Advantages of Being a Teacher
Stability
The real allure of the teaching profession lies in its tenure. For most people, choosing to be a teacher means placing "stability" at the top of their list of life values. Having achieved stability and still wanting more would be like having your cake and eating it too.
Teachers also face risks of salary cuts and layoffs, but these risks are relatively small.
The career span of a teacher is long, and they continue to receive a pension even after retirement.
Responsibility
I wouldn't dare to say that the teaching abilities of school teachers are the best, but they are indeed responsible towards their students. In such a work environment, as a new teacher, I am also a student in some ways, and should be able to receive help and support.
Within the ivory tower of a school, even if there are workplace issues, they might not be as disgusting as those in a corporate setting.
Capability
I feel that being a teacher is a bit like engaging in a performance game. Deep down, I don't really see myself as a teacher, but I have to perform like a qualified one.
Although I am not a education major, the comprehensive abilities of the students I will teach in the future might be slightly weaker than those of my high school peers. As long as I work diligently, I should be able to complete my teaching tasks satisfactorily.
Why I Don't Like Being a Teacher
Dislike for Teaching
I don't derive a sense of achievement from teaching others. Why can't high school students learn like college students do?
I can organize self-study materials methodically and explain clearly how to complete the task of self-study step by step based on these materials. I can even create a logically structured outline.
However, I don't enjoy the process of teaching someone step by step, even though I have the patience to do so.
In some ways, I feel that teaching seniors in high school is even easier because it's mostly about explaining problems. As for extracting universally applicable problem-solving methods from these problems, that's indeed challenging.
Dislike for Students
I'm not very fond of students; I find them noisy and immature.
Moreover, I believe that students' potential is rather limited. Will my future students have the chance to be admitted to top universities like those in the 985 or C9 league? It's unlikely. Ordinary students, even if they are admitted to relatively good universities, will still struggle to find satisfying jobs and lead a lifestyle that satisfies them. They may have to make constant compromises and work hard to make ends meet.
Since high school, college, and especially during my master's degree, I've felt that hard work is a joke. Imagining students studying diligently and working hard, yet not achieving the desired results, I find it very regrettable and sad.
Communication Among Teachers Is Extremely Boring
I studied both my undergraduate and master’s degrees in normal universities, so I have many classmates who are studying to be teachers. I’ve found that the topics they discuss are very lacking in imagination.
The classmates who are not yet worried about graduation season are talking about how to do homework, how to learn a certain knowledge point, how to improve test scores… these things are too student-like. The classmates who are interning or looking for jobs are talking about how to correct homework, how to record scores, how to handle teacher-student relationships… these things are so boring.
Recently, the rapid changes in the technology sector and the hot topics in the humanities and social sciences being discussed by intellectuals in society… the vast majority of my classmates in normal universities are not only uninterested in these topics but also completely unaware of them. Students from top universities like Tsinghua and Peking University are focused on their studies and research, which we can praise. But is it also a virtue for ordinary normal university students to be completely unaware of the world outside?
Thinking about how, after becoming a teacher, the content of daily communication with colleagues will be about trivial matters like how to mark papers faster and record scores, I am worried about the future development of my own thinking.
A Visible Ceiling
While waiting for the trial lecture, a female teacher chatted with us candidates. She said that being a teacher is really like what everyone learns about online. At most, everyone can only hope to be promoted to associate senior teacher, and it’s almost impossible to obtain a higher professional title. Daily work just involves repeatedly teaching classes. Just like being a civil servant, on the first day of work, everyone can see what their life will be like ten years later.
Moreover, once someone becomes a teacher, they almost lose the possibility of trying other professions. Her exact words were, “Once everyone becomes a teacher, they will only be a teacher in the future.”
After hearing the female teacher’s discouraging words, all the candidates present fell silent.
Then, thinking about the future professional title evaluations, one would have to participate in quality classroom competitions, proposition contests, or question-solving competitions… However, I both resist and am not good at these things.
The Job of a Teacher Isn't Cool
I have classmates studying for their Ph.D.s at domestic or abroad top universities, and their work is about researching how to publish top-tier papers. I also have classmates working in large factories, and they describe their work as participating in the research and development of various products. But the job of a teacher is to repeatedly teach classes, correct homework, and grade papers.
Compared to other professions, the work of a teacher is both boring and uninteresting.
Can't Compete and Can't Relax
Ever since I found out that I passed the teacher's civil service examination, I've become very lax. I have no motivation to look for other jobs or educational opportunities, no drive to write my thesis, and no interest in learning technologies or knowledge related to my studies. At the same time, I've suddenly lost interest in many topics that used to fascinate me, including those related to technology, humanities, and social sciences. There's always a conflicting voice in my head saying, "What's the point of doing all this now if I end up becoming a teacher anyway?"
Yet, deep down, I'm not resigned to becoming a teacher, and I'm very dissatisfied with my current state. Overall, I'm in a state of being unable to compete and win, unable to find better alternatives, but also unable to relax and be content with my current situation. I'm seeking better opportunities but am not doing anything substantial to improve myself. I'm constantly doubting whether I'm just doing useless work.
Doubts
Is Teaching Still a Good Job?
Before the autumn recruitment, I strategically gave up on the possibility of working for a company. On one hand, I used the entire autumn recruitment period to seek opportunities for a Ph.D. and review for the public service examination. On the other hand, I realized that with my current level, getting into a big company was almost impossible. The salary and work intensity of being a teacher are much more favorable than working for an average company. As the recruiting teachers and my father said, in my hometown, besides being a civil servant or working in a big factory, where else can I find a job that offers comparable salary and benefits?
Looking at my current situation, in terms of Ph.D. applications, only a professor from my own university is willing to take me in, and there are also teachers from Hong Kong Baptist University and Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) who are interested in me. However, all the Ph.D. offers are uncertain. If I need to take the teacher qualification exam during the spring recruitment, I might still hesitate between pursuing a Ph.D. and getting a teaching position, and consider how to allocate my energy. But now that I've already secured a teaching position, I feel like I don't even want to pursue a Ph.D. at a regular university.
I don't like being a teacher, but the teaching position is not only the only certain offer I have but also genuinely the best choice.
Getting a Good Deal
During the waiting period for the trial lecture, other candidates were chatting and sharing their internship experiences. I didn't dare say a word because I hadn't taught a single class and had no teaching experience. I felt out of place, like an outsider.
It was only during a conversation with a classmate who also got a teaching position at the same school that I learned most of those who passed the exam were either public-funded normal university students, outstanding students from regular universities with high scores in both written and interview exams, or postgraduates. Reflecting on my preparation from the start to the interview and then to the trial lecture, I had only reviewed for a couple of days. Throughout the process, I was quite casual. In the comprehensive quality evaluation session before the trial lecture, I was the only one who passed for the subject I applied for, which meant I only needed to qualify in the trial lecture. Based on my exam experience, I even felt that getting a teaching position was relatively easy.
However, I learned that many other students prepared for the teacher qualification exam as meticulously as they would for the civil service examination, and quite a few of the successful candidates had higher qualifications than me. It seems like I got a great deal.
Just The Right Time
The teacher in charge of recruitment told me that it was precisely because the school was expanding in 2023 and 2024, coupled with some teachers retiring, that there was a significant shortage of teachers. After this phase, not only would the number of positions decrease significantly, but the difficulty and requirements would also increase substantially.
It was only during a chat with a classmate studying to be a teacher that I learned there were no postgraduates majoring in physics education graduating from South China Normal University in 2024. It just so happened that the program changed its academic structure starting in 2022, so the normal university postgraduates who started with me in 2021 only had to study for two years, meaning they would graduate in 2023. Therefore, this year's teacher recruitment didn't have any competition from these postgraduates. If I, a master's student in engineering, had to compete with them, I would have had no competitive edge.
