Enjoying A Sideways Move

In my early years of teaching I made my first move from teaching kindergarten to teaching grade one, and I was met with a strange response from the parent community: congratulations. It made me laugh, and slightly annoyed. People outside the field of education equate an opportunity to teach a higher grade as a promotion. Any education worker will tell you, that you need the same amount of skill to teach any grade from kindergarten to high school. There is no increase in status, pay or difficulty when you move to a higher grade. But, that was the perception. Moving to an older grade was a cause for celebration.

No Moving Up

Many people value the opportunity to move up in their field of work. I never had the urge to become a vice principal or principal or superintendent. That was not an area that appealed to me because the job changes from working with kids, to working with adults and policy. I knew what I liked doing and with whom I preferred to spend my days. I baffled an administrator years ago during my performance review, when she suggested I take leadership courses as the next step in my career, and I declined. Sometimes up is not the best direction.

Sideways Moves

I did do a fair bit of sideways movement in my career. I taught all the grades from kindergarten to grade 5 (the oldest grade at our school). I trained as a “reading teacher” and worked with students who were having academic challenges for a couple of years. I taught virtual classes. Doing sideways movements allowed me to keep my job interesting and new without changing the essential element of supporting children. 

Using My Skills After Teaching

After teaching, I never expected to be doing another sideways move. When I retired, I couldn’t think of a different career that I would have the skills for that wasn’t in education. It took some self-reflection with the assistance of a personal development coach, before I realized that I have transferable skills: people skills. It makes sense. Teaching is a people business. Moving into the field of supporting others is the sideways move that uses many of the skills that I already had. Once I discovered it, it just felt right.

What skills have you found that transferred to a new job or position? Comment below.

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