Whether you’re looking for a new career avenue or have recently finished your studies, you’ll soon find that being a teacher is one of the most rewarding and satisfying jobs out there. But why should you become a teacher? What are the benefits of teaching and becoming a teacher? Read on for our top benefits of teaching, and maybe if you’ve had a challenging day or week, these points can remind you why you do what you love every day.
1. Teachers get 50% more holidays than non-teaching job roles
The first benefit to teaching may be the most obvious, but it acts as a great reward at the end of an academic year. Granted, you might find that you sometimes work through a day or two or find yourself doing marking at the beginning of the summer holidays, but it’s a great benefit of teaching that you tend to get up to 50% more time off than non-teaching job roles. The regular holidays along with the long summer break is seen as one of the best things about being a teacher. Working weeks during term are often long and whilst not monitored intensely, teachers do work above and beyond expected working hours from time to time, but that makes those sweet six weeks of summer so much more rewarding. There are definitely a few voices out there who will tell you that teachers have far too much time off, but it’s needed and so beneficial. Finally, the benefits of teaching also mean that if you have a family of school age, you may be off at the same time as your children allowing you to enjoy quality time with your family.
2. Every day is different
Each day you step into the classroom is so varied which helps to keep your interest high… and keeps you on your toes! In one breath you might have been doing first aid in the playground and in the next you may have seen the same children having a ‘wow’ moment when everything clicks into place, and they grasp that new learning concept. In primary especially your planned day can change in an instant. For example, your line manager could inform you that the fire brigade is visiting that day and your class will be able to go and meet the firefighters and see their fire engine at 10:45 – just as your English lesson is meant to start! But the surprises and wonders are one of the many benefits of teaching that many teachers absolutely love and the reason they wake up in the morning for a new day in class.
3. Pay and clear progression of pay
Steeping into the world of teaching offers a clear and structured pay scale which is relatively competitive with other professions. There are clear scales and teaching staff will be aware of the scale they are on and will know what they will be earning the following year. The first six years of a teacher’s earning life is on the main pay scale (M1-M6) and after that, there is a move to the upper pay scale, (U1 –U3). As well as a baseline salary, there are opportunities to take on teaching and learning responsibilities which may increase pay to recognise the extra duties taken on. These are often referred to as Teaching and learning responsibilities (TLRs) and could look like taking a leading role in a subject specialism or taking early career/newly qualified teachers under your wing.
4. Ample career opportunities
Outside of how much you’re paid there are structures that provide opportunities for career development within a school to progress to leadership, this clear progression is a great benefit of teaching. You will have a professional development meeting each year with your line manager or headteacher and will be able to explore areas of interest or aspirations together. It is the school’s responsibility to support you in this, so make sure you come to those meetings prepared to talk about what your future might look like. Another benefit of teaching is that many of your skills will be transferrable and may lead you to an alternative career in the education sector or even out of education. You may want to lead a specific subject, complete further training to be a SENCO, or even continue up the scale to roles of leadership by completing a National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership (NPQSL) or a National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) for aspiring head teachers.
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5. The relationships you make with your class will absolutely shape your career.
Every year you will be greeted by new faces that you’ll get to know, and each one will come with their own aspirations and unique qualities. Throughout your career as a teacher, you’ll have the privilege of watching children grow and develop not only academically but as individuals too. Getting to know the pupil's skills and talents and working with them to succeed is one of the most satisfying benefits of teaching. Sometimes you could be the most important adult in a child's life when there is turmoil outside of the school walls. You need to build good relationships to identify when pupils need help, support or encouragement as well as guidance and boundaries. There may be a child you need to work extra hard on to build their trust to support them and once you do there will be nothing that feels more rewarding. Making and working on those relationships is not only a satisfying benefit of teaching but it can generate brilliant results.
6. Working as part of a team
Having colleagues to support each other, share in the fun of the day and be able to offload at the end of a stressful week is day one of the best benefits of being a teacher. Whilst teaching a class you will be on your own for most of the day or working with a teaching assistant, but working in a department or faculty of a school allows you to make relationships with the people you work with. Working as part of a team, however small or large, allows for professional support when the day delivers challenges to your door, or peace of mind when something doesn’t quite go to plan. Your colleagues will have a wealth of experience and skills which you can rely on for advice or help when working together. It’s always worth working hard to build effective professional relationships as this will benefit you as well as benefit the children you teach in the long run.
7. Making a difference
As educators, we have high expectations of our pupils. We aim to motivate everyone we encounter and believe in all of our pupils. We plan for our classes to support them, aiming to inspire and encourage children to learn. Top-quality, excellent teaching reaps the rewards of increased pupil attainment and achievement. It isn’t about the data but about the passion that comes from you and influences every pupil's learning journey.
Knowing that a pupil is inspired to explore the sciences because you have spent extra time exploring it with them is so rewarding and one of the biggest benefits of teaching. It may be watching children learn to read and write for the first time, or when you watched your whole class master long division after you gave them an extra lesson. As a teacher it isn’t just about the academics, instead, it may be about the social and emotional support you give to your class in challenging times that can make a world of difference to that pupil and their family. A smile, some words of praise, or a question asking if a child is ok may be all it takes to make a difference in that child’s day. That’s a benefit of teaching that no one can quantify.
8. The events
As a teacher, you’re often there to help celebrate the nice things with your pupils such as key religious events during the year, sports days, assemblies, and school trips along with celebrating academic successes with them too. Younger pupils may experience lots of firsts in your class. The first word they’ve written which turns into their first story, the first time they’ve won gold at sports day, or their first best friend gained from working together in a group you set up. Older pupils may want to share more mature events in their lives and you are the privileged chosen person, such as family events or occasions. As a teacher, you’ll often find yourself in loco parentis, or the act of being in the place of the parent and often you are the first port of call for children telling you their important events. Mum has had a baby, they have just had gran and grandpa to stay, or that they are going on a plane for the first time! Children share with their teachers; they trust you, and it is a privilege to be an ear to listen to or a smile to encourage and celebrate with.
9. The laughs!
Another benefit of teaching that may be overlooked is the fun and laughs you’ll have along the way. This may be with your colleagues but think about the things that children do, say and write down. As we said before one of the benefits of teaching is that every day is a new experience and you’ll forever be surprised by a child’s hair-brained idea, silly word they’ve discovered or positively bizarre behaviour (that you have of course corrected) that makes for a fond memory down the line.
10. The lightbulb moment
The last benefit of teaching is by no means least, when a child ‘gets it’ after you have dedicated time, effort and energy into their learning is proof as to why we become teachers. That dawning moment they with an, “Ah! I get it now!” From that lightbulb moment, we feel that all the hard work put into planning and preparing a lesson and then teaching it has paid off, while you know you have made a difference to their learning. Progress has been made and your student understands and can now move on. What more can you ask for?
Teaching is a career that can be hard work and intense at times. However, the reason we do it is because we are passionate about education and educating those we teach. We also know that there are so many more benefits to teaching the general perception of lots of holidays and leaving work at 3 pm! There may be days that challenge you as a teacher, but hopefully, this list is enough to outweigh those challenges and remind you why you do what you do and the difference you make to each and every pupil that you support.
Want to learn more about the benefits of teaching and working in education? Check out My-Progression: TeacherActive’s bespoke CPD platform offering education career advice on YouTube.
