The Struggle of Being an Education Major

    As early as high school, I knew that people thought education was an easy field. Each day on the bus ride to Eastern Long Island BOCES for my early childhood education class, I heard numerous comments about how all I would do when I got to class was play with children. The more I heard these comments, the more upset I got. PSA for everyone: TEACHING ISN’T EASY.

    When I first attended SUNY New Paltz, I constantly got asked what I wanted to major in. My immediate response was I wanted to be a teacher and that I was majoring in early childhood education. Since the people I was talking to were slightly more mature than the average high schooler, I got less offensive comments, but most were still demeaning. For example, my absolute favorite comment is “For those who can’t do, teach.” I don’t know what it is, but each time I hear it, I get more and more infuriated. From all these experiences, I want to let the people that think teaching is easy know why it’s no walk in the park.

1. In order to teach in an elementary school, you have to have a basic understanding of ALL subjects, not just one.

2. Children do unexpected things every moment of the day. In order to teach, you have to be flexible and ready for whatever the children throw your way.

3. Children don’t stop moving. If you think teaching is so easy, I want to see you teach a 45 minute lesson to a group of 20 five year olds.

4. Children never want to do what you ask them to. In fact, their favorite thing to do when you ask them to do something is the exact opposite. Children get pleasure out of watching you suffer.

5. There are multiple certifications that a teacher candidate must pass in order to be able to even think about teaching within a school district. Furthermore, all of these certifications cost hundreds of dollars.

6. Running after children all day is absolutely exhausting. During the day, a teacher doesn’t get a moment to sit; they are constantly moving with their active students.

7. Coming up with lesson plans takes a lot of time and effort. When you teach younger grades, you have to discuss all the benchmarks and goals for the children while staying within Common Core Standards. Let me tell you, it’s not a walk in the park.

Although I have only listed seven reasons, they are just the beginning. The next time you talk down about an education major and how their college career path is so easy, teach a day in any school and you will quickly realize that you are so glad there are people like us out there willing to do it.

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