Starting Over….10 Years a Teacher

             Choosing a career path as a young professional did not come as an easy endeavor to embark on. Although I pride myself on being a third generation teacher, this was not particularly my dream. I was fresh out of the University of the West Indies, Mona when I picked up a job in September before my undergraduate exit ceremony in November. It was good to know that I was able to meet my financial obligations and feel competent in taking care of myself and thanks to my parents no student loans. Four months into the new job and I was ready to leave. The institution was definitely not within my scope. Academically challenged, sociologically dysfunctional, emotionally and economically disabled students. I was in a state of shock, grief and depression.

             But by June of that same school year I decided to upgrade my qualifications so that I could function more effectively in my role as a Teacher. Not long after the post graduate diploma in education, I spent more time, money and effort into reading for a Master of Arts in Teacher Education and Teacher Development. Unknowingly to myself but to others I was declaring my love and passion for education despite the negative factors I faced in the beginning. It may have taken me a while to really wrap myself around this idea of becoming a master teacher, competent to teach, train and lead. But in hind sight I invested in this practice mentally, emotionally and financially to ensure I made a difference, even if it’s only in one child’s life.

             However, after spending six years in a profession and having acquired all these qualifications the idea of upward mobility becomes an idea to think of, to dream about and to work towards more avidly. But, as a young teacher both in age and years of service the climb up the ladder remained stagnant. There was no exceptional student success to boast about, no promotion or recognition of hard work, no advancement financially, simply nothing to look forward to. After much investment there was no other exit plan, this was it. While others considered going abroad on different programmes or just jumping ship altogether, I had no other plan. 

           Everything started to go "dung di hill" in my seventh year. The feeling of being stuck began to overwhelm my thoughts, my enthusiasm turned into a crawl, my demeanor was ruffled and my attitude changed, I literally became physically sick. No longer was I the teacher with the plan to change the world, I became the teacher adding to the problem. This cloudy outlook started to affect the interaction with my students and my colleagues. 

             Life as a teacher had changed and for the worst, so in the eighth year I pulled up my socks , shifted my hat and started to think a little differently,  began contributing more to administration and took on some leadership roles. I honestly believed that if I could flip the script on myself then I could rekindle the passion. So I took on a new challenge, I enrolled in a new leadership program for aspiring principals because now I felt that it was time to explore more options with my skill set, my passion and drive, with this new attitude - I got wings. But I was still working in the same environment and so by the Easter term I was stressed beyond repair. Now that my students had gone off on study leave it gave me some time to reflect. I attended a few seminars and got involved on a few committees. The networking and the engagement gave rise to a new found interest. That entire summer I spent it working with teachers to help them develop professionally and to give support to the new curriculum that was to be implemented in the new school year. This was hard work, but it was refreshing, it was just the booster that I needed to reclaim my state to “superherodom”. 

            The ninth year I was feeling alive again, invincible, ready to take on the world of students, with the challenges ahead. But now I was ready, determined to leave the place I spent the last nine years of my life, laughing, crying, growing, working, becoming Teacher/Principal Pat. By the end of that year I was ready to start over…ready to move on. I previously promised myself to spend ten years in the classroom, nothing more, nothing less. I never knew that in my tenth year I would start all over, new school, new students, new colleagues, new challenges, new systems, new culture, a brand new day in the life of teaching.  

            The truth is, teaching is hard. But this is the teaching job that I have always wanted. Where students are academically inclined, sociologically functional, emotionally intelligent and economically prepared to take on learning. Now I can STEM away in my classroom, a teacher's haven. I walked into my 2010 dream job a little late in 2017 but here nonetheless. 

Saddle up for the ride, year 10 is just the beginning !

- Teacher Pat



Patricka Blake-Dennis is the founder and CEO of PD Educates, a successful teacher of History and Curriculum Coach. She's been invited to train, coach and motivate, students, teachers and young professionals by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Norman Manley Law School, Shortwood Teachers College and Northern Caribbean University.


Follow her @mzpattie11