My daughter has a graduate education degree. She writes science & math curriculum. Not all jobs in education are confined to the classroom.
AFter ten years in teaching, my H is making about 5000/yr more than when he started. Still, his and my moderate salaries are workable. he quit medicine to become a teacher, but he made way below the median there, too.
Short hours? Huh. He rarely leaves the school before 6 (gets there around 7), and does schoolwork for hours each evening. he also puts in quite a lot of time on the weekends.
And xiggi–you should know better than to posit an agrarian reason for the school calendar. With planting in the summer and harvesting in the fall, that of course makes zero sense. Not to mention the school calendars have existed in cities for hundreds of years along the same schedule. It’s cute made-up back history, but haradly accurate.
Just want to put some exotic career paths on your radar:
A little known path for teachers is working the international circuit. Pretty much wherever there are English-speaking expats w school age children, there are int’l schools needing accredited teachers. And unlike public school teachers in the US who have problem kids to deal with, the kids in int’l schools are mostly the offspring of well-educated diplomats and executives/professionals of multinational companies, who value education and respect teachers.
I’ve always envied how my children’s teachers have had many more choices of interesting locations to work than I have. Some teachers prefer to move every few years to see the world, while others prefer to stay put in one country. And since the int’l schools have long breaks (for expat kids to travel to the home country), the teachers also have ample opportunities for travel besides just summertime.
FYI
http://educatorcareers.iss.edu/educator-careers/common-questions-teaching-candidates
Examples of international schools:
http://www.sas.edu.sg/
https://www.ash.nl/
http://www.fis.edu/
Another unconventional path is working in a boarding school. Perks include free housing & meals, and no time stuck commuting in rush hour traffic. Boarding school is epecially worth considering if you are interested in coaching sports. The facilities the elite schools have are scary unbelievable. I have a highschool chum who teaches/lives in a college preparatory boarding school in NY. She loves the life!
Examples of selective college preparatory boarding schools:
http://www.standrews-de.org/index.aspx (where Dead Poets Society was filmed)
http://www.exeter.edu/ (has a billion dollar endowment)
https://www.episcopalhighschool.org/ (just outside DC; where John McCain went)
I think teaching is a great profession, if teachers are allowed to teach. Most of March and May right now are taken up with PARCC testing. H has had a different subset of students in class each day, depending on each one’s test schedule. When he’s not working out SGO’s , UBD’s, and the latest formatting for lesson plans, he then actually gets time to plan actual classes. Which partly explains the long hours–much of it is following the format and rules de jour, not teaching. Despite all that, he loves it, his students do great, and he was Teacher of the Year last year.
??? Lots of people!
I’m in graduate school and still keep in touch with some high school and k-8 teachers. I was deeply affected by their influence and am eternally grateful for their care and support.
I’ve been teaching high school math since 1980, and there’s not another career in the world for me. (And, for what it’s worth, I also coached Speech and Debate for 18 of those years.)
I love that every day, every period, is different from the one before. I love those “Aha!” moments when I can see that a kid who didn’t get the material now starts to understand it. I love that kids who enter my class hating math sometimes leave it loving it. I love the number of kids I’ve taught and tutored who have gone on to become math teachers. I love the wonderful, amazing, enthusiastic kids I’ve been so very lucky to work with over the years. I love the school I’m in, where I’m treated as a professional. I love the material I teach, the fact that I teach my kids how to play with the material and let the problems lead them. I love working graduation, seeing the potential of each of those 5 or 600 kids as they go out into the world. I love hearing from graduates and seeing her their lives have gone.
As to those who disapprove of my choice of career, that’s fine. I don’t agree with everyone else’s choice of fashion or lifestyle or career. To each his own; I can live very happily without the approval of strangers.
It’s not the right career for everyone. But it is, without a doubt, the right career for me.
I’m currently at an Ivy getting my teaching degree so I’d like to think we’re people who “had better options” for lack of a better phrase and instead chose teaching. Here’s what I learned:
- It's a LOT more work than I would have expected. I mean, I expected a lot of work, but what never really hit me was the 24-hour turnover rate for needing to produce content. You can't just take a day for a breather. It sounds obvious, but you need multiple 45 minute lessons, often which you just create from scratch, every single day. That's in addition to actually teaching it. There's no opportunity for getting all your work done at the beginning of the week and then taking an easy week, because then on top of that, you'll find yourself with 60 essays to grade for the week.
- Like, 70% of teaching is behavior management. I don't mean to say that kids are all terrible - far from it actually, mine are great - but I used to wonder how, for example, a Biology major could ever possibly teach Physics. Or how as an English major I might be expected to teach Social Studies. But the content is the easy part. Half the time I'm just following along in the book with them; my strong English knowledge helps, but I could easily see how I could "fake" my way through teaching an American History course. Because while I thought teaching might just be talking about literature all day, the majority of it is just knowing how to be the authority in the class and plan lessons in a way that engages the students, keeps them busy, and lets them work with the content meaningfully.
