Pessimism in Reddit

 I find myself careful to read some of the stuff in r/Instructional Design on Reddit. It seems like many people there are annoyed with shifts caused by the pandemic and by teachers being told this profession is an easy switch. Honestly, it kind of sucks. I am a former teacher who worked hard and left the field and am happy with where I ended up. I feel like I see a few kinds of posts: Hating the field for some reason, recommendations on how to enter, and actual conversations on how to improve whatever they are working on. 

It gets exhausting reading discourse about how much people hate what is currently happening. It also makes me curious about the larger conversation around why teachers are leaving the classroom (that is a huge conversation). It just feels so wrong to gatekeep the information simply because someone chose to enter this career first instead of transitioning later in life. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

Comments

  1. Megan W.July 28, 2023 at 11:34 AM

    Hey Missy - I think we must be in the same subreddits. I've seen a lot of griping about how transitioning teachers are lowering the compensation scale because they're willing to accept less thank 100k per year. Hell, that's me and I was never a teacher! If the market is flooded and established IDs can't find jobs, that's a them problem, right? If transitioning teachers can't cut it as IDs, then why are they getting those jobs? I think it's just the closest target. Teachers have the instructional, curricular, and organizational skills to be IDs. Full stop. With formalized training, understanding of models and theories, these educational professionals may even have the upper hand in arenas like Higher Education and Non-Profit.

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    Replies
    1. Missy MJuly 28, 2023 at 2:08 PM

      Hi Megan!
      Thank you for your validation! I agree, teachers absolutely have many of the skills required to be an effective instructional designer. It seems odd to me to gatekeep a career, and at some point the market will likely settle a bit. But the education landscape has transformed over the last few years, and I don't see that slowing down anytime soon!

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