How to Become a Teacher

Teaching is not fun or easy all of the time but making a positive impact on children makes the job worth it. Requirements to be a teacher include having an undergraduate degree, a teaching certification and a passion to mentor and educate the youth.?

By Ciarra Maraj

Teachers are the third parents of the world because they spend at least eight hours of the day with Kindergarten through 12th-grade students five times a week. They give encouragement, motivation and lessons. It is not easy dealing with other people’s emotions, building relationships and educating students with different learning styles, but that is a teacher’s job.

“I love my students and they're really the only reason why I keep going,” said Cassandra Bediako , an Arizona teacher entering their second year of teaching.“…Being a teacher is more than just being a teacher, especially in this time frame. So just being able to be there for others, the way that I know that someone was never there for me, is what keeps me being a teacher.”

The Process of Becoming a Teacher

Becoming a teacher requires at least a four-year degree and a teaching certification. An education-related major, like early childhood education, helps but is not always necessary. Aspiring teachers can continue their education like college professors to move up in rank or oversee administrative tasks.

Marquis Lane is a new teacher in the Philadelphia school district who came from a financial background before switching to a full-time math and science educator.?

“I've always been a mentor to the youth and the community,” Lane said. “So I wanted to figure out another way that I could make an impact on a youth.”

Having transferable skills supported Lane’s teaching career.?

“I've never been trained to be a teacher,” Lane said. “The only thing that I was going off of was my leadership abilities and the qualities that I have already.”

Jah-Kefim McKenzie is an administrator who has been a math and English teacher for 10 years. At first, he thought he wanted to be an accountant but realized he did not want to work 9-to-5 in a cubicle. He went to two colleges and took the certification exam four times before passing. McKenzie never gave up on becoming a teacher or learning how to become a better one.?

“I recognized and realized for me that my journey consists of really knowing who my students are and really building relationships with them simply because I wasn't that much older than them,” McKenzie said. “So a lot of them looked at me as an older brother or an uncle. And so it was a lot easier for me to relate to them on specific things.?

“And so at that point, I realized my journey was getting a lot easier because once I built my relationships with my students, then it was easier for me to educate them. And for them to trust that I know what I'm doing.”

Becoming a paraprofessional is another option to gain experience in the classroom. Bediako and McKenzie were paraprofessionals.?

“The first four years I was a paraprofessional,” Mckenzie said. “So I sat with a student, the teacher was teaching the class and I sat with them…making sure that they were doing their assignments [and] staying on track. So my passion [existed] even before being in front of the classroom.

Being a paraprofessional gave Bediako a feel for the area of teaching they wanted to pursue.?

“I was [a] one-on-one specialist for students,” Bediako said. “And from that, I started to choose what kind of schools I wanted to be in.”

The Challenges of Being a Teacher?

The lack of resources to teach is a common hindrance.

“If you're in a school and that particular school may not have the adequate resources that you may need to fulfill your duties as a teacher,” McKenzie said. “And sometimes you have to really think outside the box to determine and figure out what is the thing that I need to make sure that my kids understand what they're doing?

“So if that means going to a teacher store and getting more anchor charts or manipulatives or more reading passages or workbooks, sometimes we as teachers, we come out of our pockets so much just to make sure that our kids are excelling.”

School funding comes from property taxes , which explains the disparity between public city schools and the suburbs. Federal taxes account for 7% of school funding. In rare cases, state tax contributes more than the property tax but no state has eradicated the use of property tax as an income source.?

Also, teachers of color may feel less supported at work than their white counterparts because predominantly white school districts are not equipped to handle issues they never had to deal with, Bediako said. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) stopped collecting teacher demographic data in 2018. In the last report , 7% of teachers were Black or non-Hispanic, and 79% were white. When organizations look the same, the challenges that arise do too, and the method of solving them becomes standard.

The lack of staff is another obstacle.?

“It presents a bigger challenge because when you're dealing with students,” Lane said,? “...anything can happen at any time and that goes for any school it can be kind of tough because now you're put in a difficult situation where not only do you have to play teacher, but now you have to play nurse disciplinarian, school police officer, parent, any role that you can think of.”?

Learning and home situations challenge students. They look for encouragement and motivation from their teachers. Coping with their students' challenges and theirs makes the job harder, but teachers find a way.

Final Thoughts About Teaching

Educating takes a lot of hard work, creativity and patience. It takes grit to become a teacher.

“Stick with your gut,” McKenzie said. “There's a reason why you're getting into this profession…I feel that if a person really is coming into this profession with a clear mind and a clear drive, I think that the passion will supersede anything else.”

Shaping the minds of future generations is a big responsibility that teachers do not think twice about doing. Being a good teacher is imperative because it impacts young people’s psyches.?

“If you're not in it for the kids and you're not in it for what you truly believe in, then I would suggest going for a different profession,” Bediako said. “Because that's what it's about. It's about the kids, it's about caring for them. It's about nurturing and helping them to grow to be the best…Their fresh canvas is full of love and light and creativity and they just need people who are gonna help them mold to be the best that they're gonna be.”

It is not fun or easy being a teacher all of the time, but it is worth it.

“Just coming in and seeing the kids' faces every single day,” Lane said. “Whether or not they're having a good day or a bad day they'll find a way to put a smile on your face. And that's one of the most rewarding things that I can say about being a teacher.”?

Top Takeaways

How To Become A Teacher?

• Teaching takes passion and a love for children.?
• Some teachers get mistreated despite their importance to the community.?
• The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) stopped collecting demographic data in 2018.
• More leaders are needed in the classroom.