A Reason for Teaching

A professor of mine once told a story of how he accompanied his wife to a formal dinner party one night. Surrounded by lawyers, doctors, and other young professionals who complained bitterly of the long work hours but obviously loved the challenge of their jobs, my professor stood waiting for the inevitable question - So, what do you do? The group paused their conversation and turned eagerly towards him. I teach third grade, he said. People nodded, patted him on the back in sympathy or in a show of support, and looked down into their drinks awkwardly.

When I'm in similar situations, I get two types of responses. Oh, it must be so difficult! Why do you do it? is one. The second response is one I despise: Well, at least you get your summers off! I have never been able to come up with an articulate comeback for either comment. Maybe because it's impossible to be concise.

So the question is, what do we teachers do exactly? And why? The motivation for going into most other professions seems pretty clear cut. To help people who are sick, we assume, or to ensure justice, or for the money, to put it bluntly. To create a product, to be involved in politics and change, to be someone important in the business...But teaching? The reasons are vague and border on becoming excuses for not doing something more glamorous.

It seems to me that if the nation is going to learn once again to trust its educators, then we can start by being able to explain to the public why we teach. And if we are going to raise the quality of teachers and the preparation they receive, then we should have strict guidelines for who becomes a teacher in the first place. In other words, if you are responsible for a year of learning in the life of the thirty or so children in your classroom, then you better have a damn good reason for going to work everyday.

By the way, to finish my recollection of the story, my professor smiled at the party guests and continued - I teach my students how to read and write and how to think about a problem. I teach them what it means to be a good person, to love learning, and to reach for their dreams. That's why I do it.

And later, he would write, "We have to refocus on teaching as intellectual and ethical work, something beyond the instrumental and the linear. We need to understand that teaching requires thoughtful, caring people to carry it forward successfully, and we need, then, to commit to becoming more caring and more thoughtful as we grow into our work."