What Do Educators Do?

Early in my education career there was a movement to help the public understand what educators do. While I have to admit that I did not actively pick up and participate in this campaign, I now understand the importance of it. As I visit with a variety of organizations about my role as an educator, I realize many people really don't understand the complexity and challenges of the classroom. Even my husband, who patiently listens to me share my experiences, really has difficulty comprehending the highs, lows, ins, and outs of teaching.

 

Perhaps the challenge comes from the variety of school cultures that exist, especially from coast to coast. Perhaps it's the fact that each teacher brings their individual passions and personalities to the classroom. Perhaps it's that each school has flexibility in how they structure their school day. Perhaps the challenge is that many people, except for their own school years, have spent little if no extended time in classrooms.  Is spending time in a classroom enough though? How can educators help someone outside the classroom understand all the time and energy that goes in to developing lessons that meet individual students needs, meet standards, and engage students?  I think it is difficult to understand and until you live it.

I can only speak for myself, my experiences, and the educators I know. We all work and plan with the best intention for each student. This includes examining their interests and comparing it with the content we need to cover to be able to determine how to connect the two.  We also sacrifice personal time and money to create the best learning experiences for our students.  Being in an office environment with my fellowship has really made me clearly realize the freedoms and constraints I personally have in the classroom.  I hope all educators have the opportunity to use our passions and professional knowledge to create meaningful learning for students.



In general, it is difficult to understand what other people do in their day to day careers. However, careers such as teaching, have challenges that few professionals have to conquer. My husband will often mention that he could never be a teacher. It's not because he couldn't work with kids, or deal with the stress of meeting the needs of all the stakeholders. It is simply that he could never wait to use the restroom as long as I do.  While there can be a lot of freedoms for teaching in the classroom, it is physically very constraining.  Since we cannot leave students unsupervised, our schedules for anything outside the classroom, hopefully, become trained to work on a bell system.  It really is an odd part of the profession.

All careers have challenges and rewards. I do believe that the rewards outweigh the challenges in education. Nevertheless, it is a difficult profession to walk a mile in someone else's shoes when you don't understand all the hazards, challenges, along that mile. Somehow, educators need to help others who have not worked long term in a classroom understand our mile, understand the challenges.  In developing this understanding, we can work together to promote better outcomes for students, teacher retention, and the high quality education that we all want to see.