There’s no job like teaching. Yes, it can be demanding and challenging, but it’s one of the few jobs in which you really can be a force for good and have a lasting, positive impact on people’s lives. People remember their teachers for the rest of their lives.
Whether you’re just out of university, or looking for a more rewarding career, training to teach is a big decision to make. But it’s worth it.
Here are 10 great reasons why should you train to be a teacher.
10 Share Your Passion
It’s rare to find a job where you get get paid to spend your time talking about some of your favourite things, but that’s exactly what you get to do when you’re a teacher. Teaching a subject you love means you get to spend each day exploring topics and ideas close to your heart.
If you’ve always been a maths whizz, you’ll get the joy of helping your students learn how to solve tough equations and grow in confidence. Or if books are your thing, you’ll get to discuss great novels, poems, and plays, learning to see them afresh through the eyes of your students.
Whatever subject you love, teaching means you get to do what you’re passionate about every day.
9 No Two Days Are The Same
Teaching can be an unpredictable job. You’re working with kids after all.
It’s one of the things that makes it a wonderful job. Whatever you have planned, your students will respond in their own unique ways. They’ll take the topics you cover in weird and wonderful directions and come up with ideas you’ve never heard before. No lesson ever goes exactly the same way as the last one. Some days everything will go great. Other days may be more difficult—students will come to you with problems, your lessons might sometimes be disrupted—but both you and your students will learn and grow together.
One thing’s for sure, it’s a job that’ll never become monotonous.
8 Be a Role Model
A teacher not only teaches the curriculum, they help to shape the values, attitudes and behaviour of their students. Children learn how to act by following the example of others. You can set a good example. This may feel like a big responsbility, but you don’t have to be perfect. Be true to yourself and act with honesty, integrity and kindness.
Children need a diverse range of role models and you can contribute to that.
Your presence in the classroom can inspire. You’ll be an example to your pupils of how someone from your background and with your experiences in life can support others and shine in a leadership position.
7 Seeing Students Succeed
There are lots of different types of success that you’ll come across during your time as a teacher. It can be a student getting a place at their dream university or it can be a pupil grinning when they finally see how that equation works. Some successes might seem bigger than others, but they all matter.
It’s why teachers put in the hard work and keep going on the tough days. You’re working towards something. Each day is a stepping stone towards a child’s future.
Seeing students succeed feels great. It’s a big part of what makes being a teacher worthwhile. Enjoy those moments.
6 You’ll Learn As Well As Teach
Teaching isn’t one way. Your students will ask you questions and come out with ideas that will make you think again about the topics you teach. You’ll come out of somes lessons with more knowledge about a subject than when you started.
Teaching is also a job with plenty of opportunities for learning as part of your professional development. You will continue to get opportunities for training while in the job, allowing you to stay up-to-date with the best teaching techniques and the latest thinking in your subject. You’ll also grow as a person. Working every day with kids from a range of different backgrounds, each one of them unique, will teach you so much about life.
5 Great Career Opportunities
Unlike some jobs, where you can feel like you’re stuck in a rut, teaching is a job that comes with great opportunities for career progression.
From becoming a Head of Department to being Head Teacher, you can work your way into the role that suits your ambitions. These promotions also come with good pay rises.
There are also opportunities to work where you want to live. Every city and town has a school. Even a lot of villages do. Being a teacher means that you belong to a profession that’s always needed, wherever you wish to move to.
4 Every Thank You
It’s not just the end of year gifts—the “best teacher” mugs & boxes of chocolate—it’s also the former student you bump into in town who lets you know they still remember how you helped them.
It’s the tearful kid, who’s stayed behind after class, thanking you for listening. It’s the quiet kid at the back who thanks you on the way out as the other children chat and bustle.
These are the thank yous in life that really count for something.
3 It’s Fun!
Yes, there are serious times in the classroom, but a lot of the time it’s a fun place to be. There’s a reason why shows such as Kids Say The Funniest Things have been so popular over the years. Children are a lot of fun to spend time with.
You’ll find creative ways to engage your students in the topic you’re teaching. There’ll be games. There’ll be laughter. There’ll be unusual questions and unexpected answers.
You’ll get great work done, and teach important subjects, but it certainly won’t be dull along the way.
2 Community
The school community is something special. The students will bring so much energy and so many fresh ideas to the classroom. You’ll see friendships blossom and life-long connections formed and shy kids come out of their shells and grow in confidence.
Your colleagues will be there to support you. They will listen when you need to let off steam and they’ll give you advice when you need it. You’ll have laughs in the staffroom too. You’ll make new friends.
You’ll feel part of something important. You’re working together to shape the future.
1 Make A Difference
In your classroom are the children who will shape the future. Not all of them will become Nobel Prize winners or cabinet ministers, maybe none of them will, but they will all contribute to the world in valuable ways.
The next generation will one day have the opportunity to reshape the world and make it a better place. It’s your job to inspire them, challenge them, support them, and help them to flourish.
You can set them on the right course. Who knows where they’ll go from there and what they’ll achieve? Teaching makes a big difference.
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