Dr. Eugenie gave a very interesting lecture in Monday's class, asking us to really question whether or not teaching was a profession which we really wanted to pursue. It actually made me feel pretty down for a few minutes afterward, because I almost thought she had been addressing me. But then I realized, she wasn't talking to me, or secretly reading my thoughts, she was addressing the class as a whole. There are people in our cohort who are here for the time being, or are working on pursuing bigger things afterwards. I, on the other hand, know I'm in this teaching business for the long haul. I shouldn't feel down that Eugenie was talking to us about this, there are statistics... it's a reality that 25% of new teachers will drop out in the first three years, and 50% will drop out in the first five years.
As I filled up my water bottle on my break and giggled about bar crawls and SMACdowns, I want to know... Why are you in this program? How will you keep yourself from dropping out of a career in teaching?
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A lot of us in teacher education think (and worry!) about the statistics to which Professor Potter refers. In the fullness of time, Kate, I'd love to know your response to the important question you frame for your colleagues...
She gave us the same "pep talk" and many in our section were voicing similar sentiments as you.
I'm open to the possibility that teaching may not be my life-long career. I'll do it as long as I enjoy it, and when I want to do something else, I'll be glad I'm not locked in and switch without guilt. So I tell people that teaching is my career "for now"...but does that negate the idea of "profession"?
I'm here because I love languages and feel that I have a lot to share with students (I hope my students will feel the same way). My alternatives would be to work as an interpreter (more school, high-stress job), working abroad as anything (which would entail leaving my family behind) or working here on something unrelated to languages (I did that and it just wasn't me).
So teaching seems to fit the lifestyle that I'm looking for right now. However, I do not necessarily think that I will be a teacher forever. I wouldn't mind going on to being an interpreter or working abroad for a while. There are many options.
Thanks for sharing your very personal feelings on this. I thought she was talking to me! I think we all might have thought that ... We all have so many different reasons as to why we are here in the MAC program learning to become teachers. But fortunately, I think that the field of teaching is broad and wide enough to encompass all that may be on our minds and in our hearts. I hope so.
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