Have you ever considered becoming a teacher? Whether you are just beginning your professional life or you’ve been in the workforce for years, building a career in education can be one of the most rewarding and powerful ways to make a positive difference in the world.
Teaching requires a thorough commitment to your students, the community in which you work, and your own lifelong learning. The incredible result is a meaningful career that keeps you growing and involved in a profession that is essential to neighborhoods across the country.
Here are three reasons to become a teacher:
1. Do work that matters: Living in a 24-7 news cycle that bombards us with difficult, and often negative, views on the state of society can be overwhelming. Many people are searching for careers that make a positive impact. One of the most profound ways to do so is to become a teacher.
When you become a teacher, you are actively making the future more promising. You will help children and young adults prepare for life, build dreams, and create bright futures. There is a purpose in every single day that you step into the classroom. Some days it may mean watching that lightbulb shine when your class grasps a new concept. Other days your purpose may be found through a conversation with a student who is struggling in other parts of their life. As you likely experienced during your own time in school, teachers are so often the foundational supports in young people’s lives.
2. Become part of a community: When you become a teacher, you dedicate yourself to the surrounding neighborhood in which the school exists. For some people, they become a teacher in a community where they have lived for a long time. Other people move to a new area and experience a community unlike anywhere else they have lived. Either way, when you become an educator you absorb the cultures and activities that make that community special, while contributing to the neighborhood in a deeply significant way.
You also become part of a tightly knit school community where fellow educators share your challenges and successes. These colleagues are your support system, mentors, and friends who help you navigate the unique experience of being a teacher. Your students and their families play an important role in this community, too. The relationships you form with them build a connectedness to your work and daily life unlike many other professions.
3. Share your passion: As a teacher, you will help students develop a love of learning and a thirst for knowledge. Perhaps you are a history buff or a writer and you want to inspire students to explore their own interests in social studies or language arts. Maybe you love science and math and want to help all students understand that these subjects are critical for their futures. You will have an opportunity to expose students to new ideas, subjects, and points of view while sharing your own passions. You will open doors for students to different ways of thinking, fascinating ideas, and new subjects when you choose a career in education. By sharing your expertise in a particular content area, you will help students explore their own interests and build confidence in courses they may not have believed they had an aptitude for.
Once you decide that teaching is for you, there are a variety of programs to consider. When learning any new profession, preparation matters. That’s why the NYU Teacher Residency is structured with a full year of immersive learning directly in a classroom complemented by rigorous course work taught by expert NYU Steinhardt faculty. Throughout the one-year master of arts in teaching (MAT), you gradually increase your responsibilities while learning alongside a teacher mentor so when it’s time to lead a classroom of your own, you feel fully prepared.
Explore how you can make a difference by becoming a teacher through the NYU Teacher Residency.