People are thinking about switching careers, how about becoming a teacher?

Reading Time: 4 minutes

A new study seeks to discover the reasons why people change their profession and position teaching as an opportunity for those looking for a satisfactory and rewarding career change option.

Photo: Bigstock

With the purpose of understanding what motivates people to switch careers or employers, and with the aim of encouraging them to get into teaching, a new report by Censuswide offers a small insight into the matter.

Given that the intention of the survey is to motivate people to consider teaching and position this profession as a satisfying and rewarding career, it is interesting to see what motivates other people to stay or leave a job.

Among the reasons that Censuswide found about the aspects that people value most in their work, the most popular responses corresponded to coworkers companionship (36%), followed by a feeling of achievement (34%). Surprisingly, the earning potential came at fourth place (30%). Another factor that, according to the study, motivates people to change their profession is a desire to contribute significantly to society through their work.

How many people felt that probably, or definitely, would change careers? According to the study, 39% of people feel so frustrated with their current jobs that they would leave their current position, while 34% think that their job is meaningless, so they would also change.

But what does this mean for teaching? Are people considering this profession as a new career path? 44% of respondents thought they would be a great teacher, but only 14% said they considered transitioning to teaching. This shows that more efforts should be made to promote education as an opportunity for those who seek to contribute to society through their profession.

Those who answered that they think they could be good teachers, listed different reasons, among them, being good at explaining things, good with young people, believe they can make learning more fun, the passion they have for a specific subject and, finally, their desire to make a difference in the world, would lead them to consider teaching.

Although the study is from the United Kingdom, it can be of great help to redefine the prestige of being a teacher and position teaching as a profession of great value to society. One of the factors that lead to indecision about being or not being a teacher is the lack of support for professional development.

The interest is there, governments and institutions could make a more significant effort to transform that interest into a reality. However, it is essential that teaching does not become an escape route or an easy alternative for those who do not know what to do with their professional career.

Becoming an educator should not be taken lightly, it is a demanding and essential work for society. The fact that someone is excellent in finance, for example, does not make him a good teacher. Seeing teaching as a backup or an “easy” profession is severely damaging the profession.

However, it is interesting to see how many people consider changing careers in their search for meaningful work, which may explain the interest in teaching. What other profession offers such a significant impact on the world as teaching?

Related stories