Ah, teaching. A profession that you either adore or absolutely despise, one that can make or break a student's future, and one that can leave parents and students alike either loving or hating you. It's a grueling position but one that is essential to the success of society; people rely on teachers to help them get the qualifications they need for the jobs they want to do. When successful, it's a truly rewarding career path. And I don't ever want to do it.
Please bear in mind that this is not an attack on teachers by any means - all my teachers throughout both my primary and secondary school career have been dedicated, enthusiastic and intent on helping me through my education. Well, all but a few. But I won't name and shame.
One of these wonderfully dedicated people is my current English Literature teacher, who is great, don't get me wrong. But you should have seen the look on his face when we were talking about career plans and not one of us said "English teacher". I don't think I've ever seen such disappointment. Even after that, he's (jokingly) adamant that one day all nine of us (two boys and seven girls) will be stood in front of a class of thirty kids trying in vain to get them to understand Hamlet and To Kill a Mockingbird (neither of which I've read by the way). Well, sorry, sir, but your efforts to persuade me will be in vain, for the reasons I am about to list. Numero uno...
1: Screaming kids.
You know what I'm talkin' about. I mentioned this in my last post. How do you calm down an entire classroom of kids that could be any age from four to sixteen and get them to concentrate when they seem to have twice the energy you have on a GOOD DAY? I HATE raising my voice, I HATE getting angry, and it'd probably break me having to discipline a bunch of students for talking too much instead of actually teaching them anything. Not to say every class is like this of course, but there's always that one student...
2: The impact on your LIFE.
My English Language teacher still hasn't managed to mark half my coursework. I would be angry, but who can blame him? They guy's got a baby and a four-year-old (who are adorable by the way), more than likely wants to make time to spend with his wife, and probably has five hundred other students' work to mark. Not to mention lesson plans, assessments, extracurricular stuff, and whatever else he has as part of his life. His job probably forces him to make a lot of sacrifices, and for me, I just don't think I would be prepared to make that kind of sacrifice. I have a creative mind that's always itching to do its own stuff, and if teacher duties were keeping ME awake until 10pm and stopping me from writing or drawing or chatting or spending time with my family, I'd object. Kudos to those who love this profession enough to dedicate their souls to it.
3: Pressure.
Ever felt like you just can't get the grade your teacher wants you to get? The worst instance of this was GCSE Maths; I somehow broke my way into the top set and was obtaining Bs and low As, when the rest of my class was frequently getting A-stars. I felt so out of place it was unreal, and when I was satisfied with a B on that practice paper, many of the higher-achievers would look at me like I was nuts while they cried over being one mark off an A-star. And instead of a "well done" from my teacher, all I got was "Alright, let's see what you can do to break into that A". Like, really?! Maths is and always has been my weakest subject, so I was pretty bummed out. I couldn't understand why what I was already capable of wasn't good enough. And my form tutor, bless her heart, was kind enough to explain to me that in the world of education, for some reason, if a student doesn't do well, everybody blames the teacher. Yep, a poor teacher could have a history of overachievers and models students, but when there's that one class that really grinds your gears, suddenly you're a bad teacher because half of them failed. Now I understand why teachers have to absolutely push you to your limits, and it's horribly horribly unfair. Again, I couldn't cope with that. Kudos to literally EVERYONE who can.
4: Educational secretaries that don't seem to realise that their policies don't make sense.
Thank goodness that plonker Michael Gove is off the scene. I will be the first to admit that when Nicky Morgan stepped into cabinet, I had high hopes - she's a working mum and seemed to understand what she was actually stepping into, unlike Gove who was stuck in a rut of the past and appeared to have no willingness or ability to move with the times. Now I'm no politics expert but apparently she's been a bit of a disappointment, and policies are ever-changing and getting progressively ridiculous. Something about teachers all getting sacked if a certain number of students don't pass something-or-other? Educate me on the subject in the comments, yeah?
I will be the first to admit that I don't like change. And at the rate the Government seems to be changing education left-right-and-centre, my head would be swimming with questions and I'd probably forget to plan a lesson. And then my students would suffer for it. Oopsies.
5: I worry too much.
No joke, I'd forever be worrying about whether the students love me, hate me, love the subject, hate the subject, love my lessons, hate my lessons, are gonna pass, are gonna fail, you name it, I'd probably be worried about it. I already have enough of these worries with the Year 8s in my Bible study group; am I giving them the right impression of Christianity? Am I being consistent? Am I presenting myself well as warm, approachable, that sort of thing? It's like trying to stay upright on a moving bus. Possible, but tricky. At least with the little group of about nine to twelve Year 8s, I've got people to help me, and the Christian journey is one that God can help with if someone stumbled along the way. But with teaching, I'd be way too frightened of messing up. Lessons would probably consist of me saying "don't kill me" quite a lot. Not exactly a good learning outlet.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not think that this is an attack on teachers (that sounds like a horrifically bad anime parody), the profession, schools in general...if you can get through all these things that would tick me off no end, you are amazing and I commend your efforts, noble people.
But sorry, Mr Keegan. I'm afraid you won't see me talking at the front of a classroom with a board pen in hand any time soon. Or ever, come to that.
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