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The Incredible Disappearing Teacher
Why I tell bright young people to avoid a career in education.
Every semester, a handful of shiny young adults ask for my advice on the best graduate programs in my field. They’re mint in box. The world hasn’t taken them out to play with yet.
We all know, it will.
They want me to help them become teachers, which means writing letters of recommendation and helping them develop teaching portfolios.
Some of them are master’s students looking to move on to doctoral programs, and others want to work in public schools. Either way, I tell them to do something else. Anything. Just not teaching.
Consider the word pedagogy. It derives from the Greek word paidagōgos, literally a slave who took children to and from school.
The profession hasn’t changed much since then. We serve at the pleasure of privilege. The 21-year-olds who come to me aren’t completely naive. They don’t think it’s all about accepting apples and staying after class a few days a week. They know it’s a service-oriented field.
But they don’t know everything yet.
“You’re too smart to waste your life teaching,” I say to them now. Then I recommend other lines of work, like fast food and cafes.
