Ask Yourself These 3 Questions Before Becoming a Teacher

When the pandemic hit, I was a trainee maths teacher at a high school in England. I had been working towards my teaching qualification for 7–8 months and only had one more term to go before graduating.

I never got there.

I usually say that my training was cut short because of the pandemic, and that is true. But there were plenty of my classmates who continued their training remotely and came out with their qualifications nonetheless. I didn’t.

The reason I didn't is that I really struggled at teaching. My training providers decided that they couldn't in good conscience approve me for qualification off the back of a remote term. They insisted I had to do at least another term in person to try and shore up my lacking skills.

That was almost two years ago.

And you know what? They were absolutely right not to let me qualify.

I went into teaching after graduating from uni because I didn't have any other ideas as to what to do. It's not uncommon for teacher training to be a fallback option for graduates who just need something to do while they figure out what they want in their lives. Perhaps you thought about doing it too, or maybe you're training as we speak.

Regardless, if you see anything of yourself in the paragraphs of this article, I have a very important message for you.

Do not go into teaching unless you really want it.

Going into teaching because ‘you don't know what else to do’ is about as sensible as jumping down a well because you want a drink of water. It's an awful lot of effort and there's a chance you might drown.

Teachers are superheroes who work incredibly hard for meagre rewards. I couldn't meet those standards, but perhaps you can.

If you’re thinking of becoming a teacher, as yourself these three questions first.

1. Why am I going into teaching?

This is one of the biggest questions prospective teachers will ever ask themselves. The answer can be life-changing.

There are lots of good reasons to go into teaching. Some people were inspired by a teacher of their own, others do it because they want to work with young people, a few do it because they have a burning passion for their subject. All of these are perfectly valid reasons to become a teacher, and they all have one thing in common.

All of the above reasons could be described as a ‘calling’. They are motivations that have a significant emotional component to them. The desire to help, the passion for knowledge, a belief in the power of education. These are emotional forces that are absolutely vital to a teacher's success.

If you don't have the right motivation to go into teaching, the career will destroy you. Emotional and moral drives like the ones described above are what sustain teachers when they are overworked, underpaid, and under appreciated. Without that emotional conviction, you won't last as a teacher because being a teacher won't fulfill you. It will probably just break you.

If your answer to the question ‘why am I going into teaching?’ is ‘because I don't have a better idea’ or ‘because someone said I should’, then I am telling you right now that you probably won’t last very long.

Don’t get me wrong, teaching is incredibly rewarding even if it isn't your calling in life. I failed at being a teacher but there were still times when I loved being in front of my classes and felt on top of the world when a lesson went well. It’s not all doom and gloom.

But the workload, the pressure, and the emotional stress of being a teacher are absolutely debilitating. Even people who’ve wanted to be teachers their whole lives struggle to deal with it sometimes. If teaching is ‘just a job’ to you, then the fulfillment that does come here and there simply won't be enough to keep you going.

There's nothing wrong with that, by the way. Teaching isn't for everyone and that's totally ok. In fact, it’s much better for people whose heart doesn't really belong to the teaching profession to go and do something else. It's better for them as people because it will allow them to be more professionally fulfilled, and it's better for the students because they will be taught instead by someone who lives and breaths teaching.

There is no shame in not wanting to be a teacher.

If, however, your answer to the question ‘why am I going into teaching?’ has all the emotional hallmarks of dedication described above, then we move on to question two.

2. What age do I want to teach?

This is a real kicker. Even if you know you want to be a teacher, getting the age group wrong could be problematic.

In my first term of training, I taught maths at a 16+ college. All of my students were young adults who had worked hard to be at that institution and had chosen to study maths.

I loved that job. I was teaching fascinating topics to students that were engaged and interested. It was great.

Then I went to teach at a high school, where I had to teach ages 11–15 and where none of the students had a choice as to whether they studied my subject. That was when I discovered that I wasn't meant to be a teacher.

