A Professional Crisis
Published 30 June 2024
I’m proud to be an educator just like my mom. Working as a teacher is an incredibly fulfilling career that not everyone can do well. It is no secret that the education profession is in a crisis on a global scale. Everyday, educators are confronted with immense challenges that seem to be endless. The profession has been shattered into fragments, attracting fewer new teachers and driving veteran educators to leave the field. The education profession is struggling to effectively evolve to meet our current needs because of the lack of a unifying framework, meaning these challenges have only worsened over time.
“The current state of the teaching profession is at or near its lowest levels in 50 years.”
Many dedicated professionals have tirelessly plugged leaks in the dam, but this is no longer enough to hold back the flood. There are countless institutional barriers to communication, collaboration, evaluation, and development that are so ingrained in our organizations, any efforts to address the roots of these issues have left little impact or have been thwarted all together.
“Only 46 percent of teachers say they feel like the general public respects them as professionals”
The majority of the burden to fix our education systems has fallen on the shoulders of educators. We have been asked to take on more and more responsibilities while having to navigate a disconnected and disorganized network of resources. These burdens have caused the levels of teacher burnout and attrition to reach an all-time high.
“If we keep this up, you’re going to lose an entire generation of not only students but also teachers.”
Educators are forced to track down their professional development resources among countless websites and platforms, just to get by. Educators who are already overwhelmed with responsibilities must pioneer their own way through harsh environments; nevertheless, their hard work ends up fruitless and forgotten, like footsteps in the snow. Without a forum in which we can collectively frame the future of education, we will continue to spin our wheels in the mud.
It is time we come together to ensure all our efforts leave an impact on the profession. We must unify our shattered profession to create a sustainable professional community.
Discussion Question:
What is the most urgent professional challenge you or your organizations are facing right now? In the comments below, share your thoughts!
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Kraft, M. A., & Lyon, M. A. (2024). The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession: Prestige, Interest, Preparation, and Satisfaction over the Last Half Century. (EdWorkingPaper: 22-679). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/7b1a-vk92
Nierenberg, A., & Pasick, A. (2020, December 2). Teachers are not okay right now. The New York Times. https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?productCode=CSB&te=1&nl=education-briefing&emc=edit_csb_20221203&uri=nyt://newsletter/95fd6318-520a-52bf-a6aa-02f6d3391986
Peetz, C. (2022, November 15). The status of the teaching profession is at a 50-year low. What can we do about it? Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/the-status-of-the-teaching-profession-is-at-a-50-year-low-what-can-we-do-about-it/2022/11
Will, M. (2022, April 14). Teacher job satisfaction hits an all-time low. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/teacher-job-satisfaction-hits-an-all-time-low/2022/04
