Very interesting
Of late, I have been in a rather reflective mood...of my life and my life's events, which recently set me thinking on this rather philosophical question - of all places, when I was laying in the bath. Having said that...the tub is usually a great place for doing some peaceful thinking.
Looking back over my life, I have had quite a few careers...from being involved in the family's retail businesses - yes, I am a great salesperson. I just love the interaction and selling products - suited to the customer’s needs. I used to get a buzz - not out of the financial transaction...that was always second place to me, but in seeing a satisfied customer walk out of the door - knowing they'll be back sooner or later.
I have been a ships cook. A post which I held for about ten years of my life, on the large passenger ferries between Dover, France and Belgium. I have even been a night time taxi driver.
Then I fell into teaching English as a foreign language - basically because I wanted to escape from being a night time taxi driver. I studied hard and I also taught myself Russian and before long ...I was off to Rostov-on-Don in Southern Russia, in the early nineties, to go and teach English.
Earlier today, however, I was pondering this double-barrelled question...why do people teach and what does it mean to be a teacher?
Teaching is not one of the best paid jobs on the planet - so it cannot be about the money - indeed municipal garbage/rubbish collectors probably get paid rather better - at least in the long-term + they have job security and (in some cases) union support to turn to in the event of a problem.
The job can be rather insecure...there are no long-term, fixed contracts in the TEFL world. They rarely exist there days...especially here in the UK, post economic 2008 worldwide financial crisis.
Teachers, in any subject, can be also open to all kinds of problems - if, for example, should a student feel that he/she is getting 100% satisfaction from the lessons.
For, it is always easier to blame the teacher, for a one's own shortcomings and/or lack of tangible progress. Of course, sometimes there are teacher/lesson execution problems, however, which can happen to even the most experienced teacher.
Teachers come from all walks of life, cultures and backgrounds...I have even worked with former City of London bankers, who have dropped out of the world of high earnings and bonuses to become humble TEFL teachers.
So...why do we do it...? Why do we become teachers: with all the admin work and many of the demanding and even (sometimes) stressful psychological problems, inherent with the job - not least of all job/career security?
Looking back over my life, I have had quite a few careers...from being involved in the family's retail businesses - yes, I am a great salesperson. I just love the interaction and selling products - suited to the customer’s needs. I used to get a buzz - not out of the financial transaction...that was always second place to me, but in seeing a satisfied customer walk out of the door - knowing they'll be back sooner or later.
I have been a ships cook. A post which I held for about ten years of my life, on the large passenger ferries between Dover, France and Belgium. I have even been a night time taxi driver.
Then I fell into teaching English as a foreign language - basically because I wanted to escape from being a night time taxi driver. I studied hard and I also taught myself Russian and before long ...I was off to Rostov-on-Don in Southern Russia, in the early nineties, to go and teach English.
Earlier today, however, I was pondering this double-barrelled question...why do people teach and what does it mean to be a teacher?
Teaching is not one of the best paid jobs on the planet - so it cannot be about the money - indeed municipal garbage/rubbish collectors probably get paid rather better - at least in the long-term + they have job security and (in some cases) union support to turn to in the event of a problem.
The job can be rather insecure...there are no long-term, fixed contracts in the TEFL world. They rarely exist there days...especially here in the UK, post economic 2008 worldwide financial crisis.
Teachers, in any subject, can be also open to all kinds of problems - if, for example, should a student feel that he/she is getting 100% satisfaction from the lessons.
For, it is always easier to blame the teacher, for a one's own shortcomings and/or lack of tangible progress. Of course, sometimes there are teacher/lesson execution problems, however, which can happen to even the most experienced teacher.
Teachers come from all walks of life, cultures and backgrounds...I have even worked with former City of London bankers, who have dropped out of the world of high earnings and bonuses to become humble TEFL teachers.
So...why do we do it...? Why do we become teachers: with all the admin work and many of the demanding and even (sometimes) stressful psychological problems, inherent with the job - not least of all job/career security?
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