Hello, I'm a student and I need help to find someone to answer some questions about a teacher's career outlook.

Question

What is your philosophy about being a teacher?

What are some challenges about being a teacher?

What are the benefits for being a teacher?

What learning style is best for a student?

What are the working conditions for a teacher?

Answer 1

The answer to some of your questions depend on where you teach. A teacher in an affluent suburb will have a very different experience from one in an urban setting which will in turn be very different from a rural setting. Schools can vary widely in the same district, both in composition and philosophy. So if you ask a thousand teachers you might get a thousand answers. So accept no answer, including mine, as an absolute.

To establish my credentials, I began teaching elementary music (PK - 5) in a poor suburb in 1987. I taught five years, then got a masters in vocal performance. Afterward I was the academic advisor at my college for five years. I went back to teaching elementary music in a rural district for two years, then changed to an an affluent suburb for three years. I taught 5 & 6th grade at wealthy private schools in the Middle East for two years, then returned to the states and taught different subjects for five years at an inner city school in a small city. I then taught various subjects at an inner city school in a major city for two years. I finished teaching elementary math in a small rural district for five years, from which I just retired.

I got in to teaching to impact the future. I wanted to show my students there was a world larger than their neighboorhood, state, or even country. I wanted them to be the best they could be, to become the best version of themselves. That for me is the purpose of education.

I would say the greatest challenge now is the selflessness that is expected. Everything is "for the kids." Not that it shouldn't be, but sometimes I got the feeling that I was supposed to be Jesus Christ, flawless and living completely for others. If you're not willing to go "above and beyond," if you don't do amazing things, if you spend the summer playing and relaxing and not going to training and creating lessons, if your "first day back" is the first day you're supposed to be back, well, without anyone saying anything you clearly get the message that YOU fall short.

Another thing that is challenging is that student populations have changed but student expectations have not. Public education is increasingly the education of poverty and special needs children, yet the expectations are the same as when it wasn't. Now do not misunderstand me. I am not saying standards should be set lower or that non-middle class students are less capable. What I am saying is that poor nutrition has very real effects on developing brains. I ended my career as a Math interventionist. It was no accident that the students who came to me were the same students who picked up backpacks of food for the weekend.

I am saying that parents of poverty love their children as much as anyone, but they play with them in ways that don't necessarily set them up for academic success. They are more likely to play chase, tickle fight, or other physical games rather than verbal or mental ones. They talk with them less, and with a less rich vocabulary. (I'm pulling from the multiple Ruby Payne trainings I've been to.) So a well-loved child of poverty, who was fed the best his parents could manage and treated as well as they knew how, starts school with a less-nourished brain, less rich experiences (it's hard to leave your neighborhood when you don't have a car,) a less rich vocabulary, and a mind not trained to academic pursuits. And this child is expected to perform at the same level as his well-nourished, fully conversed with and been playing academic games since he was born, peer. And you are supposed to get him there with no more resources than you would use for the most gifted of your students. Jesus Christ indeed.

The benefits are that sometimes you actually manage it. And most times you can get the child further along than they were. And that is the best feeling in the world.

What learning style is best for a student? The one to which he responds. For some that will be visually, for others kinesthetically, some must make an emotional connection (why should I care?) some have to hear it. But learning styles are preferences, not mandates. I liken learning modalities to handedness. I am right-handed, but if I lost my left hand it would be a serious problem. Try and cover a topic in more than one way. Even if the child is a visual learner, it may be the aural input that sticks.

What are the working conditions for a teacher? Ah! Therein lies the question. How old is the school? What is the subject? How wealthy or poor is the district? Is it growing? How fast? I have taught music in a classroom, in a portable, and on a stage. I have had classrooms of all sizes, shapes, and states of repair. I have had all the paper I could use, and I have been rationed to a ridiculous level. I've been made to sign in and out and disciplined when I didn't do so, and I have been told I was an adult and a professional and I was trusted. I've been where the district had money but my school did not, where no one had any money, and where everyone had money. There are as many answers to that question as there are schools.

I've asked myself, "What advice would I give you?" I have none. Education today seems to require Messianic individuals. I am not one and I cannot look at another and suggest they should be. Yet our children deserve no less.

Answer 2

Hi! I am a licensed teacher. I enjoyed teaching, and did not want to leave, but I went to earn my PhD and now I am a professor. My younger sister is also a teacher. She just left the profession after about 8 years. I will attempt to answer your questions based on our experiences.

My philosophy is that students can learn and ought to be respected as individuals. I believe students are more likely to put effort into their learning when you assume they will and when you provide them as much self-governance as possible, along with the expectation of responsibility. I also rather feel sorry for the students trapped in four windowless walls and tied to a monotonous and often boring curriculum. It feels like the structure and rules are often more important than the learning, and I am amazed that creative human beings survive.

My primary challenge is the lack of respect, from students as well as adults, including sometimes other teachers. The nationwide debate on teacher pay has led students to believe that the only people who teach are people who couldn't figure out anything more successful to do. My sister faced other teachers who felt she should never appear sad or tired, but always feel delighted to any extra work that was suggested. I found the lack of content knowledge of some of my peers to be frustrating. I had money stolen out of my purse by students, and once risked getting punched in the face to retrieve stolen property. I've called parents to tell them about difficulties their student is having to find that the only person who can translate to the parents is the student. Other places, the primary issue will be apathy or entitlement. The challenges vary by the demographic you serve and the culture of the school. You want to be as sensitive as possible to the culture of places you consider working. In some places, the pay is below a reasonable living wage. Another annoyance of mine was the constant sensitivity training taking up weeks of the summer. There was a lot of time spent on professional development that seems like basic common sense.

My sister and I both especially enjoyed the contact with the students. It is rewarding to get to know them and to know you are making a difference. Also, the diversity of students makes for a diversity of work. Life is not boring. In many places, the pay is above the national or state average. I would make more teaching at a public school than I do as a professor at a private college. The shorter day and summers "off" make teaching a convenient job for parents. In many places, the benefits are very good, but in some places they are very bad.

The best learning style for a student is the student's learning style!!! Part of the skill of being a teacher is finding ways to connect to each student in the way he or she can accept, while also connecting with a neighboring student who learns completely differently. Being sensitive to the learning styles of your students (and recognizing how they differ from your own) is crucial.

I think I have answered some of this question in the above. The working conditions will vary district to district and school to school. You may be supported by your administration and parents, or you may not. Students may be respectful, or they may be undisciplined. They might even threaten or physically assault you. You may feel the need to throw yourself between someone else's fight to protect your students. You might even stand between them and a bullet. You should be able to find a school with a culture that fits your personality and fills your needs, but it might not be where you live or where you think you want to live.