Why do I want to be a teacher? There are two reasons why I chose to be a teacher, it was because of my Sepedi teacher that I decided I want to be teacher. Her passion, love for children and her job made me realised that being a teacher is not just about waking up every morning, going to work and getting paid, there is more to that. It is about making learners to realise their potential, make change and make learners view education in different eye.The way she used to motivate her class to work hard and do better was amazing. The little star she put in my book when marking my work made me want more.
Then I realised I needed to put more effort for me to get all the shinning stars. It is because of teachers like her that learners enjoy school and work hard.Then again, my love for teaching developed when I was helping my younger brother with his homeworks, he was 9 years old in grade 3 but because he was in underprivilege school he couldn’t read nor understand what he was doing. I realised that the quality of education was very poor as most of children in his school were performing very bad. I dedicated my time and formed small afternoon lessons for children in my neighbourhood. The passion and love I had when I was explaining the importance of reading and understanding the question before answering has motivated me a lot. I could see that these children are just going to school because their parents expect them to be at school.
This broke my heart because I knew it takes a committed teacher to make changes in children’s lives. After some few lessons I saw some improvement in them and they could do their school work on their own. At the end of the year I saw them running straight to me with their reports in their hands shouting “I have passed “. Their confidence, energy and excitement brought joy into my heart.Then I knew teaching is for me, I want to make a change, I want to take part in shaping the future of the next generation.
I want to give learners quality education they can be proud of. Growing up in a disadvantage area and personally know how this affect one’s confidence, I wouldn’t want this to happen to any child.
