Why I am a Teacher
I have been teaching for a long time now. In fact, I remember helping friends even at school and college since I always enjoyed tutoring. If I recall I used to play “teacher teacher” with my sister from the age of 10 or 12. Now the people of my generation can probably relate to that. At the end of the term we used to come back home with good results and our notebooks returned to us.
Hence, the excitement of finishing the grade and checking those notebooks with a red pen was the highlight of my vacations! Even today the sight of a red pen for marking notebooks can give me that childhood happiness! So basically you can now get the feel of how much I like teaching. I enjoy lecturing my kids all the time just like other parents!
I have been teaching in classrooms, online, to third graders, to university students…..the list goes on. Definitely teaching university students was the easiest since you just deliver your lecture, prepare tests and exams and grade them. There is no such thing as good handwriting, behavior of the child, did the child complete his classwork or not, did he eat his lunch, why are the children not seated, etc. Thus good pay and less pressure makes university-level teaching much easier.
I voluntarily started teaching to Transition class with children around the age of 5-7 years. Now it’s voluntary so there isn’t much responsibility and I only take a class for an hour. However, I am so impressed with the intelligence of kids nowadays, the discipline in this particular school and the patience of the teachers.
The Reality
I am one of those people who consider teachers’ profession highly respectable but honestly the way they work, their pay does not do justice to them. The way parents point out the smallest of mistakes the teachers make and hold them accountable for their child’s education, behavior, and physical health, it is quite unfair to teachers.
What keeps a Teacher Motivated?
So what keeps them going? The love from the children! I have only been going to school for one hour for three weeks. This week when I entered the class three girls hugged me and one said, “Teacher I missed you over the weekend!” I was so overwhelmed by their love! Hence I shared this with each and every member of my family.
This is the true compensation that teachers receive from their actual customers i.e. their students. When a child does well and shows his affection and respect for his teacher, the teacher feels at the top of the world! Children have their beautiful ways of expressing their liking for someone. This innocence is what really makes the teacher’s day and she keeps on going with all her energies and passion.
If you are a teacher and would like to share your experiences with us, please comment below!
Educationist, researcher, writer and a passionate learner from Islamabad. She has been working as a freelance writer for more than 10 years now. From academic to content writing. Finally, she is doing what she loves; writing for education. You can reach her at editors@educations.pk