Private Practice Teaching: Personal Solution to a Teacher-Centered Movement

When I started The Private Practice Teacher® in June of 2022, it was with the goals of helping other burned-out teachers enjoy the opportunity I stumbled into and raising awareness of self-employed teaching as an option. Leaving the classroom, I was completely heartbroken, but my heart was mended by the wonderful, affirming, and human experiences I now enjoy with my private students and families. I found my spark and my joy again as a private practice educator.  My mission was to let teachers know that this was possible and help them create their own private teaching businesses. 

Since then it has been and continues to be my honor to do this work. The teachers I work with are brilliant and caring professionals. I am constantly amazed and humbled by the innovative and beneficial services and learning opportunities they create for their students and communities. If you have time, please check out the business on the Teacher Directory. They truly are inspiring.

This last year has been so inspiring in fact, that we have evolved both in mission and number. The Private Practice Teacher® has grown from one teacher (me) to eight pioneer teacher entrepreneurs (we have space for just 2 more pioneer teachers) and from our two original goals to a movement. Yes, we still work to spread awareness of the possibility of being a successful, self-employed teacher. Yes, we still help teachers create their private practice teaching businesses. However, we’ve been so galvanized by what we’ve been able to accomplish this year that we now see it as an opportunity to elevate our profession as a whole. 

We believe that meaning and lasting positive change in education can’t happen until teachers are recognized and respected as experts in education. We see private practice teaching as a means by which teachers can finally be recognized as the highly educated, trained, and experienced professionals we work so hard to become. Private practice teaching provides the opportunity for teachers to demonstrate to society what we can create and what our students can accomplish when teachers have the autonomy to practice our craft the way we know it should and can be done. As such we have the opportunity to be recognized as authorities in education, and hopefully gain a seat at the tables discussing education reform. 

If not, we have already started building the foundations for our own tables.