Inconvenient truths about teaching
There are inconvenient truths about teaching. Yes, there are truths about teaching that one may not be comfortable with. Although teaching may be one of the noblest professions, teachers are the first to be scapegoated when something is wrong. Teaching may also be the cause of so much heartache. No matter what a teacher does, no matter how hard he works, only a few people will see the difference he/she can make in students’ lives.
1. Ingratitude
In spite of all the hard work that teachers do, they will always be subject to criticism. If the educational system is flawed, it’s the teacher’s fault. Teachers may also be judged to be the most ignorant of all professions. You can have a look at one of Larry Ferlazzo’s posts that show this heartbreaking ingratitude and scapegoating teachers.
2. Stress
Teaching is one of the most stressful jobs. teaching can do so much harm to your health. Here is a post by Sean Banville where he is alarmed by his health condition after a visit to the doctor. Teaching is a hard mission. Here is a quote by Donald D. Quinn that show how stressful teaching may be:
“If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn’t want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher’s job.”
3. Savior
You may think that a teacher’s job is to instruct knowledge. Yes, it’s true. But that’s not the only mission. Another very important teacher’s role is to light the fire! Teachers must awaken pupils’ creativity, highlight their strengths, and improve areas of weakness. But the catch is that this mission is not always achieved as there will always be some students lagging behind. Teachers have no magic wand.
4. Poverty
Poverty plays an important role in school achievements. Students coming from rich families do better than those that come from poor ones. An unfair deal! Socioeconomic factors play an important role in school performance. A teacher has very little to do about this!
5. Lonely fighter
A teacher takes charge of the responsibility of all the students in his class. The problem is that the responsibility is overwhelming and she/he has to assume failure or success ALONE.
6. A never-ending goodbye
It is, as DDEUBEL says in his post “an unbearable lightness“, we finish a school year only to start a new one. We say goodbye to the faces that we have become so accustomed to seeing for a whole year:
“People come and go like ghosts, it is over. We await the “new” and September when there is rebirth and the cycle starts again. And that’s how school is.”
These are some of the inconvenient truths about teaching that come to my mind. If you think that I missed anything please feel free to post it in a comment!