Caree paper

CAREER PAPER Introduction Teaching profession is the basis of sustainable development. Teachers have the most remarkable career of all. Children or students go to school so that they have a career of their own. Where could doctors, lawyers, and other professionals come from if not from teachers? Therefore, teaching a profession is an element of the educational system (Leibman, 2012).
The state government employs majority of teachers in the United States in high school, public elementary or the middle level. Teachers in the America may also work in the private institutions of learning. The ultimate mission of a teacher is to produce a skilled and an informed citizenry. The paper covers the history, requirements, duties, and the job outlook of a high school or a secondary teacher.
History of the Teaching Profession
In the earliest times, cultural, social values, religion, knowledge, traditions, skills, and morality were passed on to generation by informal education. Education was achieved by imitation and observation. It was in oral form. Parents, kids, and extended family acted as teachers to the young.
With the complexity of the ancient civilization, customs and knowledge about agriculture, boat building, military, and other activities called for the demand for teachers. The revolutionary war led to an improvement of education in America. Majority of the teachers at the time were male (Saleh & Khine, 2012).
Horace Mann in 1647 opened the first free public school. A significant step in the education sector took pace in 1857, coming up with National Teachers Association. It gave rise to the current teacher profession.
Requirements for the Teaching Profession
Becoming a teacher is not easy. A secondary teacher has to pass through high school, complete college and obtain a four-year bachelor degree in the field or subject they wish to teach. In addition, they have to go through one to two years of college in a Credential program. The program entails classes on how to teach. It also tests knowledge of PRAXIS, CBEST, and SSAT (Saleh & Khine, 2012).
Teachers are of different types. Each has a unique and a complicated job. Elementary teachers teach grade K to 8. Secondary teachers teach grade 6 to 12. Special Ed teachers teach students with disabilities. The substitute teachers fill in for the absent teachers. Finally, we have the professors who teach in colleges.
A secondary teacher teaches in one major subject area like Mathematics, English, Science, History, and Arts. Their daily duties involve making lesson plans, attending lessons, grading papers, assigning grades, contacting parents, keeping attendance and disciplining students among other responsibilities. A teacher has eight hours a day, five days a week with vocations off and summers. Some teachers work for ten hours a day, if other duties included, apart from class attendance (Saleh & Khine, 2012).
Public school teachers are state employees. The school district employs public teachers who receive government funding. Like other state employees, they run under state legislation like budget cuts, propositions, and grants. Private school teachers are not state employees.
A teacher’s salary is a subject to education and experience. In California, most public school teachers start with an average amount of $34, 000 a year. The salary is a function of experience, and every credit taken beyond Bachelor Degree. For example, a teacher who starts with a Master’s Degree earns approximately $42, 000 a year. Masters or Doctorate holders with an experience of over twenty or more years in the same district earn about $85, 000 annually (Saleh & Khine, 2012).
Why Chose the Teaching Profession?
I think this is a noble career for me since I love to multi-task and to be busy. I like being around people, and I have enough patience for the profession. I have the strong educational background. In addition, I am working hard sufficient to be a teacher. My decision is due to a couple of benefits in the teaching profession.
I prefer a job where one gets a freedom to try out creative and new ideas. Moreover, aligning with my values, a teacher has a feeling of making 0difference. I prefer close family ties, in line with their kid’s vocation; a teacher finds the time to spend with the family. In addition, a teacher gets a full medical and dental cover. The profession also has a well-established retirement plan with less to no co-payment. The teaching profession is admirable as it is one of the most stable jobs in terms of job security; students population never diminish (Saleh & Khine, 2012).
A teacher also receives tenure after teaching for three years. The tenure protects a teacher from retrenchment and gets a chance of staying at school. In tough economic times, those tenured get an opportunity to find jobs in the district, solving cases of layoffs. Therefore, I find teaching profession the best place to be after school.
Conclusion
It takes much hard work and patience to get to the teaching profession. One has to secure a four-year degree after passing through other educational levels, plus passing through a number of tests and obtaining a specialized credential. With various challenges in the teaching profession, a teacher has to be passionate about the job to be successful.

References
Leibman, P. (2012). I got my dream job and so can you: 7 steps to creating your ideal career after college. New York: AMACOM American Management Association.
Saleh, I. M., & Khine, M. S. (2012). Practitioner Research in Teacher Education: Theory and Best Practices. Frankfurt: Lang, Peter, GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften.