Chapter 2: Today's Students

One issue addressed in chapter 2 of The Joy of Teaching by Gene E. Hall, Linda F. Quinn and Donna M. Gollnick is that of religious diversity in schools. The section opens with a description of a situation where a teacher struggles to make his colleagues think in terms of religious diversity during the holidays. The authors then go on to provide facts and figures suggesting that religious diversity in the United States is only going to grow. They explain that much of the conflict stemming from religious diversity has roots in the strong Christian tradition that exists in the U.S., and in the world. The authors illuminate the fact that any teacher teaching in an "urban or metropolitan" area will have to find ways to contend with religious diversity in the classroom. The section closes by returning to the teacher from the opening, and talking about how he could have handled it differently to make new religious diversity easier to swallow for his fellow educators.

Chapter 1: Becoming a Teacher

Joyful:

-Seeing students making progress

Helping a student get better at something is rewarding, whether they go from having a lot of trouble in an area to being proficient or they simply hone their skills further. Being able to look at that progress in the form of various assessments and even in their composure in class is certainly a source of joy.

-Making a difference in the lives of students

Some students have great support structures built up in their lives. Others are not quite so lucky. For that latter group, a good, supportive teacher who encourages them to do their best can mean a bright future.

-Getting to teach about something you love to students

I do not know about other people, but for me, when I love something, I want to talk about it. I get a great amount of satisfaction from helping somebody to understand something that I like, because hopefully they like it at least a little bit as well, and it brightens their day.

-Get to be mentored by an experienced teacher

It is easy to be idealistic in theory, but in practice, concessions must often be made. Knowing those concessions while still in the planning stages can lessen the heartbreak that will result from having to make them. It is better to remove an aspect of a lesson or alter a part of one's teaching philosophy before putting those into practice, and having an experienced teacher pass their knowledge on is a good way to root out things in need of change.

Not-so-joyful:

-Standardized tests

It is an unfortunate fact of our education system that standardized testing is looked to as a great way to assess a student's progress. Many students do not test very well, and "teaching to the test" in order to artificially inflate progress can be extremely harmful to students.

-Relatively high workload

Teachers have to work a lot. Putting together lesson plans, grading papers, continuing their own education, all this in addition to actual instruction... Teachers always have a lot of work to do in order to consistently make sure their students are learning.

-Possibly having to relocate to find job

Logic dictates that areas that produce students wanting to be teachers will not be areas in need of highly-qualified teachers. Considering this, it is an unfortunate fact that a desire to teach often requires a willingness to relocate.