Readers respond to analysis that showed a third of teachers who qualified in the last decade have left the profession
I joined the teaching profession in the mid-1960s for a lifelong career in an optimistic, expanding education service being given increased respect, staffing and other resources. The current situation is very different (Third of England’s teachers who qualified in last decade ‘have left profession’, 9 January). I joined too because of the relatively great but still conditional autonomy offered me to exercise initiative, develop new ideas of my own and “make a difference” to the 46 primary-aged children I taught. That autonomy has now been drastically curtailed by an intrusive, demoralising, distrustful accountability system.
As a young teacher, I remember knowing that if my day was boring, unproductive or restrictive, it was my own fault; I could have done things differently. That cannot be said of the experience of many recently qualified teachers who have left the profession. Perhaps their premature departure could have been prevented if at least some of the characteristics of optimistic 1960s education had been present.
Prof Colin Richards
Former HM inspector of schools
