Why do teachers....become teachers.....you spend most of your life in school....then you go back there!!!?

Whoever says "those who can't, teach", bite me. I DARE you to walk into a school and try to do what I do every day. I think many people who become teachers do so specifically because school sucked so much. We think, what would have made it better, what do I wish I'd had, and then we try to be that teacher for today's kids. Because really, when you think about it, it's so sad that kids hate school. It's sad that you are forced to spend that much of your childhood in a place that makes you feel stupid or bored or scared or angry. Some of us really believe one day we can make school a place where kids might actually want to go. Impossible, I know... Also, I like teaching. I like introducing kids to things they wouldn't have otherwise thought of. I like hearing their opinions. I like learning from them. Not to mention, I get 8 weeks off in summer, plus Christmas week, February break, and spring break, and NONE of that is spent in training. Training is 2 or 3 days before the kids come back.

I became a teacher mainly because I wanted to be able to do for other children what my teachers did for me; taught me to read and write, to speak a foreign language, to understand arts and the sciences and generally fit me for my adult life. When I started ( along time ago ) teachers' pay was very low (£10.00 per week) but it was a secure profession with opportunities for promotion and advancement in salary. Over the years I hope that I managed to give back to later generations of children what was given to me. It is true that a teacher's job now is far, far more difficult than it was in the 1960's when I started. Nowadays we have to be social workers as well as teachers, daily trying to repair the damage done to children by unloving and uncaring parents as well as trying to teach them. Too many children now are brought up with no sense of self-worth and, as a result, see no value in learning and, so, like to disruptive and, in some cases violent and abusive. This applies in primary schools as well as in secondary. I have been physically abused many times and accused of all sorts of dreadful things. But good teachers don't let themselves be got down by all this sort of thing because most children are not like that and deserve the best that we can offer. Rewards do not all have to be financial altho' nowadays teachers' pay is very much improved. But the satisfaction of seeing a child progress against the odds, seeing a child's face when s/he succeeds, these things are worth more than money, believe me. I am still in contact, sometimes personal, sometimes by email, with children I taught in the 1960's and 70's. Not all of them turned out to be geniuses, in fact non of them did, but I recently found myself being served in the pharmacy at Boots' by an ex-pupil who said he remembered me saying that it didn't matter what job you did when you grew up as long as you did it as best you could. He said that he had always tried to do his best - and now he is a pharmacist. Yes, we spend hours, many hours, preparing lessons and many more hours marking but you know this when you decide to be a teacher and if you're not prepared to do it, then don't enter teaching. I'm nearly 70 now and I still work regularly as a supply teacher and I enjoy every minute I spend in the classroom - or playground. And teachers do get more than 6 weeks holiday a year altho' they are always when the cost of holidays is at its highest. Teaching children is a privelege and no amount of money or holidays can make up for that.

it makes you feel good when you are helping others.

As someone who has thought of becoming a Teacher, it would simply be because of both the good teachers that taught me and the bad ones that didn't. Knowing how bad some of them were and knowing what I do now I think I could make a difference. I know with 100% certainty that those bad ones need replacing with ones that actually know 1. What they are talking about and 2. Know what the real world requires from the youth of today in industry. It may be a bit idealistic, but I like the idea of making the world a better place. To run in the rat-race of Company Directors only being after money at all costs is a daft way to live in my opinion.

Exactly - a lot of us enjoyed school so much that we want to create opportunities for others to do the same. By the way, I am a primary school teacher and I wouldn't say that we have an easier time, we just face different challenges from secondary teachers - neither is easier or harder I don't think.

LOL. Who told you we train in the holidays??? We don't - we go on holiday. We're off for a week every 6-8 weeks maximum. We have a good laugh everyday, and everyday is different. Our job is demanding but extremely rewarding and we never get bored.

I think being a teacher attracted me cos I HATED school. It's true. I was one of those kids that ran out the door when the teacher wasn't looking. When I was in secondary I discovered that it wasn't my fault - it was cos the teachers were throwing info at us and hoping it stuck when everyone learns differently and has different interests etc. Sitting still was NEVER something I could do. I was so bored in school and when I was disruptive the teachers put me sitting with the 'dumb' kids to try to teach me a lesson so I'd start explaining how to pass their exams to them. Guess it started there. But you're right. I've got a first class degree in chemistry and maths, another in teaching. I could be earning real money and teaching is getting harder. Special needs provision is a joke and it's heart breaking to watch kids fall behind but not be able to help them as much as you could cos you got another 20 who need you to keep going.....

We want to share our knowledge. We like kids. We are willing to sacrifice to make a difference.

those that can:do! those that can't:teach!