Despite the fact that both of those jobs were ‘teaching’ jobs, even in the same subject, they were practically as different as accountancy and firefighting. Each involved a completely different set of skills, strategies, and tools for organizing and relaying information to students.

‘Teaching’ is not a single profession, it's an umbrella term for a whole collection of jobs that include everything from university lecturers to kindergarten teachers. Figuring out which area of teaching you want to go into, or which one you would be best suited to, is important not just for your efficacy in the job, but for your mental health and fulfillment too.

I can't give much advice on where in the spectrum of teaching you should go. As a general rule, the higher up you go, the more advanced your knowledge of a topic will need to be (obviously) and the less time you will spend on general education and life skills. At the higher levels of education, you’re delivering targeted, advanced information, whereas at the younger levels you are more generally preparing students for life.

Every single level of teaching is difficult, demanding, and important. Though each area has its own challenges, all teachers work spectacularly hard to deliver high-quality education to their students. Choosing which area you want to go into isn't about finding the easiest age group and avoiding the hardest, it's about looking at yourself and your experience and figuring out where you think you would be most effective and where you could fulfill your job best.

I discovered that my ideal teaching range was 16+. You might decide you'd rather be a high school teacher, or perhaps you’d like to work in early years education. Whatever conclusion you come to, just make sure you've given it some thought before you dive right in.

At this point, if you still want to be a teacher and you've got an idea of what age group you’re aiming for, I have one final question for you.

3. Does it make sense to go into teaching right now?

Teaching is a commitment. It’s less of a job and more of a lifestyle. As noble as it is to want to enter the profession, there are some other factors that do need to be taken into account before you take the plunge.

Firstly, teaching is an incredibly time-consuming job. Most educators I know work for a couple of hours before any students are even in the building and then for a few more once they've all gone home. From lesson planning to marking, it's not uncommon for a teacher to work from 7 or 8am until 8 or 9pm. If you don't think you can commit to 12 hour days, or longer, then it might be worth giving the profession a second thought.

Not all jobs in teaching will be as time-consuming, it should be noted, so not being able to commit so heavily time-wise due to health or family doesn't rule someone out from the profession. Nonetheless, every prospective teacher should be aware of what they could be getting themselves in for.

Secondly, teachers are not paid particularly well, at least here in the UK. There are bursaries for trainee teachers and the salaries are ok if you’re single and have low living costs, but things can start to get tricky if you have a big family, other financial commitments, or are the only earner in a household. Despite the herculean effort most teachers put into their work, they rarely get paid a suitable amount in return.

Finally, stress and mental health also need to be taken into account. Teaching is an incredibly high-pressure job, and one which carries with it an awful lot of responsibility. In England, a study found that 1 in 20 teachers experience long-term mental health issues, and the number of educators who are being prescribed antidepressants is also increasing.

No job is worth destroying your mental health, and teaching does carry a risk in that regard. I suffered the most severe breakdown I have ever had during my teacher training. Though I did have pre-existing conditions, the stress of the job exacerbated them significantly, which made me less able to fulfill my role, which in turn only made the stress worse.

I couldn't cope, but that's doesn't mean that there aren’t thousands of incredible people who absolutely can and who do amazing jobs in their teaching roles. Just make sure you take stock of your mental health before you sign up.

Teaching is a noble and worthwhile profession that the world needs, now arguably more than ever. Nothing in this article was designed to put you off pursuing a career in teaching. It is, however, a profession that should be entered only after some soul searching.

Teaching is a lifestyle, not a job.

I failed as a teacher because it wasn't my calling, I didn't know what age I wanted to teach, and my mental health wasn't good enough to cope. If I had asked myself these three questions before signing up for training, I probably never would have taken that step.

But if these questions don't scare you, if you’re happy with the answers you find and you still want to become a teacher, then please please please go and throw yourself in. Every teacher who truly cares about their work and their students makes the world a better place. If you do decide to go ahead, you will probably change thousands of lives for the better over the course of your career.

Teachers are heroes and you could absolutely be one. Just make sure you really give it some thought before you put on the cape.