Teachers in Transition – Ep 224: Minding the Gap Between Expectations and Reality, Hot Jobs, and Go Vote!!

In this episode, Vanessa explores the growing gap between teachers’ expectations and the realities of today’s education system. She addresses the frustrations many teachers feel working in an environment that can sometimes feel like “child storage” rather than a place for true learning, where policies like social promotion often outweigh actual educational goals. Today’s mental health tip emphasizes accepting the realities of the teaching profession while finding ways to create meaningful change from outside the system. For those looking toward a brighter future, Vanessa reminds listeners to plan ahead and make a strategy to vote, underscoring the power of choice in creating change.

She also discusses the importance of adapting to the times, noting the growth of fields like AI and data science, especially as traditional roles evolve or disappear. For teachers considering new career paths, Vanessa offers guidance and support to help them take the next steps toward a fulfilling future.
 
 BLS Top 20 rising jobs – Article from the Bureau of Labor & Statistics

8 Disappearing jobs - according to Power to Fly 

Save the Date!  The next resume workshop will be on November 24th at 2:00 Central time.  In this resume, you’ll learn the important pieces of a resume, how to write a resume that will get noticed, and how to put it in a format that is friendly to both the eyes of an ATS system and the eyes of a human. 

Are you ready to schedule that discovery session to see if you are ready to make the leap?  Head over to the calendar and schedule a time for you to talk one on one with Vanessa 

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Check out our homepage - www.teachersintransition.com

And remember to send your comments, stories, and random thoughts to me at TeachersinTransitionCoaching@gmail.com!  I look forward to reading them.  Would you like to hear a specific topic on the pod?  Send those questions to me and I’ll answer them. Feel free to connect with Vanessa on LinkedIn!

The transcript of this podcast can be found on the podcasts’ homepage at Buzzsprout. 

Transcript

Are you a teacher who is feeling stressed out and overwhelmed? do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout - or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing something different or a new job or perhaps pursuing an entirely different career - but you don't know what else you're qualified to do? You don't know how to start a job search and you just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you are not alone. my name is Vanessa Jackson; and I am a career transition and job search coach and I specialize in helping burnt out teachers just like you deal with the overwhelmingly stressful nature of your day-to-day job and to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you. You might ask yourself, What tools do I need to find a new career?  Are my skills valuable outside the classroom?  How and where do I even get started?  These are all questions you deserve answers to, and I can help you find them.  I’m Vanessa Jackson. Come and join me for Teachers in Transition.  

***Hi!  And Welcome back to another episode of Teachers in Transition. I am your host, Vanessa Jackson –a career transition and job search coach specializing in educators. I am here to help you reach your goals and figure out how to navigate the journey from overwhelmed, stressed out and burnt-out teacher to a new job or career that allows you to find what you want in your life. I provide tips and suggestions to help with stress and mental health, hacks to help your day, and tips for career transition and  job-hunting  I am so happy you are here!  Welcome! Today on the podcast, I dive into the widening gap between teachers’ expectations and the realities they face in the education system, I discuss how learning readiness can’t be forced, we talk about the importance of adapting to the times, like exploring roles in AI and data science, and a very important reminder.

I always say that frustration is the gap between expectations and reality, and a teacher's frustration continues to grow as that gap widens. It occurred to me this past week that one of the biggest gaps in our expectations and reality is actually in our function as teachers. We went into teaching to shape young minds, to see those little light bulbs switch on, to teach children to love to learn, and to help create a better world. That's a pretty lofty expectation. But then we get into the trenches, and there’s a little of that—sure. But nowadays, education seems to be more about where we store the children during the standard workday.

See, If education were genuinely about learning, then the concept of failing a grade at least once in a child's education, to help align them mentally with where they need to be, wouldn't be such a big deal. But since social promotion takes precedence over actual learning, it lends credence to the "child storage" theory. Now, don't get me wrong, I’m not suggesting we put a 17-year-old in a class with 12-year-olds. But I don't see anything wrong with having a 13-year-old in with the 12-year-olds. My own kids taught me—much more than teaching thousands of students ever could—that the brain learns when it’s ready to learn. There's not much else we can do about that.

