Life Without An Audience: Understanding Teaching as Performance

Teaching is performance - and that can be exhausting. Would you miss having an audience, or would it be a relief?

Teaching is performance. Not metaphorically - literally.

You're projecting your voice to the back of the classroom. Radiating enthusiasm about fronted adverbials even when you're tired. Managing your facial expressions so thirty pairs of eyes don't immediately clock that you're having a bad day. Being "on" from the moment you walk through those gates until the moment you leave.

This isn't a flaw in the system or a result of poor management. It's not something that's worsened over time or could be fixed with better resources. It's what teaching fundamentally is.

And if you're considering leaving teaching, it's worth asking yourself: would you miss this? Or would you be relieved not to do it anymore?

What Teaching Performance Actually Means

Teaching isn't just delivering content. It's a full-body, full-energy performance that requires you to project a version of yourself that's always engaging, always clear, always present.

You're managing your voice - projecting clearly, varying your tone to maintain attention, never sounding tired even when you definitely are. You're managing your body language - standing where everyone can see you, moving around the room to maintain presence, using gestures for emphasis. You're managing your facial expressions - looking interested even during the fourteenth identical answer, showing encouragement even when you're frustrated, maintaining calm even when internally screaming.

And you're doing all of this while simultaneously teaching content, managing behaviour, differentiating for different needs, watching for understanding, tracking who's engaged and who's drifting, making split-second decisions about pacing and approach.

It can be exhausting. Not just mentally, but physically.

Some Teachers Love This

For some teachers, the performance aspect isn't just tolerable - it's genuinely fulfilling.

They love having an audience. They thrive on the energy exchange. They enjoy the challenge of holding attention and making content engaging. They find satisfaction in the immediate feedback loop of seeing whether their performance landed. They miss it during holidays and feel energised when they return.

The buzz. The connection. That adrenaline that comes from nailing a lesson and seeing thirty faces light up with understanding. The craft of performance - knowing how to pace, when to pause, how to build momentum, when to bring energy down.

These teachers often say things like "I love being in the classroom" or "I'd miss the kids too much" or "I just enjoy teaching." And they mean it. The performance element isn't draining for them - it's energising.

If this is you, that's valuable information. It means the core activity of teaching aligns with your natural energy and preferences. The performance aspect might not be why you're considering leaving.

Some Teachers Don't

For other teachers, the performance aspect is exhausting. Not occasionally - constantly.

They can do it. They're good at it. But it depletes them. Coming home feeling like they've run a marathon every single day. The impossibility of having a quiet day when you're just not feeling it.

Manufacturing energy and enthusiasm you don't have. Projecting patience you're not feeling.

These teachers often say things like "I'm just so tired" or "I can't keep doing this" or "I have nothing left at the end of the day." They know they're good teachers. They care about the students. But on top of all the data, reports and book band trackers, the daily performance requirement is unsustainable for them.

If this is you, that's also valuable information.

Most Teachers Are Somewhere in Between

Most teachers don't fit neatly into either category. They enjoy some aspects of the performance and find others draining. They have days when they love being in front of the class and days when it feels like too much. They appreciate the connections they build through teaching but also long for work that doesn't require constant performance.

The question isn't whether you love performing or hate it. The question is: over time, does this energise you or deplete you? And more importantly: is this sustainable for you long-term?

What Work Looks Like Without Performance

In most non-teaching roles, you're just... working. You're not performing.

You can speak at normal volume. You don't need to project energy. You can have a quiet morning without feeling like you're failing. You can respond to emails at your natural pace without manufacturing enthusiasm. You can show when you're tired without it affecting your professional effectiveness.

Your colleagues aren't watching your every move. They're not testing whether you seem engaged enough or passionate enough. They're just working alongside you. You can be professional without being performative.

For some former teachers, this feels like loss. They miss the buzz. The daily opportunity to connect with an audience. The immediate feedback. The satisfaction of a well-delivered explanation. The energy exchange that comes from good teaching.

For others, it feels like relief. They can finally just be themselves at work. They finish days with energy left. They can be competent and professional without exhausting themselves. They discover that "flat" is actually just "sustainable."

And for many, it's both. They miss certain aspects of performing and are relieved not to do others. They discover new sources of professional satisfaction that don't require constant performance energy.

The Questions Worth Asking Yourself

If you're considering leaving teaching, it's worth honestly examining how you feel about the performance element:

Do you miss it during holidays? Or do you relish the break from being "on"?

Do you feel energised after a good teaching day? Or depleted, even when it went well?

Would you want a job where you present regularly? Or does the thought of never having to present again feel like relief?

Do you enjoy the audience aspect of teaching? Or would you prefer work that's more behind-the-scenes?

Does the performance feel like a core part of who you are? Or something you've learned to do but doesn't come naturally?

There are no right answers. Both "I love performing" and "I find performing exhausting" are completely valid. The point is understanding which one is true for you.

In the Academy

In the Academy, we help members explore these questions to help you understand what actually drains versus what energises.

Because sometimes people think they're burnt out by workload when actually it's the daily performance requirement that's unsustainable for them. And sometimes people think they want to leave teaching entirely when actually they just need a role where they still get to teach or train but with different parameters.

Understanding how you relate to the performance aspect of teaching helps you make better decisions about what kind of work would suit you outside the classroom. 💛

Categories: : Psychology of Career Change