Becoming A Drama Teacher

As my friend pointed out to me, this position of Pre-Service Teacher sounds like I am joining the Defence Force. Maybe this isnt so far from the truth… With all the aspects of being a teacher being thrust upon me, I am beginning to fear the “enemies” that I will no doubt be facing.

In my classroom management unit, I am taught to be prepared for the low-risk problems which the students will present me with (students chatting while you teach, mobile phones/mp3 players in the class), and “lead me to the second bottle of red each night”.

In my unit on Contemporary culture in a Digital Age, I am taught that computers are something I will never know more than my students about, but they will expect me to incorporate technology into as many lessons as I can. And much more importantly, the government will expect me to use computers in the classroom, so that their funding is well spent, and the youth of today will be equiped for the world of tomorrow (after all, the only constant in this world is change).

In my Teaching Drama unit, I am to be made prepared for the expectations which the school body and parent body, will have for school productions. I am pre-warned about the other teachers at my school wanting a high standard performance in the school play which will boost morale and good publicity. I am told stories of parents who cannot believe their 14 year-old daughter, who has been performing with the Johnny Young Talent School, did not get the lead role in this year’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar…

The Government wanting the best results from their investment in the future generations.
The Students taking any oppurtunity you give them to defy the institution.
The Teaching Faculty expecting a Tony winning performance in the next Musical.
The Parents all thinking their students are the next Mel Gibson or Nicole Kidman.

With these battles to be fought on all four sides, its amazing that anyone would want to become a teacher (even a drama teacher). Why would I want to enter Pre-Service for such a Defence Force which fights the enemy by trying to impress them all the time.

I believe I have an answer…

I want to be a teacher, because I believe that every person enters into a battle to be struggled with, no matter what career they may choose to follow, and it is up to the teachers to best provide every person with the weapons which they will need to fight their enemies. Whether it be a numerical missile to beat the deadline for an engineering project, a technological machine gun for developing a website, or a grenade of empathy to realise the character in the next Oscar-winning drama.