For the love of the subject and campus community
You know the things that I really liked about teaching, and I taught for over 35 years. First of all, because I love my subjects. I read geography at university and I was enthralled by my subjects. I was delighted to be able to teach it at secondary schools of different types and to be part of a community of other people who had similar academic interests. And I actually spent quite a lot of my summer holidays, certainly for the first 15 years of my teaching career, reading around my subject and becoming more involved in it.
Secondly, I loved being a part of the sort of community that all schools are. And as time went on, I became involved in all sorts of aspects of school life that had never occurred to me when I began, including things like pastoral care and sports and activities of one sort or another, and then leadership responsibilities, becoming the head of the department and so on.
Teachers make a difference in each child's life
And then finally and most importantly for me, the great thing about being a teacher is that you make such a difference to individual children's lives. And that is in great contrast to many of my colleagues from school and university who went into jobs which were no doubt much more highly paid than being a teacher, but who as they look back now over their lives realised that what they did although was financially beneficial was not necessarily as worthwhile.
One of the things that has astounded me in the last five years is how many of my former pupils, who are now maybe in their 40s or even in their 50s, are contacting me and inviting me out for lunch simply to say thank you for the impact that you had on my life when I was 16 or 17.
And there is no doubt that all teachers of all types primary and secondary find this, that they know it a lot of the time are making a big impact on children's lives. So it is a really worthwhile occupation.
Start your career at a school with good classroom behaviour control
There are obviously some disadvantages. You are not going to be rich. But on the other hand, you know, a lot of teachers are earning 40,000 or 50,000 or 60,000 pounds after just a few years in the job as they gain promotions. Headteachers are very well-paid these days. But you are not going to earn as much as a merchant banker.
And the other thing to say is that I think that for all teachers, if you are teaching classes where the behaviour is poor, then it is a miserable job. It is very important for all teachers to not only learn how to maintain good control, but also when you are applying for a job, do make sure you go to schools where you're certain that the behaviour is something that is well under control.
Final thoughts
But from my point of view, teaching has been the best possible job in the world. And I strongly encourage everybody who is interested in teaching and in the subjects they are going to teach to apply.