i hate my cushy bullshit job where i make obscene amounts of money. should i quit my job and become a teacher? here’s what i’m thinking so far:

pros:

  • i won’t hate my job anymore
  • my job is a real job where i actually contribute to society
  • summer vacation sounds dope

cons:

  • maybe i still hate my job
  • my job would be a real job where i do work
  • i won’t make obscene amounts of money
  • wtf grad school is expensive

alternatively, are there other jobs i should try to do instead? mind you i have no skills and would probably need to go back to school.

  • Runcible [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    4 months ago

    As a kid I was raised believing teaching was a respected job (along with being a nurse, doctor etc) but I now perceive it to be somewhere along the spectrum of frustrating, demeaning and unsatisfying. Not because of the purpose but the compensation, institutional disregard and public scorn.

    One of my best friends from school is a teacher & he commented to me that he is the only person he knows from when he majored who still teaches.

    I am curious how much of this is consistent with your experience?

    edit: I guess I only read the first half, my bad. The propaganda part is off putting to me as well. I struggle with this in general because often I feel there are assumptions that are more pervasive and more damaging than explicit propaganda (ex US won WWII) but people aren’t typically consciously teaching that it just gets communicated somehow.

    • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      4 months ago

      I edited the above comment too late so I’ll put it here, starting with the quote I first responded to.

      Why would be teaching propaganda to kids for poverty wages make you feel better? This is not the way.

      What IS “the way” then? If it’s all “teaching propaganda to kids” what else is there? The implications of that statement, particularly that teaching was “teaching propaganda to kids” went beyond individual career choice.

      I left teaching recently, myself. I know very well how bullshit it is right now. Yes, it is terrible and it’d take some public will and government-level forced uprooting against the privatized rot to make a positive difference. I actually agree that it isn’t a good career to get into, right now, for someone that just wants to make a positive difference, but it’s still necessary work, just like nursing and picking up garbage. The workers deserve better, including better means to do their necessary work.

        • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          4 months ago

          they meant that public school teaching in the US or other capitalist countries is teaching propaganda to kids

          Yeah, and until and unless that changes, my question is what could be done for kids that need education, right now. It fucking sucks right now, and that’s one of the main reasons I left the profession myself, but that doesn’t mean that “shit sucks, just stop trying” should be a society-wide decision ever after.