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Stories

The Common Question: “Why are you a teacher?”

Monday, June 26th, 2017

“Why are you a teacher?” is a question that I have been asked repeatedly in the last two and a half years since I joined the Teach for Australia program. It is a question that usually comes with a tone that would be written as “Why are you a teacher?”, with the implication being that this is somehow a second-rate or unworthy profession. It is a question that I hate, but the jump that I made into teaching was an unexpected one for most of the people who know me, so I wonder whether many people truly understand the work and moral purpose of teaching.

To me, it is perfectly clear why I became a teacher (or indeed why anyone should see teaching as a worthwhile career), but clearly it is less so for others. This lack of understanding is reflected in the low status of teaching as a career in Australia, relative to other professions and to teaching in many other countries. For this reason, perhaps it really is worth exploring the answer to that hated, often disdainfully-asked, question. While it may be cliche, I need to return to my own childhood to properly understand that answer, and to demonstrate why I do what I do.

I grew up the oldest of two boys, in the Dandenong Ranges on the outer east of Melbourne. We were raised from a very early age almost entirely by my mum and had to deal with many of the challenges that go along with being a single-parent family. Growing up it was always clear that we did not have a lot, but, looking back, I never really appreciated just how difficult things were.

In short, I never realised how close we came to the brink. I never realised that the times we had baked beans on toast for dinner were times that we didn’t have anything else to eat. I never realised that the times those exciting bags of day-old bread and similar appeared, that they were delivered by volunteers from charities. I never realised that not everyone’s mum visited St Vinnies to have an appointment with the ladies there: I didn’t understand that not everyone needed to have meetings to make sure they could keep a roof over our heads.

We were truly disadvantaged. Despite this, our mum was determined to make sure that our situation would not be something that followed my brother and I throughout our lives and she saw our education as a key component of getting out of disadvantage.

On July 11, 2008, just after my mid-year exams for year 12, mum passed away suddenly, after an accident at home. The attitude that she instilled, as well as the resilience and skills that went along with it, had suddenly become more crucial than she could ever have imagined. We had to find a way to survive and I had to try and complete my year 12 studies. I know for a fact that the teachers at my school, the humble Monbulk Secondary College, were deeply concerned about how I would cope for the remainder of the year, just as many people were, myself included.

It could have been all too easy for those teachers to lower their expectations of me. All too easy to preface every statement, grade or piece of feedback with “He’s doing so well, considering…”. All too easy to say “At least you tried“. But they didn’t. They gave me the extra supports that I needed, but they never stopped pushing me, never stopped expecting me to achieve like I had before. Their continued belief in my ability to overcome my challenges was crucial in making that achievement a reality. High expectations from my teachers gave me the self-belief that I could do something great, not just considering my situation, but in absolute terms. They inspired me and they set me on the path out of disadvantage, to university, to work in scientific research and into the classroom with Teach for Australia.

The work those teachers did to support me during that incredibly stressful and turbulent time has had a lasting impact on my philosophy of teaching and how I carry myself within my school. They were caring and giving. They went beyond what was required and they were inspiring.

Returning to my initial question, I hope it is becoming clearer what my answer is and how important I believe teaching is to individuals and to society.

I am a teacher because I have experienced first-hand the role education can have in lifting young people out of a cycle of disadvantage. I am a teacher because my own teachers showed me the enormous impact these professionals can have on the course of someone’s life. I am a teacher because young people from all walks of life deserve the opportunities that I received through my education. I am a teacher because I can see myself in my students.

I am a teacher, because I truly believe that it is the single most important thing that I can do with my working life.

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