An analysis of the experience of being a teacher

Posted on September 10, 2008 Updated on February 12, 2022

(1205 Words)

I wonder what motivates teachers to start the profession. For sure many reasons make someone begin a career in teaching. Is it pay or job security or is it a fall back option? This being said, initial motivation does not mean that years later the same can be said. The fact of the matter I feel is the evolution of the new teacher into a mature tutor. This is then the professional person who has recognized the true meaning of teaching. This person recognizes their role in helping to shape young minds and impart moral values through education. Teaching has to be a vocation. In part an autobiographical story and analysis, for this piece, I feel that there are many aspects that any teacher has to realize to fulfill true potential.

Certainly, ongoing professional development highlights certain challenges in teaching that a teacher has to face up to. A focal point for me was the realization that students do not really know how to learn. How can any teacher, great as they may think they are, not realize that the students are naive about how to get the most benefit from a lesson? Any teacher has to look at the students’ own learning traits in light of the imperative that they both foster lifelong learners in their classrooms as well as become lifelong learners themselves (Bernard-Powers et al., 2000). The teacher definitely has to play a huge part in a student’s education although every student and the class as a whole have to progress to help the teacher get the most out of them.