|
|
|
So you want to be a teacher
After our parents, teachers are perhaps the most important people to influence our lives. It is through them that we learn to see the world, through them that we gain the ability to understand that world and through them that we obtain the ability to use our intelligence, imagination and talent.
When examining your available career choices, there is a strong possibility that someone will suggest to you to consider teaching as a prospective profession. For others becoming a teacher may be a childhood dream, inspired by a desire to emulate one of their favourite teachers. Regardless of where the idea comes from, becoming a teacher can be a compelling thought for many. But then again not every person who wants to be a teacher should be a teacher. There is a vast difference between the ideal of teaching and the reality of the classroom. No one should make any career decisions without gathering as much information as possible about a prospective profession and this is one area this article intends to help you in.
There are a few more noble professions than that of teaching but then again there are few more demanding and less well paid professions as that of teaching. It takes a commitment to help others rather than obtain credit for you to be a good teacher. There are many kinds of teachers from pre-school to college teachers, who teach a range of subjects that is so large that it cannot be counted. Kindergarten and primary school teachers play a vital role in the development of children. What children learn and experience during their early years can shape their views of themselves and the world, and affect later success or failure in school, work and their personal lives. Secondary school teachers help students delve more deeply into subjects introduced in primary school and expose them to more information about the world.
In a way training for teachers is a never-ending process. A teacher must constantly learn and pass the knowledge so acquired on to others. The amount of training to first become a teacher depends upon what level of teaching one wishes to pursue. A graduate degree in education (B.Ed) or the completion of teacher training programme after graduation is usually the minimum criteria for a schoolteachers’ job. However, it helps if you have a Masters degree in the subject you plan to teach. But along with educational qualifications equally important are the non-academic qualities.
As a teacher you will need to learn to play many roles: a communicator, a disciplinarian, a conveyor of information, an evaluator, a classroom manager, a counsellor, a decision-maker, a role-model, and a surrogate parent. Each of these roles requires practice and skills that are often not taught in teacher training programmes. It is not a good idea to invest time and resources in teacher training programmes if you do not have the appropriate temperament, skills, and personality.
If you are good at explaining how something works, or how something happened and you believe you know things that can make a difference in some kids’ lives, then you should probably give some serious though to teaching. Other essential quality of a good teacher is patience and the ability to keep one’s cool. There will be times when you will be tempted to scream or yell at your students, other teachers, parents, administrators, and so on. Good teachers are able to successfully resist this urge. It also helps to have a sense of humour, which if used properly as part of the teaching methods, can be a powerful addition to any lesson.
Teachers are also required to be fair and unbiased, in order to assess students on the basis of performance, not on their personal qualities. They should be good motivators to both slow learners as well as the bright students in a class. All of these qualities define some of the characteristics of good teachers. A good idea, when first making such a decision, is to talk to teachers. Find out what they do, and what led them into teaching. Do a personal inventory of your own values, personality, preferences and goals.
In addition to these, you should feel comfortable working with children. Most teachers choose to teach primary classes or secondary classes, because they have a temperament for students in that age range. If you are not comfortable working with toddlers then it’s not a good idea to become a Kindergarten teacher. Similarly if you are not fond of Maths or Biology, then opting to teach these subjects is not recommended.
Like other professions, teaching has its pros and cons. You may hear horror stories about unruly, badly behaving pupils, mountains of copies for checking, free time spent invigilating exams and covering lessons, on top of marking, preparing lessons and actually teaching. While these may paint the profession in a less than pleasing light, there remains an interesting and meaningful teaching career for those who are willing to take the challenge. If you look closely, you will discover that teaching art, science, literature or even mathematics, for that matter, is an art and science. It requires knowledge and preparation, skill and commitment, patience and understanding. Good teachers go a long way in shaping and influencing the minds of the pioneers of tomorrow.
The most important thing to remember is that you should only pursue a teaching career if you really want to, not because it’s convenient or there are openings. If you can keep a class interested in what you’re teaching, handle the different learning styles of 30 kids and help the lonely kid in the last row connect with somebody who’ll be his friend, then you might just make a difference in many young lives.
|
|
|
|
