- #1
Mépris
- 850
- 11
Hi,
I've spent the past year or two doing a lot of "soul searching" (if there is such a thing, *laughs*) and along the way, I learned a lot about science education and employment in general. What I've learned is a lot of who I've been through most of my life was predetermined before I was even conceived (thanks twofish) - for instance, me doing well in school has more to do with my brother doing much worse than he should have and the chances my mother couldn't or didn't take when she was younger, than with myself. I've also learned that what I like is of greater importance than what others would like for me, even if they think they have my best interests in mind. My brother would be thrilled if I wanted to get into a start up (or set up my own), my parents could have a heart-attack if I were to announce that I wanted to be a doctor.
Both my parents are teachers and from what I've seen of their work - I know all about the internal politics that can go on in schools - and I think I would actually enjoy the work. I haven't formally taught any class but I tend to teach friends things quite often (anything I've read or learned about as well as things that's related to our school work, if we're working together) and I enjoyed the process. It also gives me a very solid reason to stay on top of my game at all times. I am also very interested in the "counselling" part of the job, which I was fortunate enough to receive from 2-3 teachers. Teens often find themselves lost in very dark places and I've seen - heck, I have first hand experience of that - how bad it can get and it's a really nice feeling to have someone get down there with you with a pocket torch and some cookies or something! I will also look into trying to get an "internship" of sorts at my former high school and see if I can shadow my physics and math teachers and perhaps even teach a class.
I've come to the conclusion that while I am capable of doing the things that are expected of me or the things that I expected myself to do, I think I would be much happier if I was in a somewhat "slower" lifestyle, where I could happily indulge in other activities I like, including but not limited to: writing, literature, history, music (all kinds!), economics, most forms of science and hopefully some kind of sport. Who knows, maybe when I get older, when Friday afternoon swings by, I'd like to get the pirogue out and go fishing! Or rock climbing! And cooking!
Now comes the tricky part. Many of you, I suppose, would like to live in a tropical island by the beach (I'm a ~45 minute ride from 3-4 different beaches) or live in a place where you could get to just about anywhere within a 1-2 hour drive, but I don't. I'd like to travel a lot and work in different places. (various parts of Europe, the States, Asia and probably Australia as well - I guess that's just about everywhere but Africa? :S) How should one go about that? Is there some kind of "teacher training/certification" that I could get that would be recognised in all of these places? The UK has the PGCE and if I'm not mistaken, so does Australia. Is such a thing possible? I do realize that I might not be able to work in all those places but I would definitely settle for any two of those. Also, after ~10 years of teaching, would being funded for graduate school (PhD) still be a possibility? I understand that this would have to be in an area related to my line work, which would almost immediately rule out the "hard sciences" but would include education. But what else? International development?
I'm also not certain if I'd like to teach math/science or humanities/social sciences but for what it's worth, I will most definitely be keeping the other as a hobby. I'm more tilting towards math though. I'm not so certain as to how I came to this decision but I'm sure it's a combination of various thoughts and experiences I've had. At any rate, what's left for me to say is that I feel good about myself after a very long time.
Help and/or insights from teachers working in those countries would be highly appreciated.
Mepris.
I've spent the past year or two doing a lot of "soul searching" (if there is such a thing, *laughs*) and along the way, I learned a lot about science education and employment in general. What I've learned is a lot of who I've been through most of my life was predetermined before I was even conceived (thanks twofish) - for instance, me doing well in school has more to do with my brother doing much worse than he should have and the chances my mother couldn't or didn't take when she was younger, than with myself. I've also learned that what I like is of greater importance than what others would like for me, even if they think they have my best interests in mind. My brother would be thrilled if I wanted to get into a start up (or set up my own), my parents could have a heart-attack if I were to announce that I wanted to be a doctor.
Both my parents are teachers and from what I've seen of their work - I know all about the internal politics that can go on in schools - and I think I would actually enjoy the work. I haven't formally taught any class but I tend to teach friends things quite often (anything I've read or learned about as well as things that's related to our school work, if we're working together) and I enjoyed the process. It also gives me a very solid reason to stay on top of my game at all times. I am also very interested in the "counselling" part of the job, which I was fortunate enough to receive from 2-3 teachers. Teens often find themselves lost in very dark places and I've seen - heck, I have first hand experience of that - how bad it can get and it's a really nice feeling to have someone get down there with you with a pocket torch and some cookies or something! I will also look into trying to get an "internship" of sorts at my former high school and see if I can shadow my physics and math teachers and perhaps even teach a class.
I've come to the conclusion that while I am capable of doing the things that are expected of me or the things that I expected myself to do, I think I would be much happier if I was in a somewhat "slower" lifestyle, where I could happily indulge in other activities I like, including but not limited to: writing, literature, history, music (all kinds!), economics, most forms of science and hopefully some kind of sport. Who knows, maybe when I get older, when Friday afternoon swings by, I'd like to get the pirogue out and go fishing! Or rock climbing! And cooking!
Now comes the tricky part. Many of you, I suppose, would like to live in a tropical island by the beach (I'm a ~45 minute ride from 3-4 different beaches) or live in a place where you could get to just about anywhere within a 1-2 hour drive, but I don't. I'd like to travel a lot and work in different places. (various parts of Europe, the States, Asia and probably Australia as well - I guess that's just about everywhere but Africa? :S) How should one go about that? Is there some kind of "teacher training/certification" that I could get that would be recognised in all of these places? The UK has the PGCE and if I'm not mistaken, so does Australia. Is such a thing possible? I do realize that I might not be able to work in all those places but I would definitely settle for any two of those. Also, after ~10 years of teaching, would being funded for graduate school (PhD) still be a possibility? I understand that this would have to be in an area related to my line work, which would almost immediately rule out the "hard sciences" but would include education. But what else? International development?
I'm also not certain if I'd like to teach math/science or humanities/social sciences but for what it's worth, I will most definitely be keeping the other as a hobby. I'm more tilting towards math though. I'm not so certain as to how I came to this decision but I'm sure it's a combination of various thoughts and experiences I've had. At any rate, what's left for me to say is that I feel good about myself after a very long time.
Help and/or insights from teachers working in those countries would be highly appreciated.
Mepris.