When do you know you want to be a teacher?
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Elementary teachers say they decided when they were young children.
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Middle/high school teachers decide later in life, even in young adulthood.
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Those who choose early talk about their profession as a calling, while
those who choose later in life describe their decision as pragmatic.
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| Five kinds of teachers -- Which do you think you are?
Crusaders
Content Specialists
Converts
Freefloaters
Occupational Fit |
Why teachers decide to teach?
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Desire to work with and help other people.
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Working with friendly people and doing important work.
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Have a stake in the future.
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Because of their own joy of learning and their wish to share.
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Responding to a call.
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Those who fell "called" are less likely to complain or have trouble
teaching.
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Those who teach because they don't know what to do with their lives
tend to have more problems
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What part do others play in our decisions to enter
teaching?
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Teachers influence teachers. People who choose to teach usually relate
their respect for one of their own teachers.
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Teachers beget teachers. Parents influence their students.
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Teachers who report a warm, loving relationship with their mother tend
to become elementary teachers.
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Teachers who report a loving relationship with their mother, but a cool
relationship with their fathers, are more likely to become secondary teachers.
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What do we know about people who are teachers?
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Women.
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White
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Women who choose teaching come from all social-economic groups.
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Men who choose teaching more often come from lower or middle socio-economic
levels
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Women who enter teaching make higher scores on SAT, etc.
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Family-oriented, religious, politically conservative.
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