Reply to Why is there a teacher shortage?

Forum Index » Schools and Education General Discussion

Reply to "Why is there a teacher shortage?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]In general, people are scornful and contemptuous of teachers.  Most of my students are lovely, but many have absorbed their parents attitudes about my profession. None of them will be going into teaching.

Example: I recently overheard a student telling her friends that "If I screw up my life, I'll have to become a teacher or something loserish like that."

I overhear similar comments, and respectful, kind students inadvertently mention that their parents would not support the choice to become a teacher.  I hear a lot of this when I'm talking to students for whom I write letters of rec each year.  They frequently share what their parents say about possible college majors, and the sorts of majors the parents do not endorse.  Students are quite clear that their parents do not see teaching as a desirable career plan, and parents say dismissive, disrespectful things about teachers to their children.

So, no, bright kids are not going into teaching.  Their parents steer them away from this because the parents do not respect or value the profession.  Teaching is widely regarded as a career choice for the unintelligent or unmotivated.  It was not like this when my brilliant grandmother taught.

I love my job, but there is a recruitment problem, and it will continue to get worse.

I wouldn't have chosen this career if I had known about the stress, or the abuse I would receive from parents, and the hours of and hours of time I would be spending in the evenings, on weekends, and over the summers.  The ignorant, outrageously misinformed OP, as well as some PPs who claim teachers don't work much, have no idea what it means to be a high school English teacher in a competitive private.  My job is hardly "cushy": it is summer, and I am reading and choosing material for next year's classes, working on my website and resources, and completing work for a class I am taking.  I work until 7 pm most nights during the school year, and often later than that.

My friends in public schools have similar experiences, but they have the added complication of bad student behavior.  All of us deal with pushy, disrespectful parents and their petty complaints and time-consuming demands.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics