Some days

[attackfish]

We were talking about bullies and I listened to my fellow teaching students just not get it in so many kind, well meaning ways.  And then my teacher asked about our own experiences with bullying, and everyone in the class talked.  Most said they had never been bullied, the rest mentioned isolated incidents, and talked about how standing up to the bullies really worked!  And I looked around at this room of earnest faces, and realized none of them had a clue.

Most people want to become teachers because public school was a place of joy for them.  I feel a little alone right now.

Comments

[ljlee.livejournal.com]

That's so funny, I was just talking about this with a man I just had dinner with today. (Maybe I had this conversation on my brain, subconsciously.) He works as a language instructor for both children and adults, and I asked why he preferred teaching children even though adult instruction was so much more lucrative. He gave basically the answer you did--that he enjoyed the kids' company better, particularly liked how open they were about their emotions, and felt he could make a real difference in their lives.

Sometimes it seems there are only two extremes of public school teachers--either the really bright and dedicated ones who would be there regardless of the conditions, or the ones whose skill levels and brutally conventional minds are actually commensurate with the low pay. Guess which type far outnumbers the other. Sigh.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

It got to the point in my depression where the only times I was happy was when I was with small children, and I came home from teaching Hebrew school full of stories of what this kid had done, and how they came up with this, and how this kid does this, and she figured out this today, and isn't that amazing, and I realized that this is what I want to do.

There are also a few teachers who are there because the low pay is made up for by the control they are given over a vulnerable population. Most of my awful teachers were just unskilled and uncaring. One was definitely there for kicks.