Education Paradox

I’ve been thinking a lot about becoming a professor somewhere down the road. I think it would be very rewarding to teach bright, young students and watch them grow and develop as human beings. At a small, liberal arts college I think the toughest task I would face is turning spoiled brats into people who can exist with people outside their social class. They are basically given the world and it is up to them how they want to use it.

On the flip side, instead of teaching these gifted children, what about using my teaching talent elsewhere? Kindergarten? Middle School? Children with Special Needs?

Arguably, this type of teaching would be much more difficult. But it might be much more rewarding. I’m not going to run into Children with Special Needs who are given the world and who think they are better than everyone else—which I can easily see at the college level. As my supervisor at work pointed out—some kids with special needs are amazed and excited at the most mundane things in my life. Say… tying their shoelaces. Or coming in last in a race—merely finishing is a great accomplishment.

I know I won’t find this at the college level!

Right now I am leaning more towards the college level, because I believe the material I encounter will be more engaging for me, personally. I can see getting burned out working with younger children and the same material year after year. I know each classroom would be very different, but teaching material that isn’t engaging can lead to me losing the ‘spark’ that makes me want to be a teacher right now.

Do you have more respect for a great college professor, or a great kindergarten teacher? Or a great children with special needs educator? Not that I am fishing for respect… but I want to make the most of my talent.