- I'm not concerned about "inspiring" students. I don't know. I always felt kind of guilty that I didn't have that motivation to change the world one beautiful child at a time when I decided to be a teacher. I wanted to create an environment where kids were happy and learned to at least like English, but I never had that drive to "reach these kids" and inspire them to grand levels of achievement. You're just going to be disappointed if you're expecting to be Hilary Swank in Freedom Writers, or for your students to all get on their desks and declare "O Captain my Captain." It's definitely very nice to get positive feedback from kids, but it's not nice enough that it should seriously sway any decision instead of salary, lifestyle, or whatever. Because if you're miserable and drowning in work and can't afford the things you want it's not going to be enough to say "I think I really put a smile on Suzy's face today," y'know.
If that sounded overly negative, I didn’t mean for it to be. I’m actually still very comfortable with my decision and the ball hasn’t dropped for me as far as “oh god this is too much I can’t do it.” Just talk to others who went through it and be prepared for what you’re getting into!
On point #2 above: after a while, that becomes so much easier!!! Once you’re in a school for a while, you develop a reputation. Kids enter your room pretty much knowing what you’ll expect in terms of behavior, simply because of what they’ve heard of you.
But on the flip side, I can’t say enough about preparation. You have to know what they learned last year, and what they’ll need to know next year. You have to be prepared with a lesson that will keep them engaged and learning and on task for an entire period, but at the same time be ready and willing to scrap those plans on a moment’s notice in the event of a fire drill, a delayed opening for snow, or a kid who has, for example, passed out in your room. You have to arrange your long term planning so that your kids will learn everything they need to by June, regardless of where they were when they entered your room in September-- or how many minutes you lost because of those snow delays. (Can you tell it’s been a LONG winter in NY??)
The long/short range planning, the ability to drop those plans on a moment’s notice yet still cover the syllabus, the recognizing a teachable moment and being willing to take advantage of it, the ability to explain something in a totally new way to catch those kids who didn’t understand it the first way-- those are all part of what makes my job so incredibly exciting, yet sometimes so difficult for new teachers.
Garland, as always there are plenty of nuances that “explain” how things developed. I am familiar with the history of the school calendars in the US as well as in many different parts of the world. As far as what existed in cities, you might find that the school year was often an all-year long affair, but also one fighting absenteeism. Part of our current system has come from a compromise with the parts of the country where schools were a 6 months affair. In other parts of the world, the compromise arose when the education became a more proletarian affair.
On a small note, the agricultural calendar varies from one country to the other. Terms such as moisson (harvesting) or fenaison (haymaking) are not universally “autumn” terms. Here is a little tidbit from a time where schools were reformed in France:
L’été
•Messidor (mois des moissons)
•Thermidor (mois de la chaleur)
•Fructidor (mois des fruits)
L’automne
•vendémiaire (mois des vendanges)
Regardless of the above, and regardless of why we cling to a model of 8-9 months of school duties and 180 hours of performance, the real issue is that time has come to reevaluate the validity of such model in this century.
Just to add that all of my kids have been inspired by teachers. Even my “I know everything” and “school is not for me” kid is ENORMOUSLY inspired and influenced by some of his teachers. Not all the time but more than I thought. And they just go to an average urban public school.
S is in his 5th year at a small private school. He’s paid very little, and has taught pretty much every subject, and as many as 5 different subjects at a time. (He’s a smart guy–was a governor’s scholar and NMF in hs.)
He does find it worthwhile, really cares about what he’s doing, takes it seriously, and is a good role model for students. He loves his school and wouldn’t want to teach at another type of school. He has small classes and very few behavior/classroom management issues. He receives a lot of positive feedback from students/parents. Yes, it can be stressful, and there is a ton of involuntary volunteer work (chaperoning, photography/PR, driving, tech support, fund raisers, etc.)
How do I feel about it? Well, I’ve been a teacher myself (now do tutoring). I’m glad he has a job he likes, but I feel he is being taken advantage of due to the low pay. He’s getting a little burned out with all the planning and grading and extras. And if he ever wants to get married, (which he says he does, eventually) he’ll need to find something better paying, imo.
I’ve seen some super smart/caring/gifted teachers at my kids’ schools. It is a good thing that some people are idealistic enough to think of inspiring the next generation–while being dissed by their own.
I am past 55 and I still think fondly of some of my teachers. H’s family was so grateful for the guidance of one teacher my SIL had that nearly 40 years later, they are STILL in touch with her and SIL named her first child after her. One teacher can CERTAINLY make a difference in a child’s life! And when they are that good, they inspire far more than one student. Sometimes it’s less dramatic, but it’s still helps the kids. Sometimes just being a caring person does wonders.
My D is biracial. She’s been in classrooms that are diverse, in classrooms where she is the only child of color, in schools that are diverse and have a diverse teaching staff,and in schools which are not diverse and have no staff of color, unless you count the janitors. Her experience has been that when teachers and staff reflect the student body, the students relate better to them. She’s also seen the negative effects of low expectations for children of color and the assumption that other populations are better suited for rigorous work. Her goal has always been to be able to have students look at their teacher and see themselves in her. She knows that some will come in behind in their work, others ahead. She knows from personal experience not to assume that they are all stuck where they are.
