Teaching Can Be Many Things
I didn't take the job here to teach. I took the job to see another part of the world and to get away. Learning to like teaching Korean children after initially hating it has been a huge perk. There are a few reasons that I almost like this job.
Everyday I get to come in and psychoanlayze children. I'm involved in a wonderful social microcosm (sp?). I get to watch them interact like heated helium atoms bumping up against each other and then bumping into lithium atoms and spawning off another raction. You learn to be observant and take this process peacefully. At first watching them scream, run around, cry, kick and punch really irked me. But, me screaming, running around, half-crying, mock punching and kicking didn't have any bearing over their future endeavors. So instead I decided to watch. Watching them is fun. If you just let it run the course with a tad of restraint or a quick shock value whistle blow or hard hand slap on the desk most crisises can be averted and you can watch the heated forum for what it is; a wonderul pit of possible psychoanalysis.
You can see how Michael is crying because one of the girls called him a fool. Or you can see how one child will revert within themselves because they don't know the answer. You can tell the strong leaders form the followers. You can tell the intelligent from the stupid. You can't do this in normal society because you don't have the same sort of hold over your subjects. At work you never really know if someone is stupid or not because you both work in different spectrums. You can make a judgement that someone is idiotic or foolish but you won't ever really know unless you see them with childish innocence. That is where the true emotions come ringing out. The only time you can come close to replicating these emotions is either when you are high, drunk, extremely jubilant, or extremely tortured. Children always oppearte on the polar ends of the emotional axis and this causes them to not have a center. The disappearance of this center makes them more transparent and in turn makes them easier to study and observe for all of their innocent reactions.
There are other perks involved in teaching; Love. If you respect your students and treat them with care you will receive love. Now, this isn't saying that I myself receive love. I occasionally get a hug or a present but this is usually from my younger kids who's polar axis is even more askewed than the older ones. But, I see so many teachers here get love. They work for the love but they get all back in return. There is nothing like love from a child. There is nothing like looking into a young persons eyes and seeing trust and hope in what you are saying and doing. You never see that in your friends, lovers, or adults, because they don't need you to show them the way, they think they already know the way. Childrens eyes, if not cynicized already by their parents (as mine unfortunately were...I dont remember ever trusting a teacher), can look at you in a way that can change your life.
Another positive is the actor reaction. As a teacher, your ability to interact on a childish level improves greatly. You become more fun in your life because the mondane boring things that adults say aren't nearly as boring as the boring things that children say and you can learn how to treat them with humor or a positive attitude because you have to do this with children anyway. You become an actor in from of them. You entertain and use your imagination. It's a good skill to reincarnate in yourself.
These are some of the positives. I will simply mention the negatives and not go into too much depth about them. Sloth, you will become lazy. Ambition is absent. Competetive emotions die. You can become what you fear if you aren;t careful. I try to stay sharp by writing and analyzing but I have seen this job eat many people alive and suck the life out of them.