Advice to Potential (Science) Teachers

1. Teachers are not valued by American society. Teachers are treated with disdain in our society. They are seen as people who are not good enough for "real jobs, " whatever that may mean. Public school teachers are sometimes seen as agents of the government. Science teachers in particular are viewed as brainwashers actively trying to alter students' world views so that they contradict their parents' world views. The business world, that everlasting source of social problems and their accompanying solutions, looks down on teachers too. The business world sees teachers, especially public school teachers, as people who get huge summer vacations with pay. The business world is clueless and does not realize that most teachers only get nine month's pay spread over twelve months. Teachers' contracts also are only written for nine or ten months and very rarely for twelve months. Teachers simply do not get the respect they deserve. Think about this before going into teaching.

2. Teachers are not valued by university departments. At a university, the overarching priority is research. Students who are deemed not worthy of becoming researchers are frequently steered into teaching programs, a reflection of the old saying "Those who can do. Those who can't, teach." I find it ironic that the elitists who pass judgement on students this way are the same elitists who are supposedly charged with turning students into competent academic thinkers. Students who end up being researchers and thinkers probably did not learn those skills from the elitists. They probably already had those skills. The students who do not already have those skills upon entering the universities are handed off to the education departments as quickly as possible; they become someone else's problem and are treated accordingly.

3. Teachers are not valued by administrators. This is true from kindergarten to university. Administrators usually think more of budgets, policies, and self promotion than they think of their faculty.

4. Teachers have limited job security. In many states, teachers are hired on an "at will" basis, which means they can be fired with no recourse at any time for any reason. This, of course, also means that they can resign with no recourse at any time for any reason. Even then, some administrators will try intimidating teachers into not exploiting this two way policy by warning of future negative job references. This indicates how much teachers are valued. In systems where there is no tenure, teachers may be fired for any reason or even no reason at all. Sadly, there seem to be laws promoting this behavior.