Aristotle once said “Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach.”

This is an essay based on an interview I conducted with an English teacher on May 11, 2020. This essay will cover the challenges of starting out as a teacher, dealing with the varying levels of students, tips for up-and-coming teachers, and any possible regrets.

This essay is addressed to my fellow classmates, future teachers, and everyone interested in the field of teaching.

            As Plato said “Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds.”

To achieve the advice given by the great philosopher I had to look for a teacher I can trust. Therefore, it occurred to me to interview one of my relatives who is a teacher.

The first question was, what are the challenges that she faced and how did she overcome them?

She said that she was at first, nervous of being an inefficient teacher but as time went on, she became an extremely organised person who manages every task perfectly.

She said “I suppose it’s a feeling that every teacher gets before actually starting to teach, because we all want to be qualified to give our knowledge to the next generations.”.

I asked her if she encountered any situation in which she felt that she did not want to continue teaching anymore.

She replied with “Yes I did, many times in fact”.

And then she mentioned situations where she had students with behavioral issues and as a result of their actions, some students started getting lower grades than usual, and this, as expected, was not accepted by parents who started to complain about it.

This affected the teacher’s energy and somewhat drained the love of teaching from her.

How did you handle low-level students, students who do not want to learn English, and students with behavioral problems? She replied that she conducted diagnostic test.

For the students who scored lower grades, a free period was given to them to improve their language. The results were positive.

Most of the students who did not want to learn were shy as they were afraid that they will make mistakes and their classmates would laugh at them. She would encourage them to read alone and she would sometimes call them into her office and read with them.

The biggest problem was students who have behavioural problems. The best way to deal with them is to keep them near you, and always make them answer the questions that you asked.

“They’ll get tired of that very fast and you won’t have to deal with their misbehaving anymore.”

How can a teacher deal with this much pressure? I asked. She said that the elder teachers helped her get around the tension and pressure by conversing with other teachers and helping each other.

“Teaching really needs a person that can endure stress and pressure, and fortunately, you can actually acquire that while teaching.”

I asked a question that got an answer that was very unexpected. The question was, if you could go back in time, would you still choose to be a teacher?

The answer shockingly came with “Not really, though I can’t deny that it was fun to be a teacher, it taught me a lot of things that helped me in my personal life.”.

The last question was, what are the tips that you would like to recommend to us as future teachers?

“To be patient, so patient, because you won’t be able to continue on without patience.” was her immediate response. And lastly, “We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.” (King, 1963)

So be kind to your students, because they will remember you for the rest of their lives so be sure to leave a positive impression.

“One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” (Yousafzai, 2013)

My dear future teachers, make sure that you are a part of this equation.