What we do for a living has a way of defining us in a way few other things can. Think for a moment about a conversation where you’re talking about a friend of yours to someone who doesn’t know them. That someone might ask “So, what does she do?”, and without any further clarification, you know they mean “What does she do for a living?”. It’s unspoken, and yet we know it has this meaning – that’s how fundamental our jobs can be to how people see us.
With that said, some jobs are more defining than others. If you work as a mechanic now, you’ll probably still work as a mechanic ten years from now. If you work in customer services, then the chances are that you might be doing something different in that same time frame. And then there are some jobs, like teaching, that are even more defining, to the point where the teaching profession is referred to almost as a single entity instead of thousands of individuals. So, what makes teaching such a unique profession? And is it more a vocation than an occupation?
As a teacher, you have a unique responsibility
When looking for something that makes teaching unique, we often land on the fact that it takes special training, or that teachers will move from teaching post to teaching post, but rarely out of teaching altogether. Both of these are somewhat true, but are also true of mechanics, as noted above. What differentiates teachers from other professions is that, as a teacher, you have the responsibility of delivering knowledge to children. There is an inherent power dynamic in the role of a teacher, and it takes a certain kind of person to do it well.
As a teacher, you can see and unlock potential
For some children, the path from school to employment is often laid out years in advance. For most children, that path is one that will be discovered in real time. This is something which you will play a part in if you are involved in Teach for America jobs; you will see kids who have potential but often need some assistance in fulfilling it. Adults who have had a beneficial educational experience remember the teachers who helped them to get where they are. There are few forms of job satisfaction that can get close to matching the knowledge that you’ve made that kind of impact.
As a teacher, you are more than just an educator
After our parents and grandparents, teachers are, for many of us, the first adults we meet on a regular basis as part of our formative experiences. Moreover, they are the first adults who will have a role of responsibility for us away from our homes. This means that as a teacher, you are liable to encounter kids in a position of acute vulnerability, and this can mean that a teacher is the first to see signs of problems in a child, from educational difficulties to emotional issues. While it is not your job to treat these issues or seek treatment for them, you will have the responsibility of initiating a dialog with parents or guardians – and this is a heavy responsibility.
