Job Discussion Forums

Boy Wonder · Joined: 29 Mar 2004 Posts: 453 Location: Clacton on sea

Teaching is MY LIFE!

Everything else takes second place ...

My pregnant girlfriend
Final demands for the phone and electricity
The overgrown garden
State of the nation
The war in Iraq
G8's recent health scare
Match of the Day being on too late
Income tax requests
Busted splitting up
Robbie Williams bouts of depression
The alarming loss of form of QPR
My mothers birthday
My fathers failure to locate his missing false teeth...

All the things in my life that should really matter pale into insignificance when I think of Intransitive verbs and the crucial, vital difference between For and Since.

Teaching is not a calling....
It's much more important than that.

Deconstructor · Joined: 30 Dec 2003 Posts: 775 Location: Montreal

I think it all depends on what you mean by "calling". If you mean it as a religious one, then for me teaching is not a calling.

I do, however, think of teaching as a calling because my personality fits perfectly to this profession. I have great deal of patience; I love it when people ask me questions; I have a good sense of humour; I am able to establish great rapport with students; and I can't believe that I'm actually getting paid for doing something that I would do for free and have.

marblez · Joined: 24 Oct 2004 Posts: 248 Location: Canada

I don't know if I would label it a "calling", but it is the only job that I enjoy doing. I completed work experience in teaching (ESL) and loved it. When I started university, I took Criminology, Psychology and all other subjects that weren't available in high school. I did work experience in the field and I hated it. I'm back to ESL now, and I love it.

Well, I hate my 3 hour Linguistics class (Friday 7pm-9:50pm), but that may have to do with the time schedule. Two weeks down, only 4 more months to go!

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

I just got back from a road trip around Mexico, visiting a few schools and teachers. I asked similar questions to some teachers on if they were here as part of a 'calling'...EFL teachers, in Mexico for stays of less than 1 year. No one responded by saying it was a calling, but rather, more as a means to an end, to visit Mexico, to learn some Spanish, etc. I think the overall feeling was that these teachers enjoyed the work, but ultimately, it is just a job for them.

By the way, it was nice to meet two Dave's posters in the flesh. Wouter, Greg, thanks for the hospitality!