“Teaching gives us a process of constantly growing and learning.”

Abi and Jess have begun growing and learning by joining the Secondary Programme at New Zealand Graduate School of Education. Both shared why they decided to join the 150,000-teacher-strong profession. For Abi, it seemed a natural progression to go into teaching as she reminisced on the teachers she had in high school. 

 “I liked my subject area (English), and I knew I was good at learning languages, English and written texts. Because literacy is so foundational for our society, I knew the best way to utilise those skills was to be able to help other people be good at the subjects too.” A firm conviction to help others influenced Abi’s decision to enter a gap year, where she lived and did volunteer work in Argentina teaching English and working in communities. Some of the environments Abi found herself in contrasted greatly to the environments she was used to back home. 

 “I was in Spanish immersion environments and working with children that had been separated from their families and adults who had disabilities. So learning to connect across cultures and connect with the language was important, and I think developing those skills led to a lot of success for me.”  

Abi recalls how the investment of time in her teaching led to success for her students. “I love the feeling of helping people to learn. I remember trying to teach these two young boys how to tell the time in English in one of my classes. They had been struggling with the learning for an hour. After being split into smaller groupings, I could work individually with them. We worked with them for so long, and in the last five minutes of class, it finally clicked, and they figured it out. It was the joy of knowing that I’ve helped them understand something. From that moment onwards, Abi knew that teaching was for her. 

Coming from a family of teachers, Jessica’s story started from a deeply engrained perception of the stark realities of having a career in teaching. “I was always told not to go into teaching as it was too much work, or to do something else with my life first. There was pressure for me to become a doctor, which is funny because I would have made an awful doctor - I can’t stand blood.” The mixed messages Jessica received in high school led her to begin a degree in engineering. “I convinced myself I wanted to enter engineering and work in policy.” However, Jessica knew that it didn’t feel right, and with the support of her Māori community, Jessica switched degrees midway through her third year. “I remember being scared to change because I had scholarships. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone, and I’d also put pressure on myself to do a ‘smart degree’.” Her transition to an Arts degree ignited a sense of connection and purpose, which directly correlated with her decision to enter the teaching profession. “I’m huge on relationships. I think that’s where you find meaning.” Although changing career paths was one of the hardest decisions for Jess, she also knew it made complete sense. “At the end of the day, you know yourself; you know what you connect to and what you don’t. Teaching is an opportunity to lead learning.”