Yes, I Quit Teaching! Here is why...

Being a teacher is being an everyday life superhero. In my opinion, the world of education is the most interesting professional world. Teachers have a powerful impact on their students for many years. Yet, teaching is one of the occupations with the highest dropout rate in the first five years of employment. How can one explain this phenomenon? There are many reasons explaining this situation. However, every teacher who decides to quit the profession has his or her own reasons. Today, I would like to share with you my story, one of a teacher who chose, despite her love of the profession, to leave the teaching boat for another one sailing around the educational world.

I left the profession almost two years ago and I don’t have any regrets. Today, I have decided to confide my reasoning to you because I have been seeing questions on this topic for several weeks in different forums on education. So, if you also think about leaving the world of education, I hope to enlighten you.

Like most "dropouts", I did not leave teaching on a whim. It was a long reflection that began a few years before I finally flew to a new project. When I say a few years, it means that it was two or three years of serious thoughts about other options than teaching for the rest of my life. I sent my resume to companies that seemed interesting to me, I read on different entrepreneurial projects. I was flirting with the job search, all this in my spare time ... not too seriously.

I did not choose to leave the school system because I was unhappy or because I did not like teaching. On the contrary, I felt like a fish in water in a school with my students. I was happy to be a teacher. I was proud of my career choice. I loved being surrounded by teenagers everyday, loved their energy, their spontaneity. I liked to see them grow, change, mature. I liked to transfer knowledge. I loved planning creative and educational projects. I loved my colleagues and my managers, most of the time.

So Why Did I Want to Be Somewhere Else?

It was a long reflection to find out why, after so little time in education, I already wanted to go elsewhere. After almost two years out of the school system, I think I finally put my finger on it.

I was disappointed. Not by students or other staff members. Disappointed, because I did not feel able to change the world of education, to have a real large-scale impact. I have always wanted to change education. I am a "different" teacher who loves to use pedagogies that can shake things up and classroom management that is extraordinary. Once into the system, I felt that being different was just a tiny grain of sand in a gigantic gear.

When I Left

As I mentioned at the beginning of the text, I have long flirted with the part-time job search. I fished left and right. Sometimes mailing my resume worked; I went to the interview, did the hiring process. But the new environment never seemed to fit. It never answered what I wanted to do. I always felt like I was leaving teaching for a worse opportunity.

It was at that moment that I was pulled in by the synergy of the Optania team, a team I have been working with for almost two years now.

Now, I feel I have a real impact on education by developing tools that fully meet the needs of teachers, students and different school players. Today, being a "different" teacher is no longer an obstacle, but an engine that exacerbates my creative side.

A few years ago, I made a choice that was, in my opinion, the best one. I left the school system, my classroom, to dive body and soul into the ocean of education. I felt like a fish in water as a teacher, but it was a more like a goldfish in a framed bowl. Today, I am free to swim where I know I will be able to change things.

I hope I have helped you make the best decision possible. If you have one thing to remember from my text, it should be that if you want to change profession, choose your new path wisely.