How is teaching portrayed to the public?
I once told someone that I am majoring in education and the response that I got was " That sounds so fun that you get to play with children all day!" I think that teaching is portrayed by the public to be an easy and simple job but in reality, teaching can be a very difficult job. As future teachers we have to deal with people who think our job is going to be easy, we will be underpaid, and we have to deal with the stigma that teachers only teach because they can not do anything else.
Teachers are held to these high expectations but they are constantly reminded by the public that they think their jobs are easy and always sunshine and rainbows. There is a quote from Rita Pierson that I think about when I let the public opinions get to me. The quote is "Every child deserves a champion—an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be."
Teachers have the opportunity to change the lives of all of their students in their classrooms and ensure that all students develop to their fullest potential. Overall the public has very high expectations from teachers and we deserve the positive support from the public that we are lacking.
Hi Cameron! I really enjoyed reading your post! I definitely agree with you that people often underestimate how difficult teaching can be and how much work has to be put in daily to ensure that our students succeed. I also have gotten a similar response before from people when telling them I am going to be a teacher, and it's discouraging when they don't recognize how important our job actually is to society. I agree that teachers should be given more positive support from the public!
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