Education is an odd profession to adopt, especially as a teacher. In this country, where there are no teacher’s unions in the private sector, it is very easy to have your pay cut left, right and centre, and not be able to do anything about it. After all, you have nothing to rely on. Your fellow teachers also will not be able to help you take a stand for fear of losing the little they do make. Your school will find wonderful excuses ranging from absences for which you submitted a doctor’s note (“Well excuse me for tearing the ligaments right off my foot!”) to the fact that during exam time we teachers apparently shouldn’t get paid as much since we’re not active in school- forget the fact that we’re slaving away marking papers at home. Yes, education in this country is truly a warped, exploitative business, and one that practically every private school perpetuates.
Ironically, you can make far more money working part time rather than full time in any given school. As a part time teacher, you work less hours (since you only have to come and go for your classes), and you can work at multiple places for the same amount (or more than) a full time teacher makes. As a full time teacher, far more is expected of your time. You WILL be needed for ridiculous school yard break duties. You WILL be needed to coach the debate team, to work in the school play, to tutor weak students after school… the list goes on. As a part time teacher, you can easily say no.
Obviously, the best way to make money in education is to be a tutor instead of a teacher. One on one tutoring, a service that very few people care for, is the most lucrative of the lot since you can charge well, and per hour, for such attention. However, it is very hard to come by, and you really have to be famous in order to get many clients. I, personally, would love to only tutor kids one on one since that’s where you can see the most improvement and create the most enthusiasm and love for learning. That is where the (lucrative and fulfilling) rewards of teaching are met in perfect harmony.
On a more realistic note, the other kind of tutoring that one can do is the good old fashioned stuff ‘em on the dining table and charge a flat rate kind. Creating a group of kids to tutor at home can be an easy and comfortable business, but this too is for teachers who are well known enough to have people calling them personally. The other kind is the tuition centre kind where you get 50 to 60 percent of your classes. The advantages of these are plenty: the tuition centre itself is very invested in you and will thus look for students for you. Another added plus is that you don’t have oily teens hanging around your house. You go in, teach, and go out. Even though the tuition centre will make your classes as large as possible, you probably won’t mind since you’re being paid per student- not a shitty lump sum.
My point is that the whole idea is to try and work less hours for more money. Use as many shortcuts as you can in this dog-eat-dog business. Sell yourself- pretend you’re willing to sell your soul. Don’t bother with loyalty since no teachers have loyalties anymore- we move on to where the money’s better without blinking an eye since we know we won’t be getting a raise anytime soon.
The fact of the matter is that teaching is not an easy profession, and in order to be a good teacher you have to be willing to work god damn hard. You should mark properly and recheck your marking twice, even thrice, every time. Prepare your lessons carefully- don’t just walk in and ad lib it. Do all the readings before you even assign them. Make sure you create some fun assignments so that you can sustain the class’s interest. Throw in random fun facts and ask them for their opinions. Create a safe environment; one where your students feel comfortable enough to open up and not feel embarrassed about anything they might say. Build up their confidence, and most of all, create a love for learning. Engrave it in their hearts and minds. Make sure they leave your class a little wiser, a little more mature and a hundred percent more idealistic.
No, you may not always get paid but sometimes, just sometimes, it can be worth it. The big hug from a grateful mother, the shocking improvement by weak students, your students’ new found thirst to make the world a better place… all these can lessen the pain and humiliation of having one’s pay cheque snipped for no good reason. They also help in the dry days of summer when there’s less work, therefore less money rolling in, and all you have is the knowledge that you’re doing what you do for the good of humanity. And sometimes, the crazy, overworked and overcrowded days of crunch time before exams can be well rewarded by the fat paycheque you receive at the end of the month from your tuition centre.
