BigW72 wrote:
Nas wrote:
We have an irrational hate for teachers here. I'll never until it. Slurp cops every chance we get, but curse the very people who are partially responsible for educating and babysitting our kids.
I think that's painting with a broad brush. I was a public high school teacher for my and first 3 years out of college. It was a great experience. I learned a lot. I was good at it, but I saw fairly early that an entire career of teaching was going to make me a miserable human being so I went to grad school at night and started a new career.
I think the irrational hate or if you want to use a more accurate term like "contempt" or "indifference" or "disregard" stems from the fact that as a group, teachers have loudly complained over the years about being underpaid. You show me a room of 20 teachers and I'll point out at least 10 miserable adults. That's fine, except their profession is chosen. No one forces anyone to become a teacher. It's an honest, respectable profession, but I also don't find teachers to be the saviors many think they are. For many it becomes a coast job with a lot of time off and stable money. I've known many that are wonderful, committed people that do love children and take that role very seriously. Unfortunately, I've seen and experienced just as many that are just along for the ride.
If your experience is different than mine, I'm happy for you. Like anything, it's a career. If that's your calling....great. If it's not....do something else. The pay and benefits associated with being a teacher or pretty clearly stated up front and I don't see very few teachers struggling to make a living.
I rarely find that teachers complain about their job. If you take a poll you'd discover that there are far more people that complain about teachers. From parents who blame them because their child isn't the next Einstein to Administrators who ran from educating kids, to politicians that are only concerned with lip servicing, the people that complain more than anyone are the people that aren't in the classroom.
There are teachers that hate their job. More than likely they happen to hate themselves. They have a bad disposition and sometimes that disposition transfers into the classroom.
Most the teachers that I have encountered rarely complain about their salary. Do they try and increase their pay? Yes they do. That makes them no different than anyone in any other profession.
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The Hawk wrote:
This is going to reach a head pretty soon.