Expectation vs. Reality

When I first realized I wanted to teach English in a high school I immediately thought of the more glamorous and popular approaches to the subject. I thought about how passionate I could be regarding literature and how I could make an impact on students so they could experience the same love for English that I did. 

After reading the introduction to the book Early Career English Teachers in Action it hit that teaching English is not always what it is perceived to be based on the amount of grading, following a curriculum and the preparation for standardized testing. Putting it lightly, being an English teacher is a lot of work and a job of value. As said in the book "Indeed, teaching can seem a world away from Dead Poets Society, with far too little poetry and far to many test booklets." This notion that being an English teacher is always perfect leads to heavy turnover in new teachers. 

To prevent this heavy turnover in English educators there needs to be a better way to convey the actual aspects of teaching, the positive and negatives.  As said in the book high teacher retention rates also come from influences surrounding there first years of teaching. "Despite these challenges from within and without, the vast majority of new English teachers do stay in their classrooms beyond their first year. They stick it out for many reasons, but one of a mentor teacher." I think the idea of having a mentor teacher makes the transitional period easier. I also think its important to establish relationships with teachers early on, whether that be during student teaching or even before when the education classes start to begin during schooling. 

By establishing a relationship with a teacher early on some of those misconception about the subject can be addressed. Its important to understand how the subject works based on the perspective of one teaching it and someone who was in the same place years previous.