Teaching as a Profession Essay -- essays papers

Teaching as a Profession Winston Churchill once said â€Å"Kites rise highest against the wind (1942).† Teachers must find enough determination to overcome the adversity, stress, and other factors that might be sending them the message to leave their job, and stick with it. A teaching profession has some positive benefits, but the negative aspects are enough to push people away from a career in this field. Looking in from the outside, a job as a teacher seems ideal. In what other profession do you have every weekend, holiday, and the whole summer off? This is enough to draw a lot of people to the job, but it is not glamorous enough to keep these new teachers around for long and this creates a shortage. There are many reasons causing this shortage of teachers. Among others, stress, lack of respect, and salary are what a lot of the fleeing teachers point to for their early departure from the field. This paper will describe what is going on now in the profession and what the future will bring for the fi eld of teaching. In 1685, St. John Baptist de la Salle originated the training of teachers in France (Columbia Encyclopedia). Teaching has kept growing ever since this time, spreading all across the world. In the colonial period in America, the only requirements for teaching in the lower schools were a modicum of learning and a willingness to work in what was then an ill-paid, low-prestige occupation (Columbia Encyclopedia). The teaching profession is still somewhat looked down on, but it keeps improving with the ever-changing technology. Why teachers are on their way out Teacher retention rates have been on a â€Å"see-saw† for a few years now. According to a survey conducted by National University, reductions in class size, ... ... 2003 from http://www.new-teacher.com/salary.html Potter, Patricia E., Swenk, Dr. Jean, Schrup, Dr. Marie, Smith, Hoyt, and Weekly, Sarah. (2001). The National University Teacher Retention and Attrition Survey. Retrieved March 6,2003, from http://www.nu.edu/newevent/teacher-retention-survey/pdf/teacher.pdf Bajunid, Ibrahim Ahmad. (2003, February 16). Redefining the Teaching Profession. New Straits Times-Management Times. Barry, Paul. (2003, January 16). Trainees Prepare to Take the Heat. Coventry Evening Telegraph. Education Week. (2003, February 21). Teaching as a Profession. American Education’s Online Newspaper. Retrieved April 28, 2003 from http://edweek.org The Associated Press. (2003, January 29). Report: Teacher Retention Biggest School Woe. Retrieved March 10,2003, from http://www.cnn.com/2003/education/01/029/teacher.shortage.ap