A teacher’s take on respecting teachers, pt.2…
So, when I was starting out at uni I thought I was entering a highly respected and noble field. Now, I feel as though society barely views teaching as a ‘profession’. My nephew is finishing high school and when telling his Dad (my brother) that he wanted to study Education, his Dad said, “Why would you want to be just a lowly teacher?”
Here I am wondering if society respects my work. If my own family doesn’t, what hope do I have that the rest of the world does?
Well, I’m clearly biased, but I believe that teachers can change the world. We shape lives and make a goddamn difference. Teaching is a profession.
We hear criticisms of education systems and educations in the media constantly, and closer to home, the contempt with which some (certainly not all) of my student’s parents interact with me always astounds me. Shockingly though, it doesn’t upset me, because teachers have come to accept that there are many people in this world that do not treat us the honour, respect or dignity that we deserve.
-Teachling
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More on this from Teachling:
A teacher’s take on respecting teacher, pt1…
A teacher’s take on earning respect from students…
Read more about respecting teachers:
What Teachers Make (Taylor Mali, TED Talk)
Supporting Our Teachers (Government of South Australia)
Do Teachers Get Enough Respect From Society? (voxxi.com)
Why Do Some Countries Respect Their Teachers More Than Others? (theguardian.com)
No Society Can Succeed Without Respecting Teachers (thefrontierpost.com)
Teachling 
To me, it seems in any caring profession that you can never care enough. Teachers are an easy target for negative press due to lack of understanding from the general public as to how hard they actually work. They use their own misconceptions of teachers ‘starting at 9am and finishing at 3pm’ and having ‘loads of holidays’. They forget that it is because of teachers that they are educated themselves.
Well said!
It’s only going to get worse in a world increasingly dominated by the values of cheap material consumption. Teaching is hard to do – and it demands too much of its recipients. I’ve had the same reaction – most of my pupils’ parents earn a lot more than I do – and that’s how they judge me.
But equally, I don’t think the teaching profession has always helped itself by dumbing down, whining on like social do-gooders – or (in the U.K. at least) remaining one of the last bastions of militant unionism.
Well said! The same applies here in Australia.
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