External Factors: Why I Want To Become A Teacher

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Whenever I am asked why I want to become a teacher several images stream to my mind. First, there is this one student sitting in the back of the room, who they call “the problem kid”. This is the kid “who cannot sit still” who is always talking out, getting distracted and distracting others. Then there is the “lazy” student who gives up on homework assignments and readings not because he doesn’t want to learn but because completing the assignment takes him double the time it takes other students while understanding only a sliver of the information. There is also the student whose house is battleground; a site of constant warfare between parents, preventing her from getting work done at home. Then there is the student who knows all the answers,…show more content…
Or the student who cannot focus on school because his thoughts are preoccupied with where his next meal will come from rather than exploring the rhyme scheme in a Whitman poem. All these students experience external factors which often stifle the learning process and create negative relationships with the school. These external factors create internal barriers and too often impact how a student sees themselves and more, unfortunately, perceives their capabilities. However, I believe all these students are intelligent beyond belief and are multitudes more than any struggle they may face. These are students who have been constantly told that they are not good enough and that their experiences of education have been tainted by social norms and buried beneath failure and confusion. The worst of the experiences of each of these students is that in some way have been made to believe that they are inadequate or even worse “not smart…show more content…
A teacher that will show a student that they are entitled to be successful, a teacher who admires and celebrates each student’s unique abilities. Students need a teacher who’s attentive, understanding and adaptable, someone who understands that each student has potential bubbling to be released. A teacher who is also a dedicated advocate for student needs and a teacher whose passion for teaching ignites students to explore their own curiosities and passions. As a teacher, I plan to educate students as co-explorer in the process of learning. I plan to help students to understand education as a practical tool, a window into understanding both themselves and the world around them. For this type of learning to occur there needs to be a connection between the teacher and student, mutual understanding, so “reciprocal learning” can flourish, inspiration works two ways. So often this mutual learning is clouded by frustration, and inhibited by social, economic, and mental blocks. I want to be a teacher because the biggest obstacle to my education and self-development had always been me. It has always been the doubt that helps me back, feelings of inadequacy, and believing that I wasn’t smart enough. I understand that I will not impact every student’s life immediately but, the seemingly minuscule

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