In his 1873 book The Teacher, Jacob Abbott starts his book by exploring the essence of what it is that is so satisfying about teaching. He begins the chapter saying:
“Some teachers go to their daily task merely upon compulsion; they regard it as intolerable drudgery. Others love the work: they hover around the school-room as long as they can, and never cease to think, and seldom to talk, of their delightful labors.”
In my early placements as a student teacher, I met plenty of those who found it an intolerable drudgery. They had been worn down by the years and endless succession of students who would have rather been anywhere than in their classroom. Creating a Catch-22 where the lack of enthusiasm is palpable for those facing the front of the room and those facing the back.
In my first years of teaching, I found the discovery that most students had long lost their enthusiasm for learning to be discouraging. Whether it was the result of feeling lost in their learning or one too many of the ‘intolerable drudgers’, they found it more satisfying to avoid the work. Eventually, I thought if I was going to survive in this profession, I had to find a way forward.
I had learnt long ago from listening to Earl Nightingale that:
“Our environment, which is another way of saying how the world treats us, is nothing more than a reflection, a mirror actually, of our own attitudes.”
Remembering these words led me to start learning more about teaching that actually leads to students feeling success and beyond. It had the side effect of finding real satisfaction in the little wins along the way. The beauty of these wins, was that it’s not a zero sum game. If I win, the students win too.
Which was why, I found reading Abbott’s words later in the chapter so affirming:
“Looking at an object to be accomplished, or an evil to be remedied, then studying its nature and extent, and devising and executing some means for effecting the purpose desired, is, in all cases, a source of pleasure.”
As long as I can find the thrill in ‘building a better mousetrap’ and honing my skills in the classroom, there really isn’t really a more satisfying profession than teaching. Obviously there are frustrating moments when things don’t go the way you hoped, but the times spent talking about films and books and history with young people and the feeling you get when you see that light bulb come on really are the best.
The Classroom Codex 