Teaching is kind of my dream job, but maybe in a dream job situation it would be about 100% better? I wish there were some incentives or bonuses or things like that incorporated into teaching. Teachers are highly motivated goal oriented people who are given abstract learning targets to hit, with no reward for doing so. In my opinion, this is one of the issues with education today.
Education’s Best Assets
The best asset we have in schools are the teachers. They are the ones who make the magic happen. Oftentimes, this magic of learning, this calling, this key building block of civilization we call education, goes unnoticed or unrewarded.
Experiences in the Private Sector
When I worked as a waiter, we worked largely for tips. This could be incredibly motivating. It gave us all an incentive to be at our absolute best for each and every table service. In education there is little of this. For the most part education is slow moving monolithic bureaucracy that seems to always have its hands full with just staying afloat.
Current Perks of Teaching Beyond Base Salary and Benefits
Teachers are rewarded with class schedules, leadership positions, opportunities for advancement, but it is easy to max out on this benefits or find ones self uninterested in getting “promoted” to the admin team. I do not think anything of sacrificing a weekend without pay to advise my Model U.N. Team or staying after school to run soccer practices for zero economic gain (in actuality there is actually costs of travel), but it would be so much better if teachers were rewarded for staying after school.
What’s Up With No Overtime Yo!
Every other job I know of, when you do extra work, you get paid overtime. With teaching you actually get paid nothing or less than minimum wage because it is something you presumably “like” doing. You can still get sued if something goes wrong, disciplined if parents or students get upset, and get accused of everything under the son for not starting a player, but you get paid a “stipend” for this if you are lucky that amounts to maybe $5 an hour?
A Fresh Take
A lot of teachers need extra money, especially where I live where the average rent price is $2200 a month! Society needs more after school programs, why not play a little everybody wins. Has anyone tried paying teachers more than their contract amount for working longer days? I wonder what would happen….
Discussion Question
- What is your dream job? What would your ideal day at your dream job be like?
Thanks for reading The Lifelong Education Blog! I hope you have the best of days, don’t forget to be awesome! Check out some of my other recent posts if you have a moment!
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What are your thoughts on this?