Get serious!

For those of you who don't already know, I am a preschool teacher. I love children, I love being around them and hence, I love my job. Unfortunately, there are many out there, especially here on our little island paradise, who don't see the importance and respectability of being a teacher. For most, it's a back-up for when they can't land a job in the field they graduated in or if they just can't land a job.

I am a Science graduate with a major in Biology, but for the longest time I all i wanted to do was work with children. So immediately after graduating, I skipped past all the laboratory openings and zoned in on teaching positions. By sheer luck I came across an ad stating the need for:

'a young, vibrant, energetic individual, who is comfortable around young children. Creative and musically inclined. Ability to play the keyboard or the guitar an advantage.'

The words just lept out at me. And I thought. That's it! That's me! I called the school that same day, got myself an interview, and a week later, i had a job! Of course with no qualifications in Education I had to start from the bottom, assisting teachers, doing the donkey work and learning the ropes. I then went for night classes, three times a week to get qualified.

This is where I expect to be asked, incredulously i might add, 'A qualification??'
Yes! A qualification! You need to have some knowledge of what you're doing! Preschool is the most important time in a child's life. Screw it up and they're f***ed for good. What irks me the most is the mentality people have about the profession. They think they can wake up one day and decide, 'I don't want to be an architect anymore. I need a career change. What should I do? I know! I'll be a teacher!' and hey presto! They have their own class of 4 year-olds. Easy-peasy lemon-squeezy. How hard can it be? Sing some songs, tell a few stories, let them play a little then when the bell goes, send them home! Well sorry to break it to you, but that's not how it is...

A very real example: A friend sends me an IM asking me if I know of any schools that were hiring.

"Why, what's up?"

"Well i was thinking of teaching part-time, since I don't have anything to do in the day."(She's involved with the European market, some stock market thing I think, so she works nights.)

"Oh, what qualification do you have?"

"Errr... none. Do I need one?"

I lost interest in the conversation after that.

Being a preschool teacher is actually pretty tiring, it's stretching it a little to say you'll teach in the day and then toddle of later at night, fresh as a daisy to do your 'real' job. Plus there's quite a bit of prep work involved. Given the age group of 2 to 6, with 12 in a class, you not only have to be lively and animated and have a whole lot of tricks up your sleeve to hold their attention, but you also have to be creative and spontaneous to pique their interest. Well lively and animated for the 2-3 year olds at least. You have to understand their development, decide on what you want the children to acheive, and from there plan lessons appropriate to their level. In the classroom, you're the leader, the commander, the best friend, the mummy, the daddy, the big sister, the big brother... you clean them when they puke, you clean them when they poop... so if you're willing to be and do all that, you have my blessings...

Despite how biased this whole thing sounds, I am not saying that I have a horribly difficult job and that the lives of young children are in my hands. Far from it. All I'm saying is that a teacher's work is challenging and demanding in it's own way. Don't underestimate it. Respect it.

So if you're teaching, or thinking about teaching just to ride out a streak of rotten luck or waiting for the economy to pick up... DON'T! Go find something else to do.

Children are like a huge white pristine piece of paper waiting to be touched by the colour of love, knowledge and life. And as a teacher, you have a huge influence on what colours find their way onto that piece of paper. Because if the wrong ones go on, no amount of erasing is gonna get it all out. There'll always be a stain.