Is Teaching for Me?
If you have started researching a career in teaching, chances are you’ve already read about some compelling reasons for becoming a teacher. However, it’s not enough to know that teaching is a great profession – you need to know if it’s a great profession for you. Taking the time to think deeply about skillset, what you want from your work life, and what kind of environment you’re suited to is an important part of your journey toward making the decision to pursue a life in teaching. So, is teaching for you?
What Kind of People Make the Best Teachers?
Firstly, and most importantly, you need to be passionate about your chosen subject and want to share that passion. You’re going to be responsible for inspiring your students to learn and your enthusiasm for what you’re teaching is vital. It’s worth taking the time to consider what makes you really love your subject and why it’s important to you, and therefore why it will be important for your students. If you’re looking to work at the primary level you will need to engage across all the areas that you will need to teach, whereas if you’re looking to work in secondary education then your understanding of your subject will need to be deep and expansive. Needless to say, teaching is a mostly academic pursuit so you will need to be comfortable with that too.
Beyond the above, you’ll also need to be well organised and a great communicator. Teaching is all about communicating new and sometimes complex ideas in a structured way that allows students to learn. There is administrative work too, as you track students’ progress and development.
Flexibility and stamina are also key. Teaching is a profession that can be subject to change, either in the curriculum or as new standards and practices are introduced. Staying on top of your personal and professional development at the same time as planning and delivering lessons, supporting pupils, and assessing work is demanding. Taking all this on means that a good teacher needs to be comfortable with shouldering responsibility.
That’s the Person, But What About the Workplace?
Schools aren’t quite like any other workplace. They can be fun but also a busy and challenging place to work. Classroom management is a skill that pretty much every new teacher will have to learn from scratch. Not all students are going to make things easy either, meaning teachers need to have good temperament and not be scared to deal with issues professionally when they arrive.
Ultimately when we talk about environment, the key question is ‘do you want to work with children and young adults?’ It’s an obvious question but one that can be overlooked. If you aren’t able to answer this question with a categorical yes then this isn’t going to be the job for you. You will need to be happy to work with your chosen age groups day in, day out. This means supporting them, listening to them and doing the best for them – even when meeting resistance. It’s a social workplace that requires a social person.
And Lastly, Consider the Lifestyle.
Teaching isn’t your regular nine to five. On the surface, there are some amazing perks, like long holidays and pursuing a subject you love, but considering the lifestyle as a whole is important too.
Teaching is a consuming role that takes real dedication. You will have a responsibility toward your students so work doesn’t end when the final lesson is over. When books need to be marked and lessons prepared you won’t have option defer the work because something else came up. When term time is in full swing pressure can be high and lessons can’t be rescheduled – if the students are going to be with you at 9am, they need to be taught at 9am. You’ll already know from your own days as a pupil that schools work on a yearly cycle so you will need to be a forward-thinking, committed person who can see things through.
Ultimately though, if teaching is right for you, it can hold a lifetimes worth of rewards.
Did this sound like you? If you identify with the person described above then you might be on the verge of embarking on your ideal career. Find out more about the University of Exeter PGCE courses and their requirements here.