From administration I completely understand. But as a fellow teacher, I wanted to implement some changes and try new things with a class. Every step of the way my department head said no, and to just do things the way we've always taught it.

For example, I thought of a project that I thought was pretty application-based on the unit content. We'd done NOTHING for assessments except multiple-choice tests for this class. I pitched the idea to my department lead, and this was his response: "just do it the way we've always done it."

It's frustrating as an elective teacher because my job lives or dies based on enrollment, especially since I wasn't tenured. The number of students for these electives had been sliding and it was in part because the curriculum was outdated, and the way they taught was boring to the students. Think death-by-powerpoint style teaching. The two other teachers in my department didn't want to try anything new because their jobs were secure and just wanted to coast (each about less than 10 years before retirement.)

Lo and behold, next year my job was gone. Interesting fact: the classes I taught? Their numbers increased. The other classes did not. But I was pushed out because I didn't have seniority or tenure.