There was an article in this magazine’s last Schools supplement in September that, just for a moment, made me panic. ‘Why I’ve quit teaching’ was the headline. Not great timing. I’d just resigned from my secure civil service job in the Department for Transport to start a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in secondary level history. My thoughts raced. Had I made a serious blunder? What if I wasn’t cut out for this teaching gig after all? Would I end up an emotional wreck and go crawling back to Whitehall?
When you’re teaching you’re always thinking about and sharing a subject you find profoundly interesting
At my work leaving party I had well-meaning but ominous conversations along the lines of: ‘We admire your decision but think you’re absolutely mad.’ Even at Christmas some relatives hinted that they thought I was off my rocker. Why, I imagine they were wondering, had I opted for a life of stress, hard work and inevitable frustration? Didn’t I realise how overworked and underpaid teachers are? Well, perhaps I am losing my marbles, but here’s my manifesto to prove those doubters wrong.
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