Many people go to college to earn a degree they’ll never use. This is especially true among students whose course of study doesn’t prepare them for a specific role in the workforce. Spending four years in a Philosophy program may expand your mind, and provide you with critical reasoning skills that will serve you in whatever eventual career you find, but few companies (aside from Google, probably) have openings for Kant Specialist I and Nihilism Associate.
However, if you’re the type of college student who opts for a degree specified to one job in particular, it seems logical that you’d pursue a career in that field. Why would you devote so much time preparing for a certain type of work if you’re not planning on doing that work for a living?
Because, sometimes, you find that the job itself isn’t what you imagined. For instance, I studied to be a high school English teacher; as of now, I’m a freelance writer and Site Acquisition consultant at an engineering firm.
Why haven’t I taken the route I studied for yet? Many reasons, but, I want to address one in particular: Teaching is hard.
I’m not going to defend my choice. I made it for my own reasons. Instead, I’m going to stand up for those friends of mine who did decide to become teachers. As far as those outside of the field are concerned, teaching is the easiest profession you could pursue.
Speaking as someone who has experienced enough of that type of work to know what it takes, and gone on to do work in a significantly different field, I want to dispel some myths about the profession. Such as. . .
You Have Summers Off!
Yes, teachers do enjoy the benefits of summer break, though we can’t ignore the fact that quite a few seek another form of employment during the “off-season.”
However, while I have to work all year long, I do not envy the schedule of an educator. After all, most teachers are responsible for upwards of 100 students. And any given assignment takes a minimum of 15 minutes to grade per student. That’s at least 25 hours of additional work each week. And that doesn’t account for lesson-planning, phone calls to parents, and actually creating the assignments.
Don’t fool yourself into believing that the periods a teacher has free during the day are nearly sufficient to cover that type of work. The vast majority of those tasks are completed on your own time, and unlike those of us who work for a company, teachers can’t charge for overtime. Their “time off” is regularly interrupted by the stack of papers that needs to be graded. While you’re sitting on the couch enjoying a TV show, they’re still working.
Discipline Is Easy!
If there’s one area of teaching that nearly all educators below the college-level struggle with, it’s discipline. To an outsider, maintaining order in a classroom may seem easy: Just yell until the kids shut up.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Some students are cooperative, but a good number have absolutely no desire to be in your classroom, and they’ll stop at nothing to let you know it. It’s your job, as a teacher, to ensure that they calm down, sit still, and listen long enough to absorb the information you’re trying to share. If you can’t do that, you’ve failed.
That’s why resorting to the tried and true “go to the principal’s office” method isn’t an option you’re meant to apply often. Doing this may serve to remove a disruptive child who is preventing other students from learning, but it also equates to admitting that you’re incapable of doing your job.
As such, you strive to find a way to keep such students focused. But, when they’re committed to thwarting your efforts regardless of the consequences, there’s not much you can do. You’re dealing with someone who wants to make your life hell, and isn’t afraid of anything you can do in response.
And this is a daily occurrence.
At my job, I occasionally deal with mildly difficult people. Not a single one could ever hold a candle to the average middle-school student.
It’s Rewarding!
While we’re not all able to achieve this goal, it’s fair to say that many of us strive to find a career that fulfills us. If we’re not able to be rich, we at least want to know that we’ve helped people.
In theory, being a teacher is a fantastic way to reach this goal.
In practice, it doesn’t work out quite so well. Yes, there are instances in which teachers are able to reach a student and feel as though they’ve contributed to their growth. Unfortunately, there are many roadblocks standing in the way. You may have the talent and enthusiasm necessary to inspire your students, but the material with which you’re armed – a curriculum more or less dictated by bureaucrats – doesn’t correspond with your skills. The drive to make a positive difference in the life of a child isn’t enough. Your job isn’t to inspire, it’s to fill young minds with the information that the state has deemed significant. Sometimes, the two goals simply don’t go hand-in-hand.
It’s Not Stressful!
Despite the fact that you may realize how much work goes into teaching, you can at least hold on to the belief that the job isn’t particularly stressful, right? While you may have to devote much more time to your profession than others, you can at least know that the people you deal with on a daily basis can’t intimidate you, the benefit of tenure gives you solid job security, and the challenges you’ll face are fairly predictable.
You may think that. But you’ve never had to deal with incessant emails from angry parents who viscerally reject the idea that their child could ever be wrong. You’ve never had to deal with constantly shifting your tried and true methods in order to make sure they conform to the new standards that year. You’ve never had to address situations in which students seem to be suffering from neglect, abuse, or mental health struggles. You’ve never had to confront, on a daily basis, a group of people who are more than willing to attack you on the most personal of levels – insulting your looks, your talent, your character – simply because they’re bored. You’ve never had to properly assess student progress while also accepting the fact that certain students may be suffering from deep stress as a result of their performance in your class. You’ve never had to witness the cruelty of bullying every day, knowing that even if you follow the proper protocol, there may be little you can do to help the victimized student.
Teaching is remarkably stressful. Take it from someone who’s worked in both the corporate world and the classroom.
