Alternative Career Strategies for Unhappy Public School Teachers


In my article on Career Change for Unhappy Public School Teachers  I discussed some of the issues that might lead a teacher to want to escape to a different job....low salary, burnout, job pressures, lack of support, administrative demands, etc., and the difficulties in getting out of this rut. This article continues that discussion with alternative jobs or occupations to consider. The transition may not be easy, because career change is usually not, particularly when you are entrenched in a long term life pattern and are locked in due to public school teacher perks. You can't just abandon your life and family responsibilities, nor your expectations for retirement, medical insurance and other benefits.  However, if you can make a decision to take action on feasible changes and in many instances make the changes gradually, you have an excellent chance of improving your life satisfaction. After all, research suggests that over 50% (and sometimes a lot more) of our waking hours are spent on working, thinking about work, and getting to and from work. So, a change to improve the passion and meaning you derive from your job can make a big difference in mental health for the rest of your career.

In this article I will provide suggestions for small and more extensive career changes. I have tried to provide examples that would most closely use teaching skills without extensive additional training or education, have the potential to increase income in some cases, and have limited effects on coveted benefits that public school teachers have accumulated.

If you have been thinking of change, you may have thought of some of these options already. Even so, I have included linked resources that give information which may dig deeper than what you already know, and ideas from other teachers who have found success in new areas. Some of the ideas include the opportunity to use the skills you've developed as a teacher, in fields outside of education. I've also included an easy to use tool that will help you do a basic search for new occupations based on transferable skills in your areas of teaching experience.

You may have the best chance of a successful transition if you start by focusing on a small change, or a succession of small changes that do not result in upending your entire life. Small changes involve pursuing opportunities within your general skill set and taking actions slowly without leaving your current job right away. Some of these could become full time jobs over time, particularly on a self-employment basis. Examples include*:

1. Taking on additional paying assignments within your school district, perhaps summer teaching or related activities that are of interest to you, if they are available.
2. Tutoring, in person or online. Online tutoring is an option that can be done from anywhere. Check out this website for potential opportunities.
3. Teaching homebound children, e.g., those who are hospitalized or too ill or disabled to attend school. Check with the special education department of your school district for opportunities.
4. Contracting to teach home schooled children in subjects that a parent cannot. This form of tutoring is covered comprehensively in this article. Although the original article was not written recently, it was apparently updated and includes many links to valuable resources.
5. Creating educational curriculum materials for an online company. A link to a partial list of companies that hire teachers for this purpose is included in Angela Watson's article referenced below*
6. Starting a part-time teaching related business. For example, if you have special skills and experience in a subject area such as playing a musical instrument, singing, or acting, you can start a small business teaching those skills, even from your home. Free seminars and personal assistance in business start-up are available through SCORE, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and through local non-profits.
7. Random educational opportunities as described in Watson's article. Also check out this site.

If you are ready to transition to a teaching related occupation that involves more extensive change, including a complete change in jobs or career, consider these possibilities:

 8. Teaching at a private school. Salaries could be higher in some, duties might be different, and requirements to teach might be less stringent than in public funded schools. If you opted for a portable pension plan in your public system, you could transfer that to another retirement plan. There may also be other retirement and insurance benefits at private schools.
 9. Teaching in a prison or youth detention center. GED preparation and life skills are likely teaching areas. If these programs are part of the same public retirement system as your public school pension program, you may be able to change without any loss in pension benefits. There may also be no change or loss of insurance benefits.
10. Becoming a pre-school, Head Start, or daycare teacher. The downside is that these jobs could pay lower salaries. Pension transferability and insurance benefits would be similar to those discussed in 8 or 9 above.
11. Teaching for a company or a training organization. Many of these jobs involve online teaching.
Try this website for more information and to locate opportunities. You would likely need a portable pension plan from your school system to avoid loss of benefits.

The following are options for a complete change of career outside of traditional teaching:

12. Finding a job outside of the school system but in a city, county, or state government agency covered by your retirement system. You would probably retain all benefits. The challenge would be deciding what type of work you want to do in government and then finding the right job at a realistic pay grade. This website may help.
13. You can also do a brief transferable skills analysis to suggest other jobs both inside and outside the teaching field. Use this tool to input the type of teacher you are and see what results you get. 

Options 12 and 13 above are best with a more in-depth analysis of your skills, interests, best-fit environments, and the information you need for effective self exploration. A detailed skills assessment is important because every teacher has different individual skills and the tool in 13 can only base its results on general teacher skills. If you wish to do a more detailed self analysis in all of the areas, including exercises, my book Stagnation,Change,and Renewal in Mid-Career and Beyond, guides you through that as well as in exploration of different new occupations based on your findings. As an alternative you can opt to see a professional career counselor.

For unhappy public school teachers, the greatest barriers to mid-career change are deciding on a feasible plan and then taking action to follow through. If that can't happen, the chances are high for digging deeper into the rut! Hopefully the information in this article will help get the ball rolling in the right direction.

*Some examples in this article are extracted from articles by Angela Watson,
and Career Stint. Watson is a teacher and instructional coach. It's worthwhile to read the reader comments following her article for more ideas as well.

Note: Important contributions to this 2 part series of articles were made by Gail Simon, M.Ed. Gail has spent her entire career as an educator and administrator in a variety of public and private educational settings. She currently is a group facilitator in an after school drug program for substance abusers and their families.




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