Career Growth for Teachers

A teacher asked me yesterday - "I don't see growth as a teacher, It's quite stagnant". She went on to say that she would like to explore career options like a data scientist. So I thought it is a good idea to put my thoughts down. Teachers have the highest potential for career growth. In this article, I will explain the competencies that teachers can develop on the job. However, this article only applies to that 1% of teachers who are willing to put the effort into personal and professional development.

Let me tell you a short story. I had trained a lot of youngsters to become teachers and many of them are doing well in IT careers right now. My formula was to pick up ambitious youngsters, train them to become teachers for 6months, then train the next batch and proceed to their careers. The idea was to have competent teachers who can really transform children. Some of these interns trained kids as young as 4th graders to handle topics like Business Strategy, Finance, and Technology. While hiring, I didn't tell them that it was a Teaching job. I picked up the most ambitious and compassionate youngsters.

Why would I tell this story to you? Well, youngsters who do one Teaching Internship are more employable than those who don't. In fact in my company DeepThought, we nudge all our Team Leads to teaching. We look at Teaching as a personality transformation avenue. So if you are a teacher, you are sitting in a personality gym every day. But the big question is - "are you really doing the workout"? A big litmus test will follow in the next paragraph - 99% of teachers would be intimated by the ideas and just give up. If you can stay in that 1% that completes this article, I promise very powerful takeaways for you.

1- Voice communication: Good teachers can modulate their voice really well. They can use diction, intonation, and body language to be able to convey their points very clearly. This is a highly desirable trait in a high-performance environment.

2- Interpersonal empathy: Good teachers can empathize with fellow humans and get what the other person is feeling and comprehending. They intuitively know if the student misunderstood the idea, they cross-question and ensure proper comprehension.

3- Classroom management: Handling different characters in the class is not easy. Doing this while meeting certain objectives within a limited time is not at all easy. Good teachers are able to do this because they are focused on the final outcome while accomodating all the stakeholders. This balance of carrying everyone together and yet meeting the objectives is a highly desirable trait in the industry.

4- Energy: Teachers inspire their listeners with their energy and humor. They can influence people by trying various stories, examples, and styles of communication. Leaders require this capability to get stakeholder buy-in while executing new initiatives.

5- Learnability: Good teachers (less than 0.1%) try to learn new subjects all the time. This helps them practice the art of learning something new. This is extremely important in this world that is changing rapidly, you need professionals who can be re-skilled. IBM Chairperson had remarked that is tough to reskill Indians.

6- Clear Explanation: Good teachers can explain ideas really well. You can make it out if you are talking to a teacher. They convey the information in a way that the cognitive load is reduced- breaking it into chunks, and using a lot of examples. Good teachers understand their listeners well and speak in a manner that suits the listener.

7- Project Management: Good teachers will find it easy to learn Agile and Scrum methodologies. Teachers are required to plan a lot and more importantly diverse workflows. They learn to do this in very little turnaround time.

8- Emotional Intelligence: Good teachers understand their emotions and the emotions of others quite well. They can feel the pain of their listeners- compassion comes naturally to good teachers. People feel safe around good teachers. This is one of the biggest requirements when you're hunting for a leader in the IT industry.

9- Exploration: Teaching is a multi-dimensional domain. You need to figure out a lot of parameters to succeed. There is no silver bullet that works everywhere. Prof. Jim Collins calls this "empirical creativity"- all 10Xers have this in common. They try things out on their own, to figure out what works and what doesn't.

10- Go-getter attitude: Teachers work with deadlines. Important milestones are staggered throughout the year. Teachers have to figure their way out, if they don't several kids suffer. Good teachers develop a go-getter attitude. They don't complain, they find their way to make most of their resources. They can handle multiple situations well.

These 10 reasons probably suffice to conclude that everyone can benefit from a 6month teaching internship. Teaching can be the stepping stone for a strong leadership journey. Then is why that most teachers have career stagnation? What do you do to ensure strong career growth?

1- Seriousness: Most teachers are not the primary breadwinners of the family. So the teachers have a lot on the plate in terms of their job and domestic responsibilities. In this hustle, the agenda of learning takes a backseat. However, there are a few teachers who have been allocating some time for self-learning every day.

2- Exposure: Teachers can gain more of their experience if they can read articles about Economics, Public Policy, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship. This would help in understanding how the world works and see how these competencies make you more valuable in the marketplace.

3- Big Picture: Although teachers hustle a lot, the big picture is often lost. Do you see that your work is leading to human capital development? Do you see how your Fractions or Shakespeare class is producing thinkers for society and the economy?

4- Reflection: When you gain a lot of experience as a teacher, wouldn't you want to milk it? Wouldn't you want to reflect daily, write journals, share some of those thoughts on LinkedIn and grow your understanding of the world? Wouldn't that give you action pointers?

5- Moving beyond your comfort zone: Can you try internships during the summer break or after work hours? Would that be a way to explore the world, build competencies and also feel good about the personality strengths that your teaching career has built?

Good Teachers can easily skill themselves and get into really high-paying jobs. Product Management is the most happening area now and teachers can make great product managers, with a little training. However, are you reflecting and gaining the most out of your teaching career?

I hope this post ignites ambition and curiosity within you. As a teacher, you are within the top 1% of the world. You can do things that CEOs can't. So can you take the leap of faith and proper your career growth? Go ahead and ask your questions in the comments. I'm happy to travel with you and help you realize your dreams. Looking forward to your questions.

#Teaching #ProfessionalDevelopment #CareerGrowth #EmotionalIntelligence #competencies #LeadershipDevelopment