Misconceptions People Have About Teaching As A Career

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Majority of the people we live with believe a couple of things about teachers, and they actually fabricate these opinions and get other people to believe them as if they were true. However, if you have never been a teacher, you can’t tell the truth from the lies, and you might be compelled to believe those that claim to have general knowledge about a couple of things.

If you’re reading this article right now, you’ve probably considered becoming a teacher, enrolling for a course or encouraging your kin to get on with it. You probably like the idea, but are afraid to give your person the green light before you confirm these rumours. Of course, every career has its ups and downs, and the same applies to teaching. However, these in this list are not considered part of its downsides.

1. You Can Never Get Rich

This is straight forward false. In my life as a student and as a professional, I’ve seen many rich teachers, and many broke doctors, lawyers or others that seem more prestigious. A quick look, here’s what makes you rich.

Good decision making skills.
Hard work.
Sacrifices.
Investing in different ventures.
Being open to opportunities.
Utilizing your abilities and the resources around you to your advantage.

Do all those attributes sound like less of what teachers have? I mean, we’ve all seen many people that didn’t even go to high school, but are living their lives to the fullest and have whatever they can ever need. This means teacher or not, you can become rich. It doesn’t depend on your salary, but your attitude. Also, there’s no superstition here.

2. Parents Will Always Make You The Villain

Despite the fact that parents are really hard people to deal with, they all understand if they get a proper explanation. I also have to mention the fact that not all teachers are good. Some are rude, and others simply don’t know how to talk to parents.

However, being a teacher that gives accountability for whatever you do and setting limits for others, is a good way that you can keep in line with parents, so that even if they don’t like you, they have nothing against you.

3. It Should Be The Last Option After Other Career Paths Have Failed

This is a common mentality among students in high school as they apply for university. For all the imaginable reasons, they think being a teacher sucks, and it’s the last thing that they can choose to be if they are to choose. However, let me show you a few cool things about getting a college degree in education;

It’s easy to get a job. As a matter of fact, some teachers may claim to be unhappy about their jobs, but they don’t quit anyway, and most importantly, they have jobs. This is far better than doing a prestigious course and spending the first four years after college looking for jobs in vain.

4. You Can Be Trapped There For The Rest Of Your Life

Let’s be honest. There are lots of times that we have a shallow viewpoint of the world. I’ve seen a couple of young teachers retire because they either want to set up their own schools or to do other businesses and build their empires.

This means, deciding whether your professional teaching career is going to be a stepping stone for you to get to higher aspirations or the only thing you know till you die, is entirely up to you.

5. You Live A Life Of Bookish Boredom

Before I even talk about your freedom to read when you want, who told these people that books were boring? I don’t know about you, but I just think it’s better off for me to read a novel from start to end instead of binge watching celebrity gossip shows.

Back to my point, I believe you have the liberty to decide what and what not to do during your time. With time, you’ll realise that planning lessons and reviewing notes is part of you, and you’ll do it quickly and effortlessly. Once again, books are fun.

6. Teachers Never Earn Credit For Their Work

Because being an entertainer is something that will make you famous in everybody’s world, it’s not something you have to worry about. Being a teacher is a great thing and a life-shaper for all the students that you’ll teach. This however, doesn’t mean you’ll have to get their praise and all time gratitude.

Just like a teacher sees a whole lot of students and finds it hard to remember a student they taught a decade ago, it’s just hard for your student to cling on to the memory they have of you helping them out.

Also, you’ve got to know that ingratitude is part of human nature, and there’s no way you can heal that. all you have to do is reduce your own expectations and live with the fact that the greatest doers might not be acclaimed the most.

7. You Never Have Time For Anything Else But Your Job.

When I was in high school, I thought the same a couple of times until I started working. Staying in the school premises as some teachers do is probably because;

They still have a couple of incomplete work on their desk an don’t have much time to complete it, so they stay till late.

They’re assisting their fellows with a couple of tasks they had to complete.

They can’t do whatever they’re doing from home, because the school is ambient enough for them.

They have home and family issues, so school premises are a little more homely than home.

Whatever reasons that your teacher might have to stay till late inside the school premises, just don’t be biased as to believe that they have absolutely no other option.

Conclusion;

I guess the one thing that I have to emphasize is, every career can be challenging, and can also run smooth, but some things that happen to you are totally caused by you. Sometimes, or even most times, there are things that we cause for ourselves and sometimes, we are cursed to regret them for as long as we live. I hope you can develop an internal locus of control and aim more at improving your life and turning it into the kind that you’re proud to live.