While searching for answers to the question "What drives someone to teach in the U.S.?" I found that many of the responses were ones I have heard before. The big one was something to the affect of "I want to help kids/I want to work with kids". Another was similar to "I want to make a difference in the world/in the lives of children". Less common ones included good hours, summers off, and a having a stable, secure job. A teacher also has some freedom to make their own class rules, plans, and add variation to each class. Teachers have the opportunity to advance or even move around to teach different subjects, at different schools, and at different academic levels. One answer that really struck me though was that some people just have a calling to teach. These people have wanted to become a teacher their whole lives and they show that they would be wonderful educators in a variety of ways.
I believe that while all of the answers are decent ones, the combination of satisfaction, enjoyment, monetary and career gain and the idea that you will be making a difference (among other things) make up a good reason to teach. I do not think that just one of those could be reason enough for most people. However, I do think that there are many people out there who really want to teach and really do have a knack for academics whose focus is on the children and not really on the rest of the positive (and negative) things that go along with being a teacher.
I also believe that your motivation to become a teacher and your reasons for becoming one can determine how successful you are as a teacher. For example, if your main reason for becoming a teacher is that you want to become tenured and there wasn't much else that you could do, you probably won't be as productive or effective as a teacher who looks forward to going to work every morning.
Although there may be cons to becoming a teacher, for me they are outweighed by the positive aspects. There is obviously some risk but there is also reward and I think that the drive to help children succeed is a great motivator to be a influential educator.
Teachers are very important to the future of the world and to the futures of the children they teach. My hope is that they understand that, enjoy teaching, and are outstanding at what they do!
http://www.teacherssupportnetwork.com/corporate/KnowledgeCenterArticle.do?id=5
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/sustaining-passion-reasons-teaching-elena-aguilar
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-allon/education-reform_b_1338980.html
http://www.destinationteaching.org/career/why.phtml
