Why Pursue a Career in Teaching? 16 Reasons to Be a Teacher

Updated 24 March 2023

There are several positions in education, including those in the classroom, in student support, on the sports field and in school administration. If you're thinking about a career in the education field, you might question whether teaching is the right career path for you. Understanding the various reasons to be a teacher can help you decide if you are well-suited for this job. In this article, we look at a variety of reasons to be a teacher, such as the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of students and the community.

16 reasons to be a teacher

A teaching profession may be immensely rewarding. You may consider the following reasons to be a teacher:

1. You can help your community

In your role as a teacher, you may have opportunities to give back to the community through charity events, fundraising and volunteer activities. You also frequently collaborate with students and other staff. This is another opportunity to serve as a role model for your pupils and foster a commitment to helping your community and making it a better place for everyone. Furthermore, teaching is a means to help your community because you're educating future leaders and citizens. Using your platform as a teacher is a great approach to ensure that the community remains courteous and knowledgeable in the future.

2. You can work with kids

If you have the empathy and patience to look out for and lead children and teenagers, becoming a teacher might be a good career choice to consider. Other personal attributes and qualities that instructors may possess are:

empathy
kindness
leadership
dedication
diligence
organisation
adaptability
interpersonal

3. You can assist children in achieving academic success

In your role as a teacher, your goal is to educate pupils in certain disciplines so that they may master new skills as they progress through their schooling. When pupils struggle with ideas, you may give them more specific assistance and offer encouragement for them to develop. Helping kids develop a mindset of never giving up and always striving is another technique to foster diligence and attention in their long-term academic journeys. In addition to assisting them in a classroom setting, you can try to suggest crucial opportunities that may help them develop their abilities or relate to their interests.

4. You can foster quality education for students

If you're enthusiastic about education, being a teacher may be a hands-on method to put your enthusiasm into action. You may be able to work in a range of areas, including ones with less appropriate funding and lower exam results, and with pupils of varying learning capacities. You have the opportunity to promote equal education for all in these teaching positions.

5. You may make a difference in the personal lives of students

As a teacher, it's important that you set a positive example for your students. You might be responsible and accountable for demonstrating respect, good communication, sharing, empathy and optimism. You may also develop a passion for learning in children by making class enjoyable, fascinating or engaging.

In your role, you can help students build that drive by sharing your own love for giving back to the community. Alternatively, you may make a difference in the lives of kids by assisting them to identify their interests and talents or encouraging them to participate in activities and opportunities appealing to their passion and strengths. You can do this by adapting classes to varied student interests or by enabling students to join groups.

Related: How to Become a Music Teacher

6. You can get career satisfaction from seeing students' progress

Becoming a teacher entails assisting in the enrichment of children's lives not just via essential educational abilities such as reading, mathematics and science, but also through analytical skills, responsibility and accountability and the development of self-confidence. Teachers have an important role in assisting young children in the development of their personalities and mindsets. If you get satisfaction out of helping children study new things, feel passionate about their favourite subjects or overcome adversity, think about becoming a teacher, so you can play a critical role in their path.

7. It offers fun opportunities

For people who like engaging with children, being around children of all ages may be enjoyable. Younger children can participate in activities that are more stimulating to their growing senses, such as arts and crafts and music, while older children may be engaged in more advanced cognitive activities that are developmentally appropriate.

8. You can pursue continuous learning

You may pursue higher education classes to keep your licence current. To acquire innovative and most recent practices and learn about pedagogical theory, you may also attend bachelor's or master's-level education classes in your teaching speciality or in age-specific education. Moreover, you can expect to learn almost as much from your pupils as they do from you while teaching them. They may pose difficult questions that need more investigation, or they might share material they discovered for a project or on their own that you were unaware of. These options encourage knowledge sharing between you and the pupils.

9. You can be creative

When you design lesson plans and strive to find fresh methods to help students interact with the topic, you can get creative. To encourage learning, teachers of younger pupils may include singing or creative arts in their classrooms. You may also be creative while designing your classroom or workplace to ensure that it reflects your individuality while also providing a comfortable and fun learning environment for your pupils.

10. You can use interactive technology as a teaching tool

If you enjoy technology or have a keen interest in discovering innovative technical solutions to problems, being a teacher can enable you to work with and leverage technology in the classroom. You can try to experiment with new educational software or gadgets and include internet games, activities and media into the curriculum. You may also educate kids on how to appropriately utilise technology and complete activities such as research.

11. There is a lot of variety each day

Every day is different in the classroom, as is every class. Sports days and school excursions, birthdays, vacations and the occasional unexpected event may disrupt your routine. You may be developing new strategies to approach classroom material, creating games to keep students engaged in unique ways and adapting to classroom situations you didn't expect. Having consistent challenges and new tasks can help you stay focused and practise your adaptability and creative thinking skills. It's a great job for those who don't want to spend their days sitting at a desk.

12. The career offers a wide network

When you find employment as a teacher in a school setting, you may develop a robust network of similar-minded individuals who share your enthusiasm for seeing children thrive. You also have strong support systems to help you handle problems with students and in class. You may even work with them to find new ways to engage pupils and boost their learning experience. In various circumstances, your coworkers can become your personal friends.

13. You can pursue skill improvement

As a teacher, you're continually honing your leadership, organisation, communication and time management skills by preparing lessons, conducting classes and partnering with faculty and parents to ensure a successful learning experience. When you take on more duties at school, you might acquire these and other abilities. You may lead a student group or organisation, manage field trips, organise activities or provide student counselling. Budgeting, event planning and project management are some more skills you may be able to learn.

14. You may have extended vacations

Many educational institutions and systems offer teachers, students and staff extended periods of time off for vacations and holidays, such as the mid-year and year-end holidays. Having extended, paid holidays throughout the year may be beneficial for arranging personal events, preparing for the upcoming school year, extending your education, or exploring other interests. Be mindful that there's also a lot of preparation and admin tasks to do on student holidays.

15. The role offers transferable abilities

Even if teaching isn't the career path you want to pursue for the rest of your life, you can utilise this experience to learn a variety of transferable abilities that you can use in another field. Among the transferable abilities are:

empathy
research
critical thinking skills
teamwork and collaboration
creative thinking
patience
organisation
interpersonal skills
respect
communication
ability to teach
planning
time management
multitasking skills
leadership abilities

16. You can gain related experience

You might have a keen interest in counselling, administration or education-related public service. Beginning your career in teaching allows you to gather relevant experience for such positions. You may experience what it's like teaching students, engaging with kids, handling resource issues and managing other issues that affect your capacity to serve and care for your pupils.