Introduction

Our topic is about what drives people to become teachers. We specifically researched what events/influences/literacy connections occurred that led them there. We thought we could delve into the pasts of teachers and aspiring teachers to find out what, if any, events/influences/literacy flipped that switch in their head saying “I want to pursue teaching.” By doing this, we will try to see if there were any correlations between the teachers and get a better understanding of what makes a teacher want to be a teacher. On page 165 of Susana Caires’s “Becoming a Teacher: Student Teachers’ Experiences and Perceptions about Teaching Practice”, it is mentioned that little is known about “‘Who’ are these teacher candidates (their educational background, school biography/ early school experiences, reasons for choosing the teaching profession)?” This is one of the reasons we were drawn to this topic; while plenty is known about teachers in their professional environment, we thought it would be beneficial to look into the path leading up to the profession.

Why It’s Important

Teachers have always been important. We need them to pass on information to the next generation. Our research is important because it investigates what makes that crucial part of development possible. Why does a teacher become a teacher? Teachers are in constant contact with children from 5 years old to 18, and in lots of cases into their 20’s and beyond. It is with their help we learn many of the things we do and become such well-rounded people in society. This blog on Quora shows us many responses backing up this idea. Teachers do so much to help shape kids, and not just teaching from a book. There are also team building skills, professionalism, conflict resolving skills, just to name a handful. When you leave school and get a job, sure you know what to do at your job because of your teacher, but what a lot of people don’t consider is how they work with others. Teachers set an example on how to communicate with your bosses, and coworkers, and use appropriate tone and language in different scenarios. They gave you the practice to problem solve that complication with your teammates on that big project, or how to effectively use time, so it doesn’t come in late. Sometimes they even go further…

Like here: Florida Teacher Donates Kidney to Student

and here: Ohio Teacher Goes Above and Beyond

In these two cases teachers donated kidneys to families of students, proving that teachers really can have a huge impact on other people’s lives. When you get a kidney from a teacher, you literally carry that with you for life.
So, we find our research to be very important to understand that essential part of our lives. Teachers do so much for us, and we needed to find out what leads them to become that helpful person. Because of this, we could help future teachers prepare better for their career by helping them realize at an earlier age that’s what they want to do, and possibly better predict how many teachers will be entering the job search. With better predictions, we can anticipate what we need to properly teach them the skills they need to help others learn.

Especially now, as The New York Post and The Guardian show, we seem to be falling short of that important role in our society, and it shows the necessity to understand what makes a teacher. Another website, Edutopia, is hoping to solve this problem by giving students experience teaching starting in High school.  On they site state “Part of the solution to teacher shortages and problems in education is to engage altruistic young people early.”  These “teacher learner academies” help identify want to be students and give them a helping hand to becoming a teacher.  In a sense, we are helping these people by taking it a step further and looking deeper into the past to see if we can help identify that teacher trait.  Hopefully with the help of our research and programs like Edutopia we can help solve this problem of teacher shortages.

 

 

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