“I’m bored”, “My work doesn’t matter”, and “I’ve hit a career ceiling” are three sentences rarely uttered by teachers.
While teaching is not without challenge, few other professions offer the same sense of purpose, community feeling, and progression opportunities as teaching.
We asked teachers who have trained with the National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) to tell us what drew them to the profession.
Making a real difference
While it can seem like a cliche, countless teachers cite ‘making a difference’ as one of their primary motivations for embarking on a career in education.
To have the opportunity to impact positively on so many young people and their families is a privilege of which few other professions can boast.
Recently qualified teacher Peng Peng Li said: “It’s a really rewarding job. I can do something for the benefit of the children, which makes me really proud. ”
Niall McCann, a trainee primary school teacher, is also proud of the impact he has had in the classroom: “I’ve built positive relationships with children who might see me as a role model.
“When I was teaching music, I worked in a school where all the primary school teachers were female. It made me wonder if I was one of the only male role models that a child might have, other than their dad. And some of them didn’t have a dad around.”
A wonderful sense of community
Teaching also benefits from rewarding relationships and a real sense of community.
New teacher Rhea Griffiths explained that she joined the profession as she enjoys the “interaction with young people, having an impact on their lives and seeing their formative development. I really love that I get to do that every day.”
Niall McCann agreed that teachers are “ingrained in the kind of community of a school” and the relationships are incredibly rewarding.
He has also found support through his network of fellow trainees. He said: “It’s like joining up with a community. We’re with the same group of trainees most of the time, so that’s really nice.
“We get to know them as a community of support as well as having the tutors.”
Interested in teaching?
The Initial Teacher Training programme at NIoT embraces various routes into the teaching profession, including fee-paying, salaried, and the Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship all of which accommodate various learning styles and commitments.
So whether you’re contemplating your first career move or you’re thinking about a career change, the NIoT has a programme for you.
To find out more about teacher training, see the NIoT website.
