“He
who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.” (George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman)
Thanks, Bernard. What
exactly were you saying with that? That anyone not good enough for any other
job or profession, can always turn to the profession of teaching? If one cannot
function in the real world, the teaching profession is always so dire for help,
it will take all and any rejects?
“Those
who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” (Woody Allen, Annie
Hall)
Those who can’t what? Get
a job anywhere else? Cannot face a job that demands long hours? Demands a
persistent attitude working with a resistant client? Does not want to work
under a stressful deadline?
Let’s
try teaching! They work short hours,
have weekends and summers off, paid holidays.
They teach kids. How hard can
that be? Whee!
Well, let me tell you,
Bernie and Woody, teaching is a PROFESSION, one that demands more than any
other job. That 8 to 5, paid summers and
holidays myth is a lie, and your cutesy, funny quote is an insult to those who
teach.
A teacher has to love the
act of learning so much they have to share that love of learning with
others. They know their subject matter
so well, they can take it apart into its basic components and deliver it with
finesse. Teachers keep a mental rolodex in their brains that almost instantly
matches learning methods and materials to each student, so when a child “doesn’t
get it” in one lesson, the teacher expertly tries it another way.
A teacher looks at each
student as a client, a sometimes resistant, petulant, and angry client, but a
client nonetheless. A teacher doesn’t have to love each student who walks into the
classroom, but they have to like and care for the children who they serve.
A teacher works under a
contract, one that demands certain outcomes for a set amount of pay, disregarding
the long hours it takes for the teacher to deliver. They work evenings, weekends,
holidays, and summers on their own nickel. These
hours are not paid. Any other profession can bill for the time spent
outside the time clock; teachers can’t. Any other profession can decline to
serve certain clients; teachers can’t. A
recalcitrant student, an angry, demanding parent, a harsh public, the insulting
myth that anyone can be a teacher – all of this makes it hard to choose the
profession of teaching as a career.
And those who can’t put
up with all of these demands, can’t teach.
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