Ignore the Negativity. Be a Teacher (Opinion)

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Larry Ferlazzo

Opinion Contributor, Education Week

Larry Ferlazzo is an English and social studies teacher at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, Calif.

(This is the final post in a two-part series. You can see Part One here.)

The new question-of-the-week is:

Would you recommend to a young person that they pursue a teaching career? Why or why not?

In Part One, Jenny Vo, Jonelle St. Aubyn, Ruth Okoye, and Jeremy Hyler shared their responses.

Today, Stephen Katzel, Richard A. Decker, PJ Caposey, and Carol Pelletier Radford wrap up the series.

鈥楲isten to Your Inner Voice鈥�

Stephen Katzel is the author of 鈥�.鈥� He is an educator with a passion for middle school education and helping new teachers:

Yes! Just like any profession, teaching comes with a unique set of challenges. However, the spotlight on teaching has been shining brighter than usual due to the ever-changing landscape of educator expectations and society鈥檚 perception on education. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted numerous inequalities in our nation鈥檚 education system and has amplified the voices of those who contribute to the sentiment that teachers are 鈥渘ever doing enough.鈥� The loudest voices criticizing educators, however, have forgotten the teacher who taught them how to write in 1st grade, or algebra in 6th, or a high school teacher who inspired them to pursue their dreams. Throughout the pandemic, these negative voices have been amplified, but we must take the criticism with a grain of salt.

Regardless of the negative focus coming from the media, politicians, and outspoken critics of education, I encourage any young person interested in teaching to persevere though the negativity. Too many believe that education is a linear profession in which teachers go to work, plan a few lessons, grade some papers, and then call it a day, with a free summer to enjoy. Teaching is not linear and requires creativity, compassion, collaboration, teamwork, new ideas, and problem solving; and that鈥檚 just in the morning! Each day brings an entirely new set of challenges. In college, you will prepare to meet the challenges of education head on, with a fresh set of eyes.

Young people bring new ideas into education and help grow the profession to meet the ever-changing needs of society. Otherwise, education would remain stagnant and stuck in the past. While knowing the latest buzzwords and education lingo is important, new teachers bring an energy that adds to a school鈥檚 culture. Teaching is one of the few careers in which an individual can make an immediate and lasting impact on a student, community member, or the community.

Listen to your inner voice and take the plunge into the world of education. 69传媒 may not remember the lesson you taught or the concept you explained, but be assured, you will make a lasting impact on your students through your actions and words. 69传媒 will remember the larger lessons you teach them and how you made them feel. There will be bumps in the road throughout your journey and times that you feel unsupported, but you will not regret the decision to be a teacher.

Being an educator is a journey that will take you to whichever destination you choose. Do not listen closely to the amplified voices that highlight institutional problems yet offer no solutions. Nor the irrational voices on social media that think the worst of us yet expect the best for their students. Listen to the voices of colleagues, administrators, and most importantly, your students to guide you throughout the journey. I am not sure of the state of education in 20 years, but I am confident that the contributions of new teachers will improve the educational landscape, wherever we may be.

鈥楳y Mind Always Fell Back on Teaching鈥�

Richard A. Decker teaches English at an alternative high school in southern Virginia:

Somewhere, at some point in time, someone shared some advice on what to do when deciding on a career. The advice was something like this: Imagine a few different careers you could be in. Whichever one your mind keeps falling back on, that is the one you should choose. I followed this advice during my undergrad years, and no matter what other types of careers or fields of study I considered, my mind always fell back on teaching. This advice helped me discover that teaching is not only what I want to do but also what I am meant to do. So, if you are thinking about teaching, I recommend you do the same鈥攅specially as you read this post.

Teaching: A Consistent Inconsistency

In short, my time as a teacher (specifically in alternative education) has been a consistent inconsistency, and yet, I still find joy in what I do. As teachers, we all have our content areas鈥�mine is English. But once I walk into a classroom, everything I know and love about Dostoevsky, grammar, Modern American literature, and poetics goes in a little box in the corner of the room. My time as an educator has shown me that my job is not to teach what I have been trained to teach but instead to teach children.

To teach is, at many times, to work with students who possess a 鈥渟top and come鈥� mentality that some counselors define as that which makes a person say, 鈥淵es, you are welcome into my space鈥攂ut not quite.鈥� 鈥淵es, Mr. Decker,鈥� my students will sometimes say, 鈥測ou are my teacher, but I don鈥檛 want you to teach me鈥攂ut please teach me.鈥� A barrage of absurdities will be thrown from student to teacher (my experience, as I鈥檝e shared in other writings, has shown that a student may blurt out 鈥済o suck a toe鈥� in the middle of class or ask if you are a virgin or if you are using the same book in multiple classes because you can鈥檛 think of anything else). This is the hand that says, 鈥淵ou are not welcome in my space.鈥�

And yet there is the hand welcoming you in: a student asking for help on an assignment or to be recognized for passing a test or to talk about some common interest. Slowly, you pull out one (maybe two) things from that box in the corner. When it comes to working with students, this consistent inconsistency will be present in some way. The question is whether such a situation can still bring about joy within the teacher.

