With long working hours, behavior management, and the pressure of assessments, teaching is without a doubt a high-pressured career that requires a huge amount of dedication. However, it can also prove to be a hugely rewarding vocation where you feel as though you are making a real difference to the lives and prospects of the children in your community. If you are considering getting into teaching but perhaps need a bit more persuasion, here are four reasons why teaching is a great career choice:
- Mentally stimulating
Your pupils are not the only ones learning in your classroom: teaching is a career in which you constantly evolve and learn from the children you teach and your fellow professionals. You must have a rigorous educational background in order to qualify as a teacher. For instance, Merrimack College graduate teacher education programs will provide you with the academic background needed to become a licensed teacher, all while learning at your own pace. Once licensed and teaching in a school, you have the freedom to plan your lessons yourself in a way that enables your students to learn in the best way possible. By doing this, neither you nor your students are likely to get bored with the variety of your teaching.
- Vacation entitlement
Teaching requires you to put in many more hours beyond the classroom so that you remain up to date with lesson plans, marking, after school meetings, and much more. However, in return for this hard work you do get a consistent yearly vacation entitlement. For instance, the Christmas and summer vacations enable you to fully relax and recharge so that you return fresh and rested for the following semester. This consistent vacation entitlement is also very convenient if you have school aged kids or are planning on starting a family: your vacation times are more likely to align, reducing the need to pay for childcare or organize a flexible childcare schedule with your employer.
- Career progression
Teaching is a career that allows for all levels of ambition. You might decide that you are happy and fulfilled as a classroom teacher and want to stay in this role for your entire career. On the other hand, you might decide to progress to a more managerial and policy making position and work towards becoming a principal or working for your district’s school board.
- Inspire children
Finally – and perhaps most importantly – as a teacher, you can inspire children and make a real difference in their lives. You are responsible for teaching them the skills and knowledge that they will use for the rest of their lives, and instilling the confidence and values to become a happy and fully-rounded adult and citizen of the world. There is perhaps nothing more rewarding for a teacher than to see a child understand a complicated concept after you have patiently explained it to them, and this could be a regular and positive occurrence in your classroom.