She doesn’t plan on being Hilary Swank. She plans on being a teacher who “gets” her kids, even when they come in thinking no one ever will. Believe me, that’s huge. Already, when we go out we sometimes see kids who come running up to her, calling “Ms. R! Ms. R!” and give her a hug. Afterwards, D will tell me about that kid being from a foster family, or a homeless shelter or just a family going through a tough time. She can’t change their lives but she can be a bright spot in their lives and that’s what motivates her to want to do what she does.
I know that’s not for everyone, and that her idealism might fade. But her very first caregiver is ill and in her 60’s and past retirement age and is STILL finding ways to teach exactly those kinds of kids. It’s what keep her alive, I’m almost certain. She certainly could have done something else with her intelligence, but I don’t think engineering or ibanking gives some people a reason to get up in the morning. “Her kids” give our friend that reason.
My school year ends on June 25, and next school year starts on August 25, so not quite June-July-August. Many towns cannot afford to air-condition their schools.
At one time the pension plan more than made up for the comfortable but modest salary, but even that is being gutted by some states. At least one town in RI substantially cut the pensions of already-retired teachers, which is unconscionable–these people planned their futures based on what was promised. Yes, others may not have pension plans, but it’s a little bit easier to build up that 401K if you’re making six figures.
As far as the agrarian calendar argument goes, in the 1830’s New England students attended school for a term in the summer and a term in the winter. Fall was harvest time and spring was planting time. So our present calendar really isn’t in tune with needs on the farm.
I’d rather have a college instructor schedule.
In addition, while you are “off” two months in the summer, you are not paid for that time. Inmost school districts you are paid for the school year; in NYC, your salary is paid over the course of 12 months so that you won’t be on unemployment. You are not getting “paid” for the summer, you are just being paid the money that you have already earned.
In other school districts, your salary is paid through the school year and you collect unemployment or work a summer job to get paid for the summer.
Our district does not any longer allow the pay to be spread over the whole year. They close the fiscal year books on June 30. All pay for the previous school year must be paid by that date.
Most college profs I know are MUCH busier in the summer than in the academic year. At least in the academic year, they are restrained by class schedules and can’t travel much.
[QUOTE=""]
As far as the agrarian calendar argument goes, in the 1830's New England students attended school for a term in the summer and a term in the winter. Fall was harvest time and spring was planting time. So our present calendar really isn't in tune with needs on the farm.<<<
[/QUOTE]
There isn’t really an argument. What seems the case is more a desire to find fault in a statement by attacking a detail that is as trivial as misunderstood. To be clear, it is not about the summer following an agrarian model as much as having an incomplete education calendar. If facts are important to nitpickers, here are a few more. Indeed in New England, the RURAL areas operated with one full winter taught by teachers and one lighter summer often taught by less educated teachers. This six month of schooling was NIT universal as city kids as in Boston had about 244 days of schooling. Two centuries before that a grammar school operated on a 12 months calendar in Mass. I shall assume that Mass and Boston were still in New England in the 1830s. PM if you want the research sources.
But all that non-sense is not necessarily. Perhaps it is because that poor Arne Duncan spoke against the “agrarian model” that the many who are determined to protect the shorter year are happy to question the acumen of the ones wh pho dare to posit that the short year is a horrible MISTAKE of the past.
As far as the endlessly quacking canard of the salaries being based on ten or fewer months of service, any reasonably intelligent person will understand that the basis of the yearly salary is simply a year, and that 180-184 days or the length of contracts are nothing but negotiations ploys. Plenty of people have contracts with different requirements: nurses, firemen, pilots, and seamen. Teachers, professors, and other educators simply like the world of bizarre semantics as it helps the self-serving nature of their arguments.
None of this will bring about the education system students deserve and parents can afford. And none of that will bring more respect and more pay. A better system with better educated and better trained teachers who perform like professionals will. That means to stop recruiting from the bottom of the education barrel and starting to reward teachers who are content specialists with better salaries, and hereby creating a market that is truly competitive and attractive to the children of a few parents who have contributed to this thread.
The model that works does not have to be invented. Finland has shown how revolutionizing the system is not a pipe dream. Other countries have even better systems. Yet, the geniuses who graduate with pedagogical temples such as Columbia continue to hasten our decline in mediocrity with the perennial complicity of their union buddies.
Rotten to its core is what our system is. Little wonder how many who start with plenty of ambition to change it abandon such plans as soon as they understand the depth of the problems and the vengeance and force of the ones determined to milk the system until it collapses.
What a waste!
Teachers who aren’t well paid should consider coming to NY. Some of our districts give step increases of 5-18% on top of yearly raises, almost free medical insurance (totally free in retirement), and 5-figure bonuses (based on longevity, not performance). Of course, with our 2% Tax Cap and APPR tied to Common Core test scores, job security isn’t that great, but I guess you can’t have everything.