Have you ever thought about becoming a teacher? With so many people in education deciding to quit their job right now, it has opened up a slew of opportunities for newcomers. But teaching is a career that takes a lot of careful consideration and quite a bit of training before you can enter the classroom.
Once you get there, a lot of benefits and hardships will simultaneously affect whether you are enjoying your job and making an impact on the most important people in the profession: the students.
We’ll talk about several pros and cons of becoming a teacher. Financially, this ranges from the salary you get paid to auto insurance discounts for teachers. Then there’s the value you get out of seeing students graduate successfully, and the difficulties of managing student behavior on a daily basis.
Pro: Teachers Get to Experience Something New Everyday
Teaching is one of the only jobs where each day you get to experience something different. No day on the job is going to be exactly the same because you are working with so many different students from a variety of backgrounds.
If you’re an elementary school teacher, you help kids tie their shoes and learn the alphabet. If you are a high school teacher, you can guide them on the right career path.
One student might come to school and say something hilarious about their family dinner last night, or they will give an opinion on a television show they are watching. You get to connect with all of these young people and talk about their lives with them.
This is much different than your usual office job that sees you sit behind a desk and type all day. There will always be a story to tell when you come home from work as a teacher.
There’s also the added fun of doing extracurricular activities with your students and helping to show pride in your school. If you enjoy sports, many teachers can apply to become coaches at the school they work at. A student might enjoy playing a certain board game and ask you to sponsor their after-school club.
These are priceless experiences that are rarely felt at other jobs, and they help to build a sense of community with the work you are doing.
Con: It’s Exhausting
The other side of this argument is that teachers are responsible for a lot more than people at most other jobs. It can be mentally draining to block out whatever is happening in your personal life and come to school refreshed and ready to make a positive impact each day.
In other jobs you may not be negatively affecting other people if you feel lazy or a little off. Freelancers, for example, can take a nap in the middle of the day or work in their pajamas if they don’t feel like going through their normal routine. Teachers have to show up with a smile and a positive attitude otherwise they will negatively impact young lives.
The extracurricular activities we talked about in the last section can also take up so much of your time you find there is nothing left for you to relax and decompress each night. Your day might be 12 hours at school, come home to eat dinner, sleep, and start over the next day.
This may be why many students and parents alike are surprised when they see their teachers outside of the classroom enjoying some free time or hobbies with their friends.
Pro: Cheaper Insurance
Teachers often get auto insurance discounts because companies want to show their appreciation for the work educators do to positively impact society. Some of the companies that specialize in teacher discounts include California Casualty, Meemic, and Plymouth Rock.
Even if you don’t go through one of these companies, auto insurance is often cheaper for teachers because they are deemed less of a risk to file a claim. Teachers have more education than other citizens, and they are typically more responsible people. This means they will make good choices with their driving habits and they get rewarded for it.
Con: Salaries Aren’t Good in Many States
There are a lot of generalizations about teacher salaries in the U.S., and the money teachers make is often as bad as it’s made out to be. Some states pay teachers less than $50,000 annually. This is not a livable wage in 2022.
Many teachers have to work other jobs in the summer or after school to compensate for the lower salaries they receive. This means teachers often have to think about how they are going to make a living beyond their main career, adding even more stress to their job.
Pro: You Get Vacation
One of the reasons salaries are lower for teachers is because they often work fewer days out of the year compared to other jobs. Summer vacation, Christmas break, and even spring break are all good reprieves from the exhaustion that comes with being a teacher.
Teachers definitely deserve these breaks because of everything they are responsible for throughout their careers. Teachers should take advantage of this time off and find some new hobbies or enjoy their time with loved ones. You don’t get as many vacations in other career paths.
Con: Job Security
Many school districts lay off hundreds of employees each year, from teachers to custodial workers. You may get called back after the initial layoff period, but this is a stress that many people don’t want to deal with each year.
Your performance often has very little to do with getting laid off. Experience is the main factor. Being a young teacher is one of the jobs with the least amount of job security in the country.
Should I become a teacher?
You need to decide whether the pros outweigh the cons we’ve talked about before becoming a teacher. Going into this field is different from other jobs. You often know whether the intrinsic values of teaching make you want to get out of bed and affect student lives each day. If this doesn’t excite you, considering a different career will be best for you and the students.
Don’t become a teacher without careful consideration. Becoming a substitute teacher might be a good first step to evaluating your interest in the field. If you like it, move on to becoming a full-time teacher.