teachn1

Posted on 10/18/09

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Hi, everyone!

I have a difficult situation and hope that you might be
able to help. A junior high teacher at a religious private
school must go on leave (for personal resons) for the
remainder of the year, and this school offered me her
position. I have college teaching experience but have
never taught the grade or the subjects I will be teaching
and I do not have a teaching certificate. However, I like
teaching, and the money is good, so I signed a contract
last week despite some hesitations regarding my ability to
the job well and some weird feelings. After signing the
contract, I was given a tour of the school and found myself
growing increasingly uncomfortable with my role there, and
I have spent much of the time since signing the contract
questioning my decision.

I am supposed to begin teaching in a few weeks but am
considering backing out of my contract. I certainly do not
want to do such a thing, as I am usually very professional,
but I cannot get over this feeling that something isn't
right (not with the school, but with my teaching for the
school). Perhaps this is just fear that I have gotten
myself in over my head. I accepted the position because,
on paper (and perhaps also in reality), the position and
the income seem to be a good and rare opportunity, and I am
in need of a job.

I would like to get some feedback from some of you, as
those closest to me can only look at what I saw prior to
signing the contract: a good opportunity, a school
schedule, and good money. However, as many of you know,
this cannot be everything when accepting a teaching
position. I am concerned because, while I have some
experience (mostly as a student, not a teacher) with the
subjects I'll be teaching, they are not my areas of
expertise, and, honestly, I don't know how to teach (and
discipline) this grade level and these subjects. My biggest
concern, though, is the reason for this feeling I've been
having. First of all, I don't have a good feeling with the
principal of the school. He has been quite nice and cares a
lot about the school, but at the end of the day when I
signed the contract, he also seemed to be trying to
reassure himself that he had made the right choice (he kept
saying, "This is a good thing," the same thing I keep
saying in the hope of convincing myself). Secondly, I am
not religious. I do not have a problem working in a
religious school, in the sense that I will not hinder
anyone's religious education and I encourage people to
explore their spiritually. However, I did experience some
discomfort when the prayer was said over the loud speaker;
perhaps, however, this discomfort would dissipate over
time.

Like I said above, some of these concerns may simply be
fears, but some may be indications that I am not the right
person for this job. If it is the latter, I believe I
should break the contract as soon as possible and hope that
the school would not hold me to the charges for breaking a
contract. However, before making a decision, I hope to
hear some feedback from current teachers.

Thank you for your help.

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