It reminds me of the saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." One of the best examples I can share is from my own family. My mom failed algebra in high school in the early '60s.  She struggled with the abstract concepts – we’ve all been there. Her teacher pulled her aside and said, "I'm going to pass you in this class, but don't try to go to college, don't try upper-level math. Just get married, have kids —that’s your role in life." Today, that’s appalling, but that's how things were in the '60s. So, my mom believed him. She worked a bit, got married, stayed home with the kids. Later, decided to go back and get her associate's degree. At that time, she was working as an executive assistant for a large aerospace firm, and she wanted that degree. Looking back, I bet it had something to do with her hourly pay rate.  

She took college algebra first, because what that teacher had said still echoed in her mind: that she wasn’t smart enough for math. Her thought was, “If I’m not smart enough to do this math, I’d better find out quickly before I spend too much on this degree.” My mom was very practical. That determination alone shows she was smart enough for college. And guess what? She took the class and—drumroll, please— she made an A. She didn’t even think it was that hard.

I struggled with algebra too—not in the same way she did, but I didn’t understand it. I could follow the steps well enough to pass the class, but it didn’t "click." Then, in my early 20s, I found myself substitute teaching in an algebra classroom, and suddenly it all made sense. That’s where I began to think that maybe our brains have certain “places” that open up and make room for information in due time. It’s like the buds on a rose bush. They open when they’re ready, and if you try to force them open, you will not get the flower you’re hoping for.

This brings me back to the gap—this frustration between what we think will happen and what actually happens. If we understand that our role in today’s system is largely to store children, it may help reduce frustration. Let’s be serious: if those in charge wanted more, they’d allow for more. Our job is to store the children and help them pass tests that companies have convinced our states to buy, all to “prove” we’re educating them. Yet no politician—no matter their age, party, or position—seems to understand that passing a test does not equate to success in life. I hate what those tests have become with the blazing heat of 1000 suns, but that is a completely different topic 

But that’s the core of our frustration. We know we could do so much more, but we aren’t allowed. So, here’s my tip for mental health and stress relief today: understand the landscape. Know the real expectations placed upon you, and use that knowledge to guard your heart and your soul. Changing a system from the inside is hard, if not impossible. Everybody thinks we are saying these things for our benefit instead of the benefit of the whole class. It’s up to those of us who have already left or retired to to change from the outside.

Today's hack isn’t really a hack at all—it’s just a fervent reminder. And that reminder is: Vote. I am not here to tell you who to vote for or who to vote against. I’m not here to hold any opinion on that whatsoever. (unless we are talking about standardized tests) But vote. Our democratic process is incredibly important, and it doesn’t work if we don’t do our part.

I was listening to another podcast recently, and they suggested having a strategy to vote. I thought that was so brilliant, I had to share it with you. What that meant was, in their state, they receive a ballot in the mail that they can fill out and drop off at a voting location—that’s how they participate in early voting. In my state, you have to show up in person to early vote, just as if it were a regular voting day. But however your state handles it, plan ahead. Look at your schedule now, figure out your voting strategy, and get it done early. Don’t wait until the last minute, just in case you get sick or something unexpected comes up. 

And as a side bonus, having voted early myself, I have noticed that all the texts asking me to go vote have disappeared.  They’re still asking for money, don’t get me wrong, but many of the texts have slowed down.

Also, be aware of your voting rights. If you get up to the polls and they say, "Sorry, your address is wrong, so you can’t vote," that may not be correct. You can ask for a provisional ballot, vote, and they figure out any issues later—they can’t just send you away, if you get in line before the polls close, If you get in line before the polls close you have the right to vote. Even if you show up five minutes before closing, if you’re in line—even if it takes hours to get through—you still get to vote. They cannot turn you away.

However, they can turn you away if you’re wearing clothing or anything that shows a preference for one candidate over another. That’s because there’s no campaigning allowed within a certain distance from the polls, and wearing a shirt (or a hat a scarf, or shoes) that display a candidate is considered campaigning. Although, no one seemed to blink twice when I wore my SPQR Rome shirt—my personal commentary on the American Empire if we aren’t caredful. My subtleties were lost on everyone, but I had a bit of fun with it.

So please, go vote. Whether it’s for this candidate, that candidate, or any of the other candidates, remember, as my favorite band says, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." So, make the choice to vote.

