Midcareer switch to teaching isn’t easy
There’s an interesting discussion going on over at the NY Times’ blog site about making a career switch into teaching. In the heyday of journalism—like, a year or two ago—I had many a colleague who’d sit back in their Aeron chairs and say, “Hey, I can always teach.” I admit I daydreamed about such a switch myself: after another, I don’t know, five or 10 years as a workaday journalist, I’d take a post at a local college and teach a room full of eager young scribes all that I’d gleaned.
Don’t be an idiot, writes Patrick Welsh, who teaches English at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va.:
The notion that anyone can teach is pure myth. No matter how much one may know or how altruistic one may be, some people are just temperamentally unsuited to teach and are toxic for kids. The problem is that it is difficult to identify those types.
(Via Teaching: No ‘Fallback’ Career – Room for Debate Blog – NYTimes.com.) But if you’re really sincere, he adds, don’t give up entirely:
Still, I think schools should welcome would-be midcareer teachers. Their life experiences and practical knowledge in their fields certainly make them better bets than the second-rate younger candidates coming out of education schools — those laughingstocks of the academic world.
To those prospective midcareer teachers I would say this: It won’t take you long to know whether you love teaching. As nervous as I was, it took me about 10 minutes after first walking into my first class some 40 years ago to realize that for me the classroom is a magical place where I wanted to work. At the same time if you realize you don’t love it, do your students a favor: get out and look for another line of work.
If you can find one, that is.
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But my kids have had quite a number of toxic teachers. The public school ones are tenured. I’ve asked other teachers about the general subject of why people who hate kids go into teaching and they’ve said the attraction is power, having all that power over your students. Also lack of supervision. What other job lets you spend most of your work day totally unsupervised?
I think there are three pretty large problems many will have when trying to switch into teaching mid-career.
First, teaching requires an entire lifestyle adjustment, a commitment to be in one place, at the same time, every day, without the opportunity to dock out for a bite, or whip over to the bank. Your entire lifestyle has to be rearranged to fit the demands of the job, especially including the work you will inevitably have to bring home most nights.
Second, while it is true that most faculties of education fail to actually teach teaching, there are practical programs out there that deal with classroom management, lesson coordination and flow, and how to meet curriculum demands and objectives while tailoring your lessons to a diverse range of learning styles. These are all things that can be learned on the job, but they are better learned early, in order to help prevent burnout, disappointment or disillusionment. The trouble, however, is that prospective teachers may not follow up on this since teaching is traditionally regarded as a fallback, and not much thought is given, or respect shown towards the delicate dance of skills, abilities, and training that makes good teachers who they are.
Finally, there is the matter of professional jealousy, and the resentment that arises when those used to going above and beyond do so in an environment where not all feel so motivated. I’ve known quite a number of teachers who have found themselves the victim of dirty politics when they had the temerity to show others up by just being the best they could be.
For anyone that’s been through school (especially the NYC public school system) Welsh’s ‘advice’ is simply lived-through common sense.
With this in mind however, it’s becoming more and more critical that those who *do* have the chops to make it as a teacher get in the classroom and start making a difference.
Ah, I looked at academia when outsourcing hit the news- and six years later, teaching FT and working on a PhD dissertation, I have no regrets about my choices.
But in college, it’s surprising how little time is actually spent in the classroom. Or- put another way- whatever time you spend in the classroom, your other obligations greatly overshadow it.
Want to just teach? Be an adjunct. But be warned: full-time faculty have a lot jobs, one of which is teaching. It’s an entirely separate field, and mastery of the material you lecture on is just one part of it. Real life skills play an bigger part of it, and that’s something invaluable you can bring from the office.
As a student in a graduate teaching program with two advanced degrees, I say good luck with the delusional idea that you can “switch” to teaching in a down market. Why do people think that because they went to school they are qualified to teach? Are you qualified to be dentist because you sit in his chair twice a year? Teaching is actually a profession and those people in the education graduates often referred to as academic morons are some of the best and most undervalued teachers.