The Vocational Concern: to what extent can practical work develop cognitive thought?

I fear that teaching at school may (somewhat) prohibit my intellectual development. Mind you, I mean not to insult educators’ levels of intelligence. My own teachers were sufficiently educated and trained to dispense their knowledge in perfect dosages to the young brains they miraculously nursed to perception and understanding. Indeed, it is a given that the knowledge-base of teaching/learning methods will increase with teaching, as will social awareness and educational development skills, proving thus to be an invaluable asset in general. But this relates to the practical component of teachers' work, not so? What about the mental/ cognitive component, where teachers are able to further their own learning? Teaching is exhausting and time-consuming, when will I find the time to delve into my own passion (literature) and become an even better expert in my field?

I feel that the level/depth of the work is not challenging enough academically. School environments are not akin to the scholarly ones found at university, where deeper insights into literature are probed by complex theoretical texts and hard-core lecturing. The obvious answer would be for me to become an English tutor at university and further my studies. But I wouldn't like to become an academic - at least, that is not my aspiration right now - and I am passionate about education and teaching at high school. The ideal is to continue to do both at the same time, and they can't be done separately: i need teaching to make a living (not only because it is fun and rewarding!) while I also need to continue my learning to grow and sustain my thinking, without which life will feel incredibly dull.