Well, It’s a Friday and I am sitting here blogging while I am also at a. College and Career Fair at a local high school. My normal Fridays are spent working from home, catching up on grading, attending Zoom meetings, and planning out the next week of teaching. Today I get to spend it talking to high school students about becoming a teacher and answering questions about being an author if they ask them.
On my way here this morning, I was just thinking about all the reasons that I became a teacher and why I have continued to teach. I know we get tired sometimes of getting told to remember our why, and I agree that remembering our why isn’t always the answer. I do think it is still important and it is definitely important when we are talking to students that are expressing an interest in going into teaching.
I had one student come by today and let me know that she was interested in becoming a teacher, but everyone around her was discouraging her from doing that because she would “get tired of it” and she was so sad when she told me. I’ve had a few others come by that said they thought they wanted to be teachers but teachers they have had have told them they don’t want to do that because being a teacher isn’t worth it. One guy said he wanted to be a teacher, but has been told the only male teachers are coaches and he doesn’t want to coach anything. Y’all, I’ve only been meeting with students for a little over an hour and this is already what I am hearing. I have had a few come by that are really excited to become a teacher, but even those have talked about how often they are discouraged from doing that by people they know.
This has me thinking back to why I chose this career in the first place (or really why it chose me). It also has me thinking about the teacher shortage and what is happening with that. Let’s be honest, there are good and bad reasons to go into teaching (just like everything else). There are also good and bad days in every profession, and as someone who tried many different things before teaching I can attest that I have gotten tired of all of them (even teaching) at one time or another. I think it is really important that we think about a few things when we are talking to people that are expressing an interest in becoming a teacher.
First off, yes it is hard and no, it is not for everyone. We know this. However, discouraging people from even looking at it as a valid career is not going to make the field of education any easier or make things go any better for those of us teaching. If it is hard because we are overloaded, then wouldn’t having more people become teachers help with that? Wouldn’t new ideas and “young blood” help reignite the spark that got us into teaching?
Second, think about what it says to your students if they says I want to be a teacher and they hear from teachers that it is not worth it. That’s really just saying they aren’t worth it, or at least that is what most of them will hear. We are talking about students. They don’t see the big picture of the other things that teachers have to do on a daily basis. Think about how many times you have students surprised when they see you outside of the school. There is obviously a big piece of the picture missing when they are shocked we are out of our classrooms. It is fine to talk about the other things that they may not see that are part of the job, but maybe let’s not say it isn’t worth it.
Third, let’s acknowledge that we really have a pretty great ROI. We invest time and heart into our students and they go out and become productive (for the most part) citizens and grown humans. We get to watch them have those aha moments and begin to understand something in a world that is larger than they are. We also get to travel their journey as they discover who they are and who they want to be. In my opinion, that is the greatest part of teaching. We get to really spend time helping people discover themselves.
So, what was my response to the children I was writing about earlier? It was simply that yes, this is a hard profession and it is not for everyone. Teaching will give you some of your hardest days and some of your most joyful days. The hard ones will stick with you for a long time. However, even on the hard days, it is still worth it if this is what you are called to do. You see, for me, teaching isn’t just a career. It is truly a calling. I work with students all the time that want to be teachers and I tell them it is a calling to be a teacher, but also a calling to a specific grade band and discipline. I know that I am not called to be an elementary school teacher. I can help people become phenomenal elementary school teachers, but that is not where I am supposed to be. I am meant to teach high school or college. Learning who you are and what it is you are really wanting to do is part of the process. Yes, I try to remember my why on the hard days, but that is because my why is what got me here in the first place. Yes, the world is changing and no, it isn’t getting any easier in our profession. I am excited about these teenagers that are expressing an interest in becoming a teacher and hopeful that they pursue what they feel called to do, regardless of the negativity they may hear. We need more great teachers and we are never going to get them if we continue to discourage people from entering the profession. Today, take a second to think about why you do this. What drew you to teaching in the first place?
