Reason's to Teach

I used to hate the idea of ever becoming a teacher, I thought, I’ve been in school my entire life – I have to get out of here but recently after working in an educational environment I realized that there is nothing else I’d rather do. Personally, I want to teach because I want to work with people who have disabilities on an educational level as opposed to on a personal care level which I have done in the past. When I dove into research I came up with a lot of different reasons, the desire to educate others, to go home one day and know that you helped a child learn something new, to inteeract with children every day, to give other children the enjoyable experience of school and the most common one is wanting to be a role model for young people. I have found several people who want thought that they were the best role model for children and wanted to be in the classroom so they could make an impression on the students.

“Teachers are strong role models — What career are you most familiar with when you graduate high school? Probably teaching since you’ve been exposed to that profession on a daily basis. Teachers command a lot of respect due to the authority and trust placed in them by parents (and ultimately by students in adult education). Wanting to feel respected and admired is a strong motivation for teaching.” (http://www.prenhall.com/phitcareers/chap8/why.html)

“But, at the end of the day, the bell rings, the sun sets, and you end up with the promise of a brand new day ahead of you.  You go back to the classroom, your kids come in, and somewhere along the way you realize that your purpose is so much more than just to teaching reading and math.    You’re there to inspire kids.   You are there to understand them, reach them, and help them be the best they can possibly be.”  (http://teachfactory.com/?p=463)

“I have been teaching for 10+ years now, and truth be told the reason I’ve stayed with it is not the same reason I started. I started teaching because I wanted to educate individuals, I wanted to assist in learning but I have realized that my biggest reward is not in having students pass or fail, it’s the impact I make on their lives, the day to day things that I don’t pay attention to, that eventually a student comes back to tell me my lesson on international affairs encouraged them to study abroad, and things like that. Maybe that’s selfish, but it gets me through the day”

(Elizabeth Rusco, Teacher at Bacon Academy)

When I read these things, I thought at first that maybe this is a little selfish of teachers, that the point of education is to not make impressions of one’s self on other people, then I heard what Elizabeth Rusco had to say about how one thing she says has a reaction she did not intend. Students are so impressionable! It’s such a responsibility to make sure you’re teaching them good habits and good life skills, and if you do have those good skills and habits than it is selfless to assist in helping others gain that.