Teaching in the US vs. the rest of the world

Teachers in America have a uniquely tough job. But it doesn't have to be that way.

*Note: At 1:09, we misspelled "Sweden." We apologize for the error.
 

From hours worked to pay rates, countries like Finland, Japan, and South Korea make teaching a more respected and sustainable profession.

Sources:

A Coming Crisis in Teaching?Teacher Supply, Demand, and Shortages in the U.S.-- The Learning Policy Institute

[MrSmitheroons]

How to keep teachers and improve education in two steps:

1) Value and respect them.
2) Actually pay them.

[owenbush]

I remember hearing someone say "there's not a shortage of teachers, there's a shortage of masters level professionals willing to be paid $35, 000"

[emanuelevacca]

In Italy, basically everyone wants to be a teacher because it's one of the last "stable" jobs as private-sector jobs are highly unsafe.
In US, teaching is so bad that they even made a TV show about a chemistry genius so frustrated to be a teacher that he becomes a drug lord.

[edwardjones]

I left teaching and became a librarian for less pay because I could no longer deal with the stress of maintaining order in a classroom. I wanted to teach, not spend my time being a disciplinarian. I had to deal with students who were unruly, rude, and disrespectful. I found that school administrators were fearful of parents and did not support teachers. One often hears that the teacher shortage is due to low salaries. This is not the whole story and vastly underestimates the difficulties and problems that one faces in the classroom.

[fhafz]

Welcome to teaching, where the salaries are low and everything is your fault.

[hanalver]

Also, Anna starts her life with her own college debt.

[boki]

Having lived and studied in several countries, I have noticed a big challenge for teachers in the US: the students are disrespectful, uncontrollable, and unwilling to study. The teachers are excellent and full of passion to teach, but unable to do anything with a class that has 0 respect. And the faculty support system is not strong enough for the teacher to manage the class. The students will be awful to the teachers, but if the teachers ever slip up under the pressure, they will be punished. The rules for how teachers can interact, or connect with students is extremely strict, giving teachers very little freedom. So basically, teachers are disrespected by their class, by the parents, and do not have a strong support system from the school, who will throw the teachers under the bus if they ever slip up or parents complain. I don't think the issue is with the resources or funding of the schools. Students in Asia work with very little. While in the USA, most teachers have smartboards, access to computer labs, etc. But who wants to work in a job where you are constantly abused by your class, disrespected, and constantly given pressure by your faculty and higher ups? In Asia, teachers are highly respected by students, the parents always take the side of the teacher, and are respected by the school, who supports them. Teachers have much more authority and freedom to discipline, manage and connect with their class. Being a teacher is a highly respected job.

[audreymcneal]

I had a friend in high school who was a Finnish exchange student. The year she spent here didn’t even count towards her education because the curriculum is so far behind. It was like a gap year for her 😭. Her parents are also both Finnish teachers, and she described it as “paid like doctors”. I think the two are related…

[daeunlim]

I went to American international school and my teacher who’s been teaching at states for 13 years cried on her first day of teaching overseas because she never realized how much easier teaching can be.

[eiansmemesanddumbstuff]

The worst teachers stay, while the fun teachers only stay a year or two

[zuzanafertalova]

My mom has been a middle school teacher in Slovakia for almost 30 years. It is hard to stay positive and happy teacher when the salary is so poor for the job she is actually doing. But as she once told me - I would quit imidiately if those kids were disrespectful. But I can actually see their thankfulness for all the work I am doing for them. I want them to see that I love them as my own children and somehow they are paying me back with their good grades and respect. Thats why I've stayed for so long, now I teach kids of those kids - And that made my cry actually :D

[kristinetorrice]

Teachers are abused by both students and parents. Unfortunately schools allow this to happen. Back when I was in school if my mom was called in fir a conference with my teacher about my behavior or grades it was “what did my daughter do? Why are you not doing your work in class? You’re going to fail the class if you keep this up.” Nowadays it’s a screaming match where the parent is cussing out the teacher, telling her she’s not teaching her child correctly, that no she’s not going to fail her kid, she doesn’t care if her kid mouths off, etc. The severe level of disrespect from students and parents is a huge issue with teacher retention. School districts aren’t willing to support their teachers. Some are even requiring teachers to give students a passing grade even if they don’t do the work. There was a case recently where a teacher emailed a parents after the parent wasn’t responding to messages left for them regarding their child not showing up for the virtual learning classes. The parents started screaming at the teacher telling her it was her fault her son wasn’t logging on, that it was the teachers responsibility to make sure her son was awake & logged on, that she’s busy at work so it’s not her fault. She told the teacher it was her responsibility to come to her house every day to wake her son up for school each morning. Are you kidding me!!!! Parents are supposed to make sure their children go to school, participate in school, do their homework, etc. Teachers are not babysitters. Parents need to start stepping up and get back to parenting instead of trying to be their kids best friend. Too many parents are expecting the schools to do everything for their children and it’s creating generations of disrespectful, ungrateful, uneducated, entitled little brats who offer zero to the world. It’s time we quit blaming teachers for the failings of students and start putting the responsibility where it belongs: on the parents who aren’t doing their job!!!

[anthonymarquez]

The quality of education is vastly different from state to state.

[HutchMuch]

“America spends more on security...than other countries”

gee, i wonder why

[samanthabennett]

As a teacher who moved from Texas to Sweden, I really have to say