Bri Becerra
Editor-in-Chief
We’ve all seen the TikToks that education majors from other institutions make, joking about how their homework is to learn an ice-breaker activity while their STEM roommate cries over a lab report that they have to finish. Or maybe even the TikToks where women graduating with elementary education degrees show off their engagement rings, implying that education is a “Mrs. Degree.”
I’m graduating with degrees in both history and education, I’ve learned about a million ice-breakers and I’m leaving with a ring on my finger. It would seem that I have lived out the education major stereotype. But the notion that education is “easy” makes my blood boil.
Sure, I don’t have a paper due every week in my ed classes or lab reports coming out my ears. But I do have lesson plans to complete, materials to make and edTPA to prepare for. For certain classes, I had to be at school by 7:45 a.m. to be ready to teach high school students every morning. And don’t even get me started on the amount of times I have heard a student say “skibidi toilet” in a classroom over the past year.
Work looks different for every major — that’s something that is simple to acknowledge. But deciding what kind of work is valuable and what kind of work is not is where things begin to go south. Entering the workforce as a teacher is more difficult now than it ever has been, and the view of an education major as an “easy” or “less academic” pursuit compounds the lack of value that is placed on teachers.
The current federal administration hopes to “abolish” the Department of Education, cutting funds to public schools and their essential programs for students. Teachers will still be expected to go above and beyond for their students but with less money to do so. Dipping into personal funds should not be the standard for teachers to be able to provide students with needed supports.
While I’m on the topic of funds, teachers don’t have an abundance of those in the first place. In Ohio, the average salary for a first-year teacher lands around $40,000 while the minimum living wage is around $61,000. Some make the argument that teaching is the easy way out because teachers get the summer off, thus deserving a lower salary, but many educators spend their break revising lesson plans or pursuing professional development opportunities.
As a teacher, I am going to have to work a second job on some weeknights, weekends and during the summer just to make ends meet. This is a reality that I am stepping into with full awareness. And while this isn’t fair, it’s a sacrifice that is necessary for financial survival.
Another comment made toward future teachers is the classic, “you’re too smart to be a teacher” or “you could have been more than a teacher.” Do people really want their children taught by educators that they don’t think are intelligent and passionate? Teaching is not a second-rate career — it takes an immense amount of organizational skills, time management, patience and interpersonal abilities. These are typically qualified as “soft skills,” making them less valuable in the critical eye of society.
And what does “more than a teacher” even mean? Teachers are responsible for preparing students for life after school, equipping them with skills like critical thinking and how to build meaningful relationships. As cheesy as it sounds, educators touch the lives of those they teach. That’s not something that should be taken lightly.
Long story short, I am tired of being seen as less serious, less intelligent and less valuable because I am going to be a teacher. This is not to say that teachers should hold importance over all others, but rather an argument to be viewed as an integral part of society. I dance for my students, talk in goofy voices and generally make a fool out of myself for their sake, but I am also working to build learners who question established systems and are confident in their own agency. That sounds pretty damn important to me.