Why Am I a Teacher?

Why Am I a Teacher?

There are a number of reasons why I’m a teacher. I think the biggest one is that I am obsessed with growth and development. There is nothing I enjoy more than the feeling of understanding or being able to do something that had previously escaped me. That moment of clarity that comes when a new concept or skill just clicks is something I live for and look forward to sharing with my students. Helping them improve is a process that I thoroughly enjoy and believe to be directly related to the condition of society as a whole. That is, as an English teacher, I will not only have the pleasure of facilitating understanding and a love for learning in my students, but I will have the opportunity to specifically teach them about concepts that will appeal to and hopefully improve their morality. I think it is important for every member of society to have an awareness of the conditions of other people and the issues that complicate the world. These issues (most of ours are socially imposed) and conflicts can only be confronted and eventually resolved through awareness that they exist. Luckily for me, as a teacher I get to spread awareness of such social issues to students who may still be grappling with their own transitory identities through literature, an artistic and naturally enjoyable form of the expression of ideas. I’ll be able to listen to and learn from these adolescents as much as they learn from me. I’m excited to be someone they can turn to with questions and concerns about their lives as well as the curriculum. The prospect of delivering lessons that move students and allow them to connect with the material on a personal level is a challenging one that I embrace and believe to be crucial for student interest. I am excited to attempt at making each lesson personally relevant to the students by exploring material through multicultural lenses like ageism, feminism, racism, and postcolonialism. I guess there are many little reasons why I chose to be a teacher, but they all boil down to me wanting to watch my students improve at a subject that contains principles that I believe are vital to society’s general improvement.

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