My gender affected me when I was a child in many different ways. I felt that the teachers would punish the boys more than the girls. Also some teachers would give out tougher punishments to the boys than the girls for doing the same thing. I think this was down to the fact that even at my primary school there was a ‘lads culture’, where it wasn’t cool to be good in class. As a result a few of the teachers tarnished us with the same brush. Even though I was not a naughty child, some of my friends were and I remember one particular moment when the teacher apologised to the girls of the class for splitting them up because of all the boys behaviour. This really affected me as I had done nothing wrong but the teacher just thought we were all the same. Also the teacher embarrassed me and the other boys and remembering thinking at the time that this so unfair and that the teacher hated us. Looking back I could see that the teacher was probably just having a bad day however that is an example of how I feel my gender affected me when I was younger. There was other examples, not letting the girls play football with us, because it was a boys only sport. Even though some of the girls were better than a few of the boys, myself included!

I wanted to become a teacher for a few different reasons. Both my primary school and high school had lots of children and teenagers with so much potential but for different reasons they did not achieve it. The majority who didn’t were children who just didn’t try hard enough as they couldn’t see the point in school. I think that if they had a teacher that could have captured their imagination they could have achieved much more. This is why I want to become a teacher, to help those who may not have that help a home, those who live in poverty, to educate them and give them a chance to break out of the circle of poverty. Education, I believe is the best way to do that. The teacher I want to become is someone who understands the different situations and needs of every child and still manages to teach them and lead them onto better lives. As I mentioned earlier there were people I knew who did not see the point in trying hard in school. I want to be the type of teacher that changes their attitude and try to show that education is the key for them doing well in the future.

My work experience was a major factor in me choosing teaching. For the first time I was teaching children and I really enjoyed it. I was teaching football to all different years and it gave me an insight into teaching and how to deal with all different types of kids. It was a very rewarding experience and it made me think seriously about teaching. During my sixth year, I volunteered in a school and once again was allowed to help in all different years. I watched how teachers took classes and inspired the children, it was at that point that I knew I wanted to do this as a job. The teachers I watched were so good at their jobs it showed me how much work you need to put in but having talked to all of them and witnessed it myself I realized that teaching is a fantastic job and worth all the hard work.

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