Teaching is a job for people who honestly enjoy being around other people. Loving other people is a difficult thing to job some days. Sometimes you are tired, frustrated, annoyed, stressed out, but you have to put on the smiling face and get in there and make the best of it. It is a huge part of the job and an important part of the job. Students need to feel your commitment to them. They must feel that you sincerely care about them as people. You can be strict, you can have high standards, you can be difficult to please, but in the end you MUST love them. If you can’t do it, leave the profession. Seriously if being around young people is difficult for you — quit! No one will think the worse of you; in fact, many people will respect you more. I had a friend who quit the profession and now she is an EMT and very happy. Teaching just wasn’t a good match for her. Be brave! Be responsible! Take a chance on being happy. If you don’t love seeing those faces coming through the door, leave the job. PLEASE!
I’m not sure why and I’m not sure how, but I seem to meet teachers every once in a while who hate children; in fact, some of these people hate people in general. It always fascinates me — why did a person who dislikes other people get into teaching? I know you have met them, too. They are everywhere! Actually, luckily, there are few of them, these people who hate people, but they do exist and sometimes they are teachers. The best thing you can do is encourage them to leave the profession — seriously! Please make polite suggestions about other fields where they would not have to deal with people. If you can’t do that, then at least always go out of your way to say something positive about a colleague or student in front of them, may be the positiveness will rub off on them.
What is worse than a teacher who hates people? An administrator who hates people! It infects the entire faculty and staff with the disease of hate. I ask you to do the same thing — encourage these poor people to find a job they will love that doesn’t involve working near, around, beside, or close to other human beings.
