Elevating the Profession on Teaching

I am the daughter, granddaughter, and goddaughter of teachers.  At a recent family reunion, I found out I am the great, great, great granddaughter of a teacher.  I have respected teachers all of my life; they were the smartest people I knew!  I owe so much to my teachers.  I tried to pursue a career in a field outside of education; however, I soon realized my life's purpose is to work in the area of education.

Once I became an educator, I took a pay cut from my corporate job and felt a barrage of negative messaging around the profession.  It seemed there was a significant public dialogue that teaching was easy, after all, we have summers off and work short hours!  However, nothing could be further from the truth.  I have worked and interned in over 15 companies and organizations, and even in a factory; teaching is the hardest job I held.

I recruit teachers as part of my job; many noneducation majors have a negative perception of the profession.  When I speak to noneducation majors, they are not happy with the pay and the behavior of the students.  I know that teaching is rewarding; however, I know many things need to be done to elevate the profession.

Pay- I do not believe people go into teaching because of pay.  However, I do think pay keeps people from even considering the profession.  New ways to fund teacher salaries must be found.  Property taxes alone are not enough to make teacher salaries fall in line with the wages of other careers for which a college degree is required.

Dialogue- The conversation around schools, especially urban schools, is one of dispair, lack, and failure.  I understand that bad news travels and spreads far and wide; however, there needs to be more conversation about what is going right.  As teachers, when we want a student to improve, we cannot punish, embarrass, and harass our way to a positive change in the student.  We praise what they are doing right.  The negative dialogue does more harm than good to the profession.

Pathways- In teaching, you have to NOT teach students to get a job promotion.  We need the teachers we have to teach longer. There have been some national conversations about pathways for teachers.  I have read studies that state millennials are not necessarily motivated by pay.  They want the opportunity to contribute to society AND a title.  In addition to teacher mentorship pathways, I believe hybrid pathways in other functional areas such as accounting, school operations, or even HR can allow teachers the opportunity to grow outside of the classroom while remaining in the classroom.

Placement-Early in my teaching career, I was given all students other teachers did not want in their classes, i.e., students waiting for placement at the alternative school, students with discipline problems, ELL students, and special education students.  These type of situations can drive new teachers away from the classroom.  It is important to allow new teachers the opportunity to improve and practice their craft before thrusting them into such circumstances.  The most difficult students need the best teachers.  A traumatic experience can make a teacher quit the profession.

What are your thoughts on elevating the profession of teaching?