66%

When I think about most teachers I know — primarily those who I’ve met at the two schools I’ve taught at and through MƒA — one thing is undeniable: These people love their jobs. They have a passion for improving and serving students in increasingly unique ways. They move with compassion and care. They make decisions to advance students far beyond their knowledge of content.

Besides, what dedicated teacher wouldn’t love teaching? The magic that’s generated when you connect with a young person and help them grow is flat-out addicting. The job is hard and the bureaucracy can be taxing, but my work with students is a puzzle that keeps me young. It keeps me searching for answers that give my life meaning. It’s the type of work that begins and ends with love. Because I feel this way, it’s not hard to identify when other people do too.

All this was on my mind when I asked a colleague last week, “In your experience, how many teachers don’t love their jobs?” I hadn’t given much thought to the question until I said it aloud that day. What he said blew my mind: “I think 2 out of every 3 teachers do not love what they do.”

My mouth flew open. I was borderline offended. 66%? HOW? How could such an astounding number of teachers not love working with young people in the context of education? How could he make such an assumption? Did he not understand the ramifications?

In that moment, with these questions pushing their way out of my mouth, something changed within me.

I was scared.

If his hypothesis were true, it means that each day 66% of students are situated with a teacher who doesn’t lead with love. It means that 66% of classrooms are places where students and teachers simply show up, as if teachers and students are variables to insert into a formula for learning. It means that 66% of teachers teach exclusively with their heads and not their hearts.

This gives me pause.

If love isn’t at the core of a teacher’s instruction, the ten months that students and teachers are allotted together can still result in something both can be proud of. Students don’t need teachers who love them and their jobs in order to be successful. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t something missing.

Is my hopeful perspective into the hearts of my fellow teachers misguided? If the overwhelming majority of teachers do not love their jobs, as I blindly assumed, where does this leave my perception of the state of education? Where does this leave my teaching? Where does this leave students?


bp