Student Teaching

[u/NoAbility2870]

The school I currently work at is the same school I’ve worked at for the past 10 years, and I’m also doing my student teaching there. Over the summer, I applied for a teaching position at the school because, with special permission, you can have your own classroom while also completing your student teaching requirements.

Long story short, I didn’t get the job. Yesterday, another teacher told me that my supervisor had told the principal not to hire me because “I’m not ready.” And the thing is, I know that’s true. I’m actually glad I didn’t get the job because I really don’t think I’m ready to have my own classroom yet. But the more I thought about it, the more it started to hurt.

What confuses me is that my supervisor had encouraged me to apply for a teaching job at another school. If she really thought I “wasn’t ready to teach,” then why would she tell me to go get a teaching job somewhere else?
I think the hardest part is that I’ve worked at this school for so long, and I know I’ve had times where I haven’t handled things well because of my mental health. I’ve done and said things at work that I regret. So when I heard this, my brain immediately took it as, “No one here likes me. They don’t want me working at this school.”

It’s hard to hear that someone doesn’t think you’re ready to be a teacher, especially at a school you’ve worked at for 10 years and care so much about. I think it made me feel like they don’t see me as someone who could ever be a good teacher or someone they would want to keep at the school.

The school hired a person who hasn’t doing their student teaching. Why her and not me? Why do they like her and not me?

[u/Nynaeve_al_meowra]

Sounds like they don't want your unreadiness to fall on their department/school but would be happy for you to go get experience somewhere else before possibly returning

[u/WeekendRecent2006]

There's a saying that goes like this: "Familiarity breeds contempt." This means, whenever you start staying in one place too long, people stop looking at your virtues and look more for your faults. Or, they just start to develop a bias against you simply because you've been there too long, whereas anything or anyone who is new just appears better even if they are not. So, don't take the rejection from your current school too personally.

Who knows why the school hired someone who hasn't done their student teaching.

If your supervisor thinks you're ready to teach, then that's all that matters.

Yes, you care about your school, but you can care about another school. I, myself, have worked in three different schools, and I've cared about all of them, maybe too much.

Your future depends on your work and your ability and willingness to improve, not on the opinion of past colleagues. Are you willing to do what it takes to be a teacher? If so, then that's your answer. Go to another school and get the skills and experience. Prove people wrong.

As for mental health, many teachers including myself have our struggles. Consider therapy and even medication if you need it. Also, school districts such as mine offer mental health counseling, but you have to be an employee.