Sept. 7, 1996
I am a teacher. For some reason people in my profession have felt the need to obfuscate the issue
and euphemistically refer to me as an educator, a facilitator, and a classroom manager. I'm not
sure if the fancy monikers are a result of an inferiority complex or a need to compete with the
business world which has made grandiose name-calling an art, but I refuse to be suckered into the
game. My profession IS a noble one, and fortunately I have witnessed in the past several years a
renewed interest in it.
Young, energetic, intelligent men and women are eagerly entering the field. Many universities have wisely revamped their education programs, making them strictly postgraduate studies. Students wishing to go into education must have a B.A. or B.S. degree. Several universities also require up to 60 hours of community service in an education-related situation, to help the applicant decide if working with young people is really what he or she wants to do. These changes have impacted my profession.
New teachers are less likely to be 21 or 22 years old (as was my case), and they seem more confident about their decision to become a teacher. I remember all too well the horror on the face of a timid young woman who in 1972 realized that teaching was not for her. She had spent 4 years and thousands of dollars preparing for a job she now knew was all wrong. "What else can I do now?" she queried painfully.
What else? Teachers from my generation and before lacked the confidence and training to switch jobs the way that people today move from one field to another. We did NOT lack the intelligence or ability, but we simply did not carry a degree that opened doors in the business world. Ironically, today I see more and more teachers coming from the business world, older men and women who realize they have a calling to teach and who switch from a more lucrative profession to a more personally rewarding one.
I am an excellent teacher. I continue to grow professionally and intellectually each year, and I love my job and my students. Equally important, I love the new people entering my profession. They energize me and challenge me. Those few new teachers who still discover they've chosen the wrong job seem to get out more quickly and easily, with no stigma attached to the decision, and we all benefit from this.
In my 19 years of teaching, more
than 700 students have sat in my classroom. Most of them have grown into successful, productive
members of society, and I'd like to think that I helped them get that way.
