Slightly crazy writer and passionate educator for those who struggle
Some think careers are a profession
And some professions probably are
But there are a few that you really do
Need to have more than passion
Teaching is one that would better be called
A calling and not a profession
It’s bloody hard work
To do it quite well
In teaching you can only aim for perfection
A calling you see is not just a job
It’s a passion and caring
It’s something you must do
And teaching is something that
Takes loads of empathy
It drains and it drains
But there are massive joys
There’s the lesson content
How you deliver it
How you assess that they are learning
Then there is the assessments
The marking and grading
The reflection on lessons and units
There’s the extra curricular
Dance, Sport and drama
The clubs that us teachers organise
There’s the student councils
The fundraising for money
To be able to get new equipment
Each school has its only little quirks
So you have to learn all of these
And then implement them
And if your new you’ve got very little time to do this.
And when we call teaching a profession
We add on all the professional bits
So many hours per year of PD
So many hours to prove it
But most importantly
The main part of teaching
The most important part of all
Are the students
They all come to school
Some have emotional traumas
Some have physical ones
Some have none
But they turn up
Day after day
And learn best from their teachers
When they have connections
Teaching is something
Many people can do
It is these people that have a calling.
I agree. Teaching is a calling more than a profession. I came into it a bit ‘sideways’ (after working in another profession) and it was Community College teaching that ‘called me’. While there were some differences from teaching elementary/high school, the similarities are all there – especially the fact that the students were the most important part of the process. I miss them (but not the ‘politics’ that surrounded the system, and the changes brought about by ‘mismanagement’, which is why I retired early).
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It doesn’t matter where you teach – we are all pretty much the same.
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If you don’t love it, you don’t last.
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I think you teachers, are amazing! We have five children and they have had many teachers come and go. I’ve taught every single one… Teachers deserve the most respect of anyone. Thank you for all you have done!
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Thank you.
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