Monday 16 February: Work Day and Nelson Mandela Classroom Visits, by KimTD

In reading Sarah Fine’s rationale for leaving teaching, I was stuck by her friends’ question, “Why teach?” Here’s my answer.

• I teach because I want to learn. I want to figure out the best way to foster students’ problem-solving, communication, and collaboration. I want to figure out how to help every student experience success. I want to figure out how break down classroom walls and connect schools to life.
• I teach because I want to believe. I want to be around people who know they’re doing the right thing. I want to be around people who prioritize others’ successes before their own. I want to be around people whose actions change lives for the better.
• I teach because I want to change the world. I want my students to be the experts in my classroom. I want my colleagues to think of our schools as a hub for the relevant learning students experience all day. I want the measure of education’s success to be how much our students’ contribute to their communities before they graduate.

Education is the game in life behind the game behind the game. I love my friends for their generosity, humor, and support, but neither they nor the public will shape for me the worth of my work. My friends can indulge themselves in sidebars about teaching because of the educational privilege of their upbringings. My friends have their perceptions of teaching, and I have mine. My friends have their salaries and titles, and I have mine. My friends have their reasons for doing what they do, and I have mine. Regardless, I’m going to stick around and struggle to replace privilege for some with success for all for as long as my victories and defeats alike allow me to do so.

Sarah Fine explains herself well. We can understand her decision and commiserate with her experiences without sharing her conclusions.

The reasons we stay will never be as publicized as the reasons we leave unless we share them. Please comment, post, and tweet about why you’ve chosen to stay in teaching using #whyistay as a hash tag.