This consistent inconsistency cannot be planned or organized away. During my college days, I was surrounded by many who were aspiring to be teachers and I remember working on a group project with a peer who felt the need to rehearse almost every word of a co-teacher lesson we were assigned. The lesson went well, but I must say that since starting my career, I鈥檝e never needed to rehearse a lesson like that again. My lesson plans tend to be revised on the spot鈥�during instruction.

The most organized and rehearsed lessons will still fall flat if a student decides that he or she is simply not going to work that day. In these moments, a teacher must plan on the spot. And once this form of planning begins, a teacher must make decisions. When this happens to me, I usually make good decisions for myself and my students, but sometimes, I make wrong ones. Sometimes, I fail and have to make up for those failures. But failure is a part of teaching. Even the most organized, prepared teacher cannot avoid failure.

However, in spite of this risk of failure, is joy still present? Joy鈥攏ot happiness or comfort鈥攊s the primary goal of an educator. Do you have joy when you picture yourself in my situation and in the situation of other teachers you have talked to? Is your mind still falling back on teaching? Your answer may be the answer.

鈥楾he Best Job in the World鈥�

PJ Caposey is an award-winning educator, keynote speaker, consultant, and author of who currently serves as the superintendent of schools for the nationally recognized Meridian CUSD 223 school district in northwest Illinois. You can find PJ on most social-media platforms as MCUSDSupe:

My middle son would be an amazing elementary school teacher, . . . and I tell him that every single day.

Are there problems with education? Absolutely.

Still, given every problem and challenge in education, I believe it is the best job in the world鈥攁nd there isn鈥檛 even a close second. It is the only profession in the world where I believe you can change the trajectory of a child鈥檚 life every single day. If that does not get you out of bed inspired in the morning, then I am not sure what will.

I understand that it is easy to make the case against going into education. The laundry list is long :

路 You will be overworked and underappreciated.

路 You will never maximize your earning potential.

路 You will be asked to do more and more each year.

路 The auxiliary benefits (insurance, retirement) used to be attractive but are often competitive at best in today鈥檚 environment.

路 You will be vilified in the media and a political punching bag.

Not only did I just list the talking points against going into education, I sincerely believe each of the arguments presented above to be true. I believe each of them with my whole heart, and still, that does not change my position. Not even a little bit.

See, great educators answer the bell because it is a calling鈥攏ot a job. Great educators answer the bell because our kids deserve better. Great educators answer the bell because someone has to change the narrative.

I want our young people to go into education because I want each of those five bullet points listed above to be fundamentally untrue when they have the conversation with their children or their students in 20 years.

I know plenty of educators who advise their own children to go in a different direction. To me, there is nothing sadder than that. We need our absolute best and brightest within our profession and we must do the work from the inside to ensure we make it an attractive profession for the generations to follow.

I will close with a quote that I came across about a year ago that has truly impacted and shaped me. I share not just because of the power of the quote but because of the relevance to this topic. There is no greater gift than service to our young people and there is no greater joy, either.

I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.

- Rabindranath Tagore

鈥楩ollow Your Heart鈥�

Carol Pelletier Radford is a former teacher and teacher educator. Visit her for free resources. Carol鈥檚 most recent book, (Corwin 2021), offers prospective teachers a glimpse into the realities of teaching:

I love teachers. I am a teacher. My husband was a teacher. My two sons are both teachers. I hang out with teachers and love to talk about teaching. So this message is a bit biased. Most people tell young people NOT to be teachers. They might say things like, 鈥淭eaching is for people who can鈥檛 do anything else, it doesn鈥檛 pay enough, you won鈥檛 get any respect, and you won鈥檛 have any free time.鈥�

Teachers do work long hours, they have endless piles of papers to correct, conflicts with administrators, differences of opinions with parents, and yes, even students who don鈥檛 behave. All of this is true.

So why am I recommending a young person take a hard look at this profession? Because education needs young people to become teachers. Teachers who can influence the next generation of our society. Teachers who will make a difference in the lives of the students in their care.

Three things a young person should consider.

You will never be bored. Every day in a classroom is different. It is fast-paced and most of the time, the day goes by so quickly you can鈥檛 fit everything in. So if you like to be engaged, to move around the room, to talk and interact with students, colleagues, parents, and administrators, this could be the profession for you.
You will be a member of a community. Collaboration, interaction, and teamwork are expected from a teacher. Grade-level meetings, district teams, and committees are part of the job. The common goal of a school district is to support students and families to be successful. If you like to create, serve others, and problem solve, this could be the profession for you.
You will have leadership options. In addition to your teaching, there are opportunities to coach sports teams, lead drama groups, and participate in school clubs. Some teachers aspire to be school principals or district administrators. If you see yourself excited by options to lead from the classroom or beyond the classroom, this could be the profession for you.

Ultimately, I would ask a young person three questions:

What are you good at?
What gives you joy?
Why would you want to teach?

I would listen to the responses and then say, I encourage you to Follow your heart.

Thanks to Stephen, Richard, PJ, and Carol for contributing their thoughts!

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at lferlazzo@epe.org. When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it鈥檚 selected or if you鈥檇 prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at .

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The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.