Time for Change

I have increasingly become more and more unhappy with the education system here in Australia to the point that my philosophies on early childhood education is so far away from that of the national view. It seems that NAPLAN testing is making principals want to strive for results at the expense of what is best for the children. In an era where play based learning is the way to go for early childhood and where my passions lie, there is a imposed need for results in the form of data. School are now under the pump to get outstanding results from the children and 5 and 6 year olds are expected to do spelling tests within a few weeks of them joining Prep. That means that my kindergarten class is under pressure to know their sounds and learn how to write, just to stop them being totally freaked out and to make them feel less inadequate for not being able to perform in these ridiculous tests. Definitely well against play based learning principles. Teachers are always under pressure and being told to improve, improve, improve to the point where I basically am sick and tired of feeling inadequate myself. It has taken a toll on my self esteem and my health, to the point where I am not taking it any longer. I want out of the system, so I am taking my long service leave, then I am retiring. I may do relief teaching as I will not have to put up with the system just get back to where my heart lies.... working with children.  I think it will be bad in the future for our nation's schools to be losing experienced teachers like me as I know of several that are leaving as well.  I am looking forward to having more time to grow vegies, catch fish and live the simple life. I will have to be more frugal than ever as i won't have a regular income coming in. I hope you will continue to follow my journey.