Why I Quit Teaching (The Reasons May Surprise You)

If you’re looking for a former teacher’s reasons for why they left the profession, then you’ve come to the right place.

There are are many reasons why I quit teaching – some of them because of the job itself, and others because of what I wanted to do instead of teach.

I taught elementary school for almost 10 years, but realized after 2-3 years that it wasn’t the right work environment for me. I started working on side hustles in my spare time, and eventually – was able to transition out of teaching to focus on my side gig full time.

Some people think I left teaching because of the working conditions. And yes, that was part of the reason.

But the biggest reason I quit teaching wasn’t because of the job itself; but what I wanted for my life instead.

I quit teaching so that I could have a better work-life balance, more time and energy for my family, my hobbies and to be able to care for myself.

This article is very personal; much more personal than one I’d normally write. I’m going to share with you all the very personal reasons why -and how – I quit teaching.

9 Reasons Why I Quit Teaching

Some of the reasons relate to the job itself; others were because I felt my soul pulling me in a different direction

1. Having to be ‘on’ all-day

I thought I was an extrovert when I was younger; maybe it’s because I wanted to be. But as time went on while working as a teacher, I realized that interaction with other people quickly depleted my energy.

No matter what I did to preserve energy during the day, I still left every day after work feeling mentally exhausted.

All my energy went to the interactions during the school day; by the time I got home, I felt like a zombie.

I wasn’t tired tired – I didn’t want to sleep. I just wanted to sit in a room and not talk to anyone. All my energy was gone.

Now that I work from home mostly solitarily, I’m much happier. I greet my kids with a genuine smile when they come home, and have lots of energy for my family during the evening.

I tried to destress as a teacher as much as I could; but in the long run, it just wasn’t sustainable for me no matter what I did.

2. To show up more for my family

I know that most people start a career first, get established, and then have kids later. But I already had a child when I became a teacher, and was a single parent.

It was hard enough coming home after work exhausted from the day, only to the sole caregiver of a young child. After I eventually married, and had a second child, I saw things weren’t getting any easier.

I was coming home, exhausted as ever, with no energy for either of my kids. I didn’t want to live the same way with my second child as I had with my first. That was part of why I quit.

3. To structure my day the way I wanted

As a teacher, your schedule is on the restrictive side. You can only use the washroom and eat your lunch at very specific times – student lunch breaks or recesses.

As teachers, we were strongly discouraged from booking any medical appointments (dental, mental health or otherwise) during the school day – HR wanted them booked in the evenings so that we wouldn’t miss school.

Now, being self-employed, I really value being able to structure my day the way I want and need to, for my own health and sanity.

Now that I work for myself, I am able to:

• get most of my work done in the morning because that’s when my brain works best
• extend my break if I feel like I’d need it
• grab a snack if I need to
• drink as much water as I want (there’s no longer a rule saying that I can’t use the bathroom until a bell rings.)

4. To travel

Teachers have generous time off compared to other professions, so this may sound a little ungrateful.

However, all of a teacher’s time off falls during the ‘peak’; travel season – summer, winter and spring break.

If your friend is having a destination wedding in April, or if you want to visit a place during shoulder season when it’s less busy – it’s not possible; or at least its very challenging to get this opportunity, in my school board at least.

I personally love to travel; it’s one of my life passions. I didn’t want to be restricted to only to peak travel times until my retirement years.

5. Student behaviour

I expected some behaviours; kids are kids. In teacher’s college, we were taught how to handle everyday behaviours with ‘low key responses’ such as moving closer to the student, giving them ‘a look,’ and things like that.

But what I encountered when I first started supply teaching (before getting a permanent position) was shocking in terms of behaviour. It wasn’t what I was prepared for at all.

Based on my many conversations with other teachers; both in person and online, the increase in behaviour problems is a reason why many teachers quit.

In addition to my regular teaching duties, I spent a lot of time:

• calling parents
• documenting incidents
• communication with other teachers, admin or other professionals if needed
• reading classroom management books
• create reward programs as an incentive for good behaviour
• managing cell phone use

All of these above tasks took away from what I really enjoyed doing (teaching.)

Sometimes it felt like I was so bogged down by behaviours and not able to focus on the academic side of my job as much as I would have liked.

Having to focus on behaviours on a regular basis with little admin support was draining and just a big part of what I didn’t like about my job.

6. Traumatic experiences

I had a few experiences that left some scars. These were mainly teacher bullying incidents from some aggressive students.

While I did everything I could to get support, in the end, it was too demoralizing of an experience that contributed to me losing faith in my job. This ultimately just lead to burnout, and a lack of a desire to stick with it.

It was after some of these experienced that I began seriously researching alternative careers to teaching.

7. I tried improving my working conditions, but it didn’t work

First, I tried changing up my teaching role. I thought maybe if I taught different subjects or easier grades, then my job would get easier.

I was also told by some veteran teachers that it ‘gets easier’ over time, especially if you teach the same grade.

I’ll admit that these things did help a little bit, but I wasn’t happy enough to feel ‘content;’ like I could stick with my job long term.

Eventually, I decided to change schools. I thought maybe a fresh start, at a smaller school (better community, small tight-knit staff) would be the change I needed, and just might save my teaching career.

I enjoyed working at the smaller school, but I was also very overwhelmed because I was working as a regular classroom teacher for the first time. I had a split grade, and 1/3 of my class was on IEPs and many accommodations were needed. The principal was also new and not the most effective leader.

Long story short – I didn’t find a change in my level of job satisfaction from switching schools. After that, I was out of ideas of how to make myself enjoy my career.

8. Mental health

My mental health took a nosedive in my 6th year of teaching. Part of it was job-related, but some personal events in my life played into it too. I developed chronic insomnia which lasted for almost a year and a half, and became dependent on sleep medications.

I went to therapy, went on antidepressants, and tried to get my mental health under control.

Ultimately, it got to a point where I just could not reconcile with the thought of ever going back to teaching.

With the fatigue, how it drained me, the traumatic experiences, the anxiety and sleep disturbances, giving up everything in life that meant anything to me – I felt nothing but anxiety at the thought of walking into a classroom again.

9. I felt a strong desire to do something else

One thing I enjoyed about teaching was that there was a decent amount of autonomy. (I’ve heard that this is different in other parts of the world, like the UK.) Teachers in Canada have a lot of room for professional judgement, and creativity- which I enjoyed.

In addition to all the reasons for quitting teaching that I listed above above; the challenges with the job, burnout, wanting to travel and spend time with my family – I had a desire to do something different in terms of a job too.

I wanted extra challenges; things that weren’t related to dealing with behaviours.

I decided to pursue some side hustles on the side of teaching – a lot of it remote work which I mainly did in the summer months.

I tutored adults online, I did freelance writing, and even started a small business in social media management.

I enjoyed these new challenges, and learning about the business world. I wanted to venture into that scope rather than stick with “my 9-5.”

What Could Have Prevented Me from Quitting Teaching?

I was once asked if I would have stayed in teaching, had anything been different. Truthfully, I am glad I moved on from teaching, so there isn’t any part of me that wished I’d stayed. But, if these things had been different – then maybe I would have wanted to quit less.

The ability to structure the day the way I needed to. On a typical teaching day, I taught 5 periods per day. It almost felt like one too many; four was the max before I started running on empty. If there was a way I could set up my day the way that worked for me, then that would be great – but its not possible. (Nor do I expect it to be.)

Less behaviours. Ultimately, the job would have been less stressful if student behaviour hadn’t been a major issue that there was nothing anyone could (or would) try to do anything about

Better admin support, for sure. I know that there are some amazing principals out there, and I worked with a few of them briefly. But the last few years of my career were mostly principals that weren’t very supportive and usually made my job harder.

A different personality. Teaching isn’t a horrible job, it’s a good job and very worth it for some people – but it wasn’t for me. If I’d been more outgoing, more confidant or overall had a different personality then maybe I would have been one of those teachers who love their job.

How I Quit Teaching

I knew for years that I wanted to quit teaching someday, but I didn’t know when or have a concrete plan. Once I decided that I didn’t want to go back, it took quite a bit of courage (and support, from my husband) to pull the plug on my career.

And I will say – although I’d dreamed about it for a long time, it wasn’t easy to click the “formal resignation” button under my staff portal. It felt so final. I worried that I wasn’t doing the right thing.

There was a grieving period afterwards, where I reminisced about all the rewarding moments I’d had. There are many things I felt I’d miss.

I still keep many of the handmade gifts and cards that students gave to me over the years, and I remember the good times.

Still though, leaving was the right thing for me. Once I got over it, I never looked back. Read my post on steps I took to quit teaching here, if you’re wondering how I managed.

Life After Teaching

Here’s what happened after I left my teaching career behind

My mental health after quitting teaching

I continued (and still continue) to struggle with some anxiety issues, but it has improved significantly.

Now that I have the time and flexibility to exercise, eat, drink, read self-help books and prepare healthy lunches at home, I am healthier – mentally and physically.

I can also sleep in a bit longer if needed, which has helped with the insomnia issues.

My work life after quitting teaching

It took me about a year of hard work, but I eventually replaced my teaching salary with blogging. I own a travel blog which now gets between 1,000 and 1,500 visitors per day. My blog is apart of a top-tier ad network, and also make money from affiliate sales, which means commission when people book things that I recommend on my blog.

As a blogger, I work from home, on my own schedule. I’m much happier. It feels almost surreal to be this happy, after barely being able to hold my head above water for so many years.

I work mostly on my own, on a solitary basis. There’s not a ton of interaction during the day – but I find that that suits my personality much better.

Should You Quit Teaching?

If you’ve landed on this article, it must be because you’ve thought of leaving teaching as well. I’ve been there. I used to Google similar things, looking for other teachers or former teachers who felt the same way I did.

Be sure to forgive yourself for not loving your job; it is not for everyone. There are many teachers that seem to be thriving, and I know there are still plenty who love their jobs. I’m happy for them, and for students (who thrive best with a teacher who truly wants to be there.)

But ultimately, deep down – you know whether you’re in the right work environment for you or not. And if you’re not, I recommend a few things:

• Talk to a therapist or counsellor. There may be a lot of mixed feelings (and possibly, teaching trauma) to uncover to get to the bottom of how you feel
• Read a career-based book, such as The Big Leap. Some of these books that I recommend have personality tests that help you determine what kinds of jobs are right for you
• Read our article, Should You Quit Teaching? for signs, tips and a quiz at the end to help you make the decision.
• Take our burnout quiz – feeling like your instincts are pulling you towards another career is one thing. But its another to feel like you’re burning out from a career that you otherwise love. Our burnout quiz can give you an idea of how burned out you are.

Only you know if you truly still want to be a teacher; if you want to still see yourself in the classroom in 10, 20 years from now.

Maybe you do, or maybe you don’t – there’s no right or wrong answer. If you feel unsure, then it might be worth it for you to work through some of the challenges, first:

• improve on classroom management
• try teaching a different grade or at a different school
• plan some activities with other staff members at your school to boost staff morale

Quitting Teaching FAQ

Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about quitting teaching

How common is it for teachers to quit?

Teacher turnover rate varies by region, but overall – it isn’t uncommon at all for teachers to quit. In the US, about 8% of teachers leave their jobs every year. In Canada, it is said that 30% of teachers quit within their first five years of teaching.

How do you say goodbye to teaching?

Saying goodbye to teaching can cause a mix of emotions – on one hand, you may be relieved, but on another, you’re leaving a career that you worked hard for; one that may have brought you a lot of joy in some ways. The best way to say goodbye is to plan for it and commit to it. Be sure that its what you want, and remind yourself why you’re doing it.

How many teachers quit in the first 5 years?

As many as 1 in 4 teachers quit within the first 5 years of the profession. Teaching is a challenging job with many pros and cons, and the reality of the job isn’t what most people picture it will be.

Final Thoughts on Reasons I Quit Teaching

I hope this article on why I quit teaching paints a picture for you on some of the reasoning that goes into why teachers are leaving the profession. My story is mine, along with my reasons – and these reasons will vary from person to person.

If you know a teacher, or work with teachers – give them your support (and a hug.) Teaching is not an easy job, and I appreciate and admire those who commit their lives to educating our kids.