I quit teaching after 12 years spent in 3 private schools across 2 states. This article comes as close as any I've found to saying why. I'll add that my therapist also told me that it was quite literally killing me even though I was a rock star teacher and loved the kids. American education, K-Phd., public, private and homeschool, is thoroughly corrupt, predatory, and extremely damaging to most students and most teachers.
Thoughts after reading the "Iliad" to prepare a Greece unit for my students: -Hector is a jerk until he's dead. He even advocates the exposure of Achaean corpses and then has the cheek to turn around and ask Achilles to spare his. He rudely ignores Polydamas' prophecies and fights outside the gate to save his pride knowing full well what it will cost his family and city. After he's dead, he becomes a martyr for the cause. -Agamemnon has several moments of true leadership to balance out his pettiness. In this way, he's a haunting foil to Achilles: the two men are more alike than they want to acknowledge. -We see that Achilles is the better man at the funeral games of Patroclos. His lordliness, tact, and generosity there give us a window into Achilles before his fight with Agamemnon and the death of Patroclos consumed him. -Nestor is a boring, rambling, old man who's better days are far behind him, and yet every Achaean treats him with the upmo...
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I still teach, but your experience as described by the article does resonate with me. Shoot me an email if you'd like to chat about it. It's not only isolating to teach unless you have a super stoic attitude, but it's also isolating to quit something that feels so important. I'm sorry it wore on you so hard and I'm also glad you found a way out of it.
I think you're right about the walking away from it, though my health and overall wellbeing began improving dramatically the day after my last day. The real bear in this economy is transitioning to something else. Unless you want to go into insurance or sales, a former teacher needs to recredential and recertify to have a shot at anything.
I've found myself leaving as well. Thankfully, I had a job offer for something that used a lot of the administrative skills I'd acquired along the way. But yeah, something ended up being the last straw for me despite all the positive outcomes occurring, so I'll give my resignation soon after I officially am hired. I'm still willing to talk about the classical education system/process if you're ever interested.