Is Teaching for Me?

The Christian's Primary Calling

All Christians have one primary calling; to be faithful in our relationship with God. We should seek to fulfil this in every area of our life: in our home, our church, our work and our leisure. We also have many secondary callings, one of which is our career. It is increasingly rare for anyone to have one career for all their life. We may well find ourselves doing many different jobs over forty years or so. Each one is an opportunity to fulfil our primary calling of being faithful to God. When asking if teaching might be one of our secondary callings, we need to consider whether our 'vocation' and our 'talents' fit with teaching.

Vocation

To have a vocation is to be passionate. It means caring so much about something that you want to make a difference. It entails having a vision for how things could be different. It makes you buzz inside when you think or talk about it. Having a vocation is not about feeling a sense of obligation, "I ought to do something about this"; instead it is caring so much that you want to get involved. We could describe a vocation as a passion that God has built into your DNA. For some people it is flying a plane, for others it is healing people who are ill. For teachers it is the thrill of helping people to learn.

Talents

Each of us has been gifted with a profile of talents. Being faithful to God means using these to the full as opportunities arise. To make the right choice of career you need to think carefully about two things:

• Firstly, you must understand yourself. You need to know the skills and abilities that you have. It is very important to be honest with yourself about this - you will probably need other people to help you. Try our quiz as a fun place to begin. Also, take time to talk to God and your family, your friends, your teachers - anyone who knows you well. Get them to tell you what you are good at.

• Secondly, you must understand what teaching is all about. What sort of person makes a good teacher? Yes, you have to develop skills in planning lessons, teaching, classroom management and marking. But you don't want to start a teacher training course and discover that you aren't the right sort of person for the job. There must be a fit between your talents, the sort of person you are and what teachers are required to be.
  

Want to know more about?

Teaching: a profession or a Christian vocation?

Dare to be a Daniel
Daniel as a model for Christian teachers today.

Does being a Christian make a difference to my teaching?

Being a Christian teacher in a world that isn't Christian.

Where might teaching lead?
Ideas on the careers that teachers might pursue after some years in the classroom.

Visit our library
for articles on a range of relevant topics

Vocation as a Christian

Gaining experience