teaching...the mentality and the career

Mentality: "A habitual way of thinking or interpreting events peculiar to a person or type of person"- Encarta World English Dictionary

So, our instructional coach posted points to ponder in our bathrooms at school. We were able to read these points and add notes, thoughts, or comments as we saw fit. One of the points to ponder was, "How do I keep a healthy balance between my personal and professional life?"

Several teachers commented on this point.

On this point to ponder, many teachers wrote things like, "Make happy hour a regular occurrence" or "Don't bring work home." But in every bathroom someone wrote something along these lines: "Personal life...what's that?" or "Teaching is a way of life."

And I am here to untangle two very distinct concepts- teaching as a career and teaching as a mentality, or overall philosophy of thinking.

Okay, so I agree that teaching IS a way of life, but it is the mentality of teaching that is a way of life, NOT the career of teaching. And this is a very important distinction.

It seems like nowadays, districts are making teachers feel they are working 15 hour-a-day jobs within a contracted time of 8 hours a day, and given little money to show for it. So, we obviously feel the pressures to get things done. And, we are being asked to get more and more things done as we march along. Once we prove we can handle new requirements and expectations, instead of getting a pat on the back or a job well done, we are given even more expectations and requirements. So, the question of having a healthy balance between work and home is important. And, it's important that we do strike that balance.

It is important to remember that we are teachers at heart, and it is a mentality or way of life. We think like teachers. We are constantly learning, adapting, and exploring. We get a kick out of discovery. We get a kick out of leading others to discovery. We enjoy watching others explore their worlds and uncover hidden truths. This is something we cannot separate from ourselves. In that sense, teaching is a way of life.

Separate this from teaching as a career. We go to school 5 days a week, 9+ hours a day. We teach a group of select children skill sets, some of which are identical to those of our teaching neighbors (e.g., study skills, social skills, organization skills, etc.) and some of which are specific to our subject area. Our careers are as educators.

And so I conclude, on some level we are always teachers. But this distinction will allow us to better separate our careers from our personal lives. And as I mentioned before, this is something that is becoming more and more critical as more and more demands are placed on us in our schools.