Right Advice
I don't want to be a teacher, but my father wants me to be one. At this stage of job hunting, all the mistakes I made during my studies due to my stubbornness are reminding me that I should listen to advice.
After the college entrance examination, my father vetoed my idea of going to a university outside the province, leading me to choose South China Normal University. After the exam, I didn't take my father's advice to study medicine, and now I'm struggling with career choices. When I graduated from college, I didn't listen to my father and go abroad for a master's degree but chose to study in China, only to find out after three years that the requirements for Ph.D. applications and corporate recruitment had also risen...
In summary, my choices have never brought me good results. Should I listen to my father's advice? Even if it's often not what I like.
No Precedent of Engineering Students Becoming Teachers Around Me
There are no students from engineering backgrounds around me who have become middle school teachers. My classmates studying engineering all say they don't like teaching, and many senior classmates say they chose non-teacher education graduate programs precisely because they don't want to be teachers.
I also asked classmates who went to work for companies. Excluding those working in big factories, many working in ordinary companies have salaries and benefits that are not as good as those of teachers, and their promotion opportunities are not very clear. However, even so, they would rather endure the hardships of working in a company than consider becoming teachers.
Lacking reference cases, and with no classmates participating in teacher recruitment, some don't even have related ideas. I can't help but wonder if I accidentally implemented the "contrarian investment theory" and "bottom-fished" the teaching profession, or if the teaching profession is actually very undesirable, and their dislike prevents them from seeing the advantages of being a teacher.
Unreal
Many people want to take the postgraduate entrance examination, and everyone studies for about half a year. Being a civil servant is a good job, and many examinees take years to pass the exams. Everyone wants to work for a big company and is busy enriching their resumes. Students who want to apply for a Ph.D. are working hard to study for exams and publish papers. Many students also spend half a year preparing for the teacher qualification exam and fly to different cities to attend numerous recruitment sessions before they can find a job.
In summary, good jobs or opportunities come with intense competition and require a long preparation time. However, my entire recruitment process only lasted about a week and was relatively less competitive. This sense of unreality makes me doubt whether being a teacher is really a good job.
It’s just, you know, when you lose, you lose. It’s the worst thing that can happen, and if you win … you expect some reward. But there isn’t any. It’s just … It’s just over.
Does the Teacher's Suffering Deserve Sympathy?
If you work for a company, complaining about a bad boss and poor working conditions is just a natural thing to do. But what if I really start working at a school and I'm miserable? Does the suffering of a teacher with a permanent position deserve sympathy? Or, does a teacher with a coveted permanent position have the right to be miserable?
Do Doctors Become Teachers Out of a True Love for Education?
If someone truly holds a noble ideal for education, I sincerely express my respect. However, I always doubt the motives of doctors who become teachers.
Do I Qualify to Be a Teacher?
During the comprehensive quality evaluation segment of the recruitment process, I introduced myself as a current master's student, having passed the postgraduate entrance examination and the written test for teacher certification, hence having solid subject abilities and strong learning capabilities. However, immediately afterward, I struggled with a physics question for a long time. It was very embarrassing. I can't recall the specific question, only that it was related to the conservation of mechanical energy. I still don't have confidence that my answer at that time was 100% correct.
During my university years, I failed both "University Physics (Part 1)" and "University Physics (Part 2)." Yes, I failed both. The irony is that someone like me, who failed physics, is now supposed to teach students the subject.
The content involved in the teaching demonstration for the teacher's qualification certificate and the teacher certification examination, I learned on the spot after receiving the topics. The idea that what I teach in class might be what I just learned the night before is simply ridiculous.
I still remember when I took the teacher certification examination, the topic I drew was the refraction of light. The only knowledge I remembered was the formula, which I had memorized by rote for the teacher qualification certificate exam. Many other related contents I had selectively abandoned for the exam. During the demonstration, to avoid revealing that I didn't master the knowledge, I deliberately put the knowledge I didn't know into the after-class preview section. This is just one example. I'm afraid that in the future when I teach, I will need to first self-study the knowledge that I selectively abandoned when I was a student, and then teach the knowledge I temporarily learned to my students.