Today in our segment on career transition and job hunting, I want to talk about some of the top jobs predicted to grow. There’s a website managed by the Bureau of Labor & Statistics that lists the top 20 jobs, as they currently see it. This was fascinating to look at, and I’ll have a link for you in the show notes. Six of these jobs were related to healthcare, two were directly in the computer field, seven were hands-on jobs or what we used to call“ teen starter” jobs—and the rest were in management.

Even looking at the top 10, only half of them would be considered well-paying; half were under $50,000 per year. We’re at an interesting crossroads in terms of job outlook. One thing I found fascinating was that electricians are listed in high demand. This skilled trade has an average worker age well into the 50s, and there aren’t enough younger electricians coming up to replace them. This makes it an in-demand job where pay is likely to rise. Entering a skilled trade like this is also fairly straightforward if it’s something you might be interested in. Skilled trades include plumbing electrician work, welding, construction, mechanics, and probably more that I am not thinking of at the moment. 

Not all of the jobs on this top 20 list require a college degree. Some do, of course. For example, nurse practitioners are on that list, and that job requires significant schooling. But we also need to talk about jobs that may be going away. Some roles will eventually disappear, such as data entry, manual software testing, telemarketing, administrative legal roles, outbound sales, and even some driving jobs. All of these are predicted to be impacted by artificial intelligence. I also found it interesting that this list included fast-food workers as a job likely to fade out, even though it was listed as having a bright outlook from the Bureau of Labor & Statistics. Some companies already adopting robotic technology. However, as we’re seeing, robots don’t always perform as expected.

One of the fastest-growing fields, although not listed this way by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is going to be in working with artificial intelligence itself. AI is the next wave of the future. It’s nothing to fear; it’s something to learn about. When my grandmother, born in 1929, was young, she thought the most glamorous job was being the woman in the corner house who worked the phones—the telephone operator, unplugging and plugging in lines to connect calls. That’s what she wanted to do, though she never did work in THAT capacity. She did end up working for General Telephone and Electronics (GTE), which eventually became Verizon. But that operator job no longer exists, even though jobs connected to the phone industry haven’t disappeared; they’ve evolved. While were talking about it, lamplighters don’t exist anymore either, but there is still a booming candle industry. 

As we look at reskilling and upskilling, we should be thinking about AI. The only constant is change, so it’s important to take advantage of opportunities to learn new skills and expand what we know. As teachers, we often lean towards college, and if your dream is to go from teaching straight into nursing, then yes, that will require a degree. But a lot of careers don’t require a full degree—although they may require some additional courses or learning.

One of the hottest fields in terms of growth outlook is data science and data analytics, and both Microsoft and Google offer free courses and learning pathways resulting in certifications that you can use to gain the skills you need. Another important thing to keep in mind is that no one really knows what the future will bring—we just know that change is certain. Everyone making predictions about future job markets is, in the end, making educated guesses. I continue to predict that there is an emerging job market in what I can only describe as “AI babysitting” to make sure AI doesn’t go off the rails – but that is my prediction. 

We will take the data we have now and use it to guide our choices toward careers where we can apply the skills and talents  to find work that fulfills us.

If you find this podcast helpful or enjoyable, please share it with others! Sharing a podcast is the BEST way to help it grow!!   I am trying to help as many teachers as I can to find the work they love where they are valued and can do the things they find meaningful and fulfilling.  

 Remember – a career transition outside of teaching generally takes longer than the three months that we’re used  just of world of education.  If you want to be out of the classroom for the next school year, this is the perfect time to start working on your strategy and your exit plan – to start stocking your war chest, if you will,  and making your move out of education
 
 

And I’d like to make the announcement here that I will be having anther resume workshop to help you put your resume together in  way that is ATS friendly and helps you maximize your ability to be seen and understood.  I will holding that on November 24th, so it’s just about a month out – and I will be holding that at 2:00 central time. So put that on your calendars, and I looking forward to helping a lot of you. You’re welcome to invite a friend.  I will have the link to that going out in my newsletter, so you if you are not subscribed to my newsletter, head over to teachers in transition, register, and you will get the newsletter!

That’s the podcast for today! If you liked this podcast, tell a friend, and don’t forget to rate and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. Tune in weekly to Teachers in Transition where we discuss Job Search strategies as well as stress management techniques.  And I want to hear from you!  Please reach out and leave me a message at Teacher in transition coaching at Gmail dot com.  You can also leave a voicemail or text at 512-640-9099. 

I’ll see you here again next week and remember – YOU are amazing!