Giving up teacher training

A man leaving a classroom for the countryside

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A recent teacher trainee explains how the planning workload ruins the job they love

Mental health and well-being are often implicated in the difficulties of teacher recruitment and retention. This first-person story from a recent teacher trainee is a prime example of how workload impacts on the profession. Recent trainee Matt Bell reveals how the burden of lesson planning led him to give up on his ambition to be a teacher and quit the job he was loving. He describes the impact of the workload on him and his family, while acknowledging the buzz of a great lesson.

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