Coping Mechanism
There's a dialogue in "Kill Bill: Volume 2" that perfectly describes how I feel about being a teacher:
As you know, I’m quite keen on comic books. Especially the ones about superheroes. I find the whole mythology surrounding superheroes fascinating. Take my favorite superhero, Superman. Not a great comic book. Not particularly well-drawn. But the mythology is not only great, it’s unique.
Now, a staple of the superhero mythology is, there is the superhero and there is the alter ego. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne, Spider-Man is actually Peter Parker. When that character wakes up in the morning, he is Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man. And it is in that characteristic Superman stands alone. Superman didn’t become Superman. Superman was born Superman. When Superman wakes up in the morning, he’s Superman. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His outfit with the big red “S”, that’s the blanket he was wrapped in as a baby when the Kents found him. Those are his clothes. What Kent wears, the glasses, the business suit, that’s the costume. That’s the costume Superman wears to blend in with us. Clark Kent is how Superman views us. And what are the characteristics of Clark Kent? He’s weak … he’s unsure of himself … he’s a coward. Clark Kent is Superman’s critique on the whole human race. Sorta like Beatrix Kiddo and Mrs. Tommy Plimpton.
You would’ve worn the costume of Arlene Plimpton. But you were born Beatrix Kiddo. And every morning when you woke up, you’d still be Beatrix Kiddo.
Are you calling me a Superhero? I’m calling you a killer. A natural born killer. You always have been, and you always will be. Moving to El Paso, working in a used record store, goin’ to the movies with Tommy, clipping coupons. That’s you, trying to disguise yourself as a worker bee. That’s you tryin’ to blend in with the hive. But you’re not a worker bee. You’re a renegade killer bee. And no matter how much beer you drank or barbecue you ate or how fat your ass got, nothing in the world would ever change that.
I feel like：I was not born to be a teacher. Teaching is the costume I wear to blend in with other teachers.
Not Every Student Deserves Help Equally
As an engineering student, I don’t have the ideal of teaching and educating people. Compared to education students, one of my significant “advantages” is that I am genuinely quite indifferent. I believe I won’t easily get caught up in battles with students who aren’t worth the effort, nor will I struggle in complex teacher-student relationships.
I realized early on that teaching is just a job, and I am just a consumable material.
If you don’t want to do it, there are plenty of others who will. Although your situation is very harsh after you start, no one feels that anything needs to be improved. There are plenty of replacements, that’s just how it is with consumable materials.
The phrase “It’s none of my business” can resolve many issues that might trigger emotional problems.
There’s one issue, almost every interviewee’s answer was consistent: their sole source of happiness comes from the emotional connection built with students, which is also the only psychological motivation for many teachers to stay in the profession. It might sound cliché, but the biggest attraction of teaching is not the salary, not the stability, but the fact that this profession can genuinely establish connections between people.
In rare but precious moments, they realize they might truly have an impact on a few students. For example, a student with ADHD starts showing signs of improvement, a student writes an impressive essay that’s not just for exams under encouragement, a shy and introverted girl begins to express herself more boldly. These moments bring real joy and a sense of achievement, diluting the regret.
I don’t derive any sense of happiness or achievement from students’ progress and growth. I believe it has little to do with being a teacher. Instead, it’s primarily the students’ own improvement. The only reason I persist is that teaching is relatively a decent job.
Maintaining English Learning
For some reason, learning English always gives me a sense of still being a student, whereas learning other subjects doesn’t evoke this feeling. Keeping up with English learning allows me to more efficiently acquire English information, giving me a sense of staying connected with the times.
Exploring Side Hustles
Even if I become a teacher, I don’t want to be someone who only knows how to teach. Whether it’s continuing to learn programming, maintaining writing, or keeping up with video and podcast creation, I hope to explore hobbies that allow me to develop horizontally in my free time.
