher in Brisbane schools for over 30 years. This year, after much thought, I have decided to look for another job, not easy for a woman in her 50s."
"I cannot continue to do a job that requires me to do what is fundamentally against my philosophy of how it should be done," she added.
Margolis claimed teachers are given "very little professional autonomy anymore," as they are "told what to do, how to do it and when it has to be done by." She said this, along with new expectations, are creating a volatile environment.
"Never have I experienced a time in my profession where teachers are this stressed and in real fear for the mental health of not only themselves, but the children that they teach," she added.
Image: Kathy Margolis/Facebook
The former teacher also took aim at people who think those in the profession have it easy, believing teachers only work from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and have plenty of holidays. "We are with the students during those hours. We go on camps, we man stalls at fetes, we conduct parents/teacher interviews, we coach sporting teams and we supervise discos," she said.
Classrooms, she claimed, are overcrowded, with teachers asked to fulfill the near-impossible need of catering to each individual student, and battling with "an overcrowded curriculum." She also said she disagrees with the style of the new curriculum and the assessment criteria that is being pushed on the children.
"One child asked me 'if you don’t like the things you have to do then why are you still a teacher," Margolis wrote. "That question got me to thinking long and hard. I had no answer except that I truly loved kids and it was with a heavy heart that I realised that wasn’t enough anymore."
The post has since been shared more than 22,000 times on Facebook, with teachers and the public alike applauding Margolis for her uncompromising thoughts on the education system.
