Why People Become Teachers Part 1

 Today is the 1st of May, so I wanted to reflect on my journey. May is not only the last month of school, but also Teacher Appreciation Week is the 2nd week of May. Ending the school year and celebrating teachers, I wanted to focus on teaching for a moment. Normally my blog is focused on things of faith and theology, but I wanted to look at my other career for a minute. Let's talk about teachers. I find that people become teachers for 3 reasons. It can be one or more of these reasons, but you will discover every teacher has at least one of these reasons.

The first reason is, people become teachers because they love to teach. Some people find that teaching is just a default mode. When I began working in churches, I loved examining and explaining aspects of faith. I loved to learn about the Bible and then share what I learned with others. I loved the entire process. I didn't choose to teach, I just taught.

Some people are just natural teachers, it is how they are wired. The way information is processed, I don't really feel comfortable with something until I can tell someone else about it. I want to be able to understand something well enough to explain it to another person. I naturally became better at this process through teacher training and education, but teaching is just who I am. It is almost in the way I process information.

Some individuals go into the profession because it is just who the are. I was often told I would be a great teacher before I became a teacher. When I worked in other jobs, I found myself teaching. When I worked at a manufacturing plant, I was drawn to training and instruction. When I worked in wildlife, I found myself teaching homeowners about the wildlife that was causing the nuisance and how to deal with or mitigate it. I just taught.

In my life, I have loved teaching Sunday School. When I preach, teaching is more of my default style. Passing along knowledge and understanding is key to how I communicate. I find that even my storytelling is didactic. This leaves me with a few weak points. First off, those of us who are natural teachers can seem condescending when we are talking to people. My natural inclination is to teach, and in doing so I sometimes give too much detail or background. Naturally, people can feel like I assume they don't know anything. It can be off-putting to feel like an individual is talking to you like you are a student, and I don't mean to do it. I try to not assume a teacher role when I am just in casual conversation.

Some people are just wired as teachers. Paul says that God gave some to be teachers, so those who are in Christ may have the added spiritual gift to teach. It may require others to be patient with us, as we don't mean to be in teaching mode all the time, we just don't know any better. A teacher is more than what I do, it really is who I am in a very real way.