How I Found Leadership Without Leaving the Classroom

Very few people want to be stuck doing the same thing for the rest of their lives. Even if educators view their career as a calling, the desire to grow and experience new things is human nature.

In the K-12 education system, this leads to a problem for many dedicated classroom teachers. The internal drive to learn, improve and — let’s be honest, make more money in this increasingly expensive world — butts up against a big wall. Should we leave the classroom to take a job in administration, at a curriculum company, or into higher education and academia, or should we stay in our classrooms? The call to leave the classroom is especially enticing because we educators tend to view ourselves as “just a teacher” when we forgo those more advanced career options.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I do not fault anyone for pursuing what is best for them. I know and work with many educators who are dedicated to our students and feel their best contributions are outside the classroom. We also need administrators, curriculum writers, deans and behavior specialists in our schools.

But what has bothered me is the idea that the only option for me to advance my career would take me away from the students who need me most.

How can we continue to feel our careers are moving forward without leaving the classroom? How do we convince our most tenured and strongest teachers to stay in the classroom, where they can do the most good for our students, when the money and prestige seem to be elsewhere?

These thoughts and conversations with other educators have led me to re-examine what I care about, what I want from my career and how we can redefine what it means to be just a teacher.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

I’m in my seventh year in education, and I can honestly say I love being in the classroom. As a history nerd, punk and political junkie, teaching social studies is a joy every day (OK, maybe just most days). I work at a wonderful school that supports me, with an incredible student body that motivates me to teach.

However, as someone who has always found it hard to stay in one place, I began to feel antsy. “What’s next for me?” “What should my goals be?” “How will people know how awesome I am?” I don’t want to leave my classroom. I was made to teach and to be a teacher. But does that mean I’m destined to be just a teacher?

I brought this subject up to my principal in a meeting last year about leadership in our school. I told her I wanted to be seen as a leader and wanted opportunities to feel like I am growing, not just in my subject, but as a human and educator. I also shared that I didn’t really want to leave the classroom. But I also know myself; I have too much desire to learn new things, do new things and feel like I am accomplishing something to do the same routine for the next 30 years.

She listened and reminded me that leadership takes many forms and that I should take every opportunity I can. On one hand, I am already a leader with my grade level team and my work advocating for staff as founder and chair of our Staff Culture Committee. If I wanted to reach for more opportunities, I needed to look for other opportunities outside the classroom that could feed my desire for accomplishment and learning and strengthen my classroom teaching skills.

Opportunities Falling Into Place

As I thought about her advice, the first thing I did was reflect. What did I want? What does advancement mean to me? I wanted to feel like I was pushing myself as a leader in my school and the community.

I asked my principal to keep an eye out for opportunities, and she came upon a local initiative to create a new after-school program in our community focused on civic engagement and action called Youth 2 Leaders. She put me in touch with the group leader, and I immediately found myself excited and amazed that such an opportunity existed. The group seemed to have everything I was looking for:

• Educators who love civics? Check.
• Getting students involved in their communities? Check.
• The opportunity to help write and design lessons and plans? Triple check.

It appeared that I had found a life-changing program in my own backyard, and to top it all off, they were paying me to do it! I honestly had no idea that such opportunities were out there. During this summer, I connected with other local social studies teachers, shared our practices, skills and passions, and designed a fun, interactive program that will actively teach my students how to problem-solve in their communities and engage with local government.

Now, I’m thrilled to launch our new program with my eighth graders and excited to make a real change in our community, helping students realize their potential as citizens, and spread this cool program I’ve helped build to other schools around the area and beyond. Is that something “just a teacher” would do?

Becoming the Leader I Am

Another vital part of my career advancement was finding opportunities for myself to learn and grow in aspects of my practice where I felt the weakest. For me, if you can believe it, it was writing. I’m a talker — a storyteller. I LOVE lengthy discussions and debate, and relish any opportunity to share my knowledge and passion with others. Still, I have always felt like doing that in written form was too difficult for me, like I was not a “natural writer.” So when an opportunity to apply for a writing fellowship came up, at first, I did what I always do and said, “That’s not for me.” But with the words “Take every opportunity” in my head, I decided to apply.

The EdSurge Voices of Change fellowship has transformed how I view myself as a teacher. By trying for and succeeding in something I previously thought of as a weak spot, I realized that all aspects of being a teacher and educator are open for me to explore. Critically, I have also been able to take my learning back into my classroom. I share my experiences having an editor, thinking deeply about what I’m writing and how to communicate it effectively with my students.

By sharing my experiences learning new things and challenging myself as a writer, I have provided my students with a real life example for them as both an educator and fellow learner.

Don’t Wait. Do It Now.

So let’s say you are on board. You want these opportunities, but maybe you don’t have the resources or a great set of mentors, like mine. There is help out there.

Start in your community; reaching out to local colleges and universities can yield resources and programs that would love the help of talented and dedicated educators to make their ideas a reality. Think about what skills you have to offer and how higher education and K-12 can work together to improve community learning.

Don’t be afraid to go outside of your comfort zone. Look for opportunities and contests you think you have no chance of getting, and go for them!

Finally, if you don’t see the types of opportunities you hope to find, make them yourself! There are dozens of grants every year for teachers to apply for and take advantage of. These grants can pay for things like attending learning conferences, building new curriculum and even some to travel around the world to see how students in other countries learn.

I probably won’t ever go into administration; one day, I hope to retire as a classroom teacher. But for now, I can say I’m a teacher, writer, curriculum designer and leader in my community. Just imagine what I’ll be able to call myself in another couple of years. If you want more, remember to take every opportunity and be open to new experiences. You never know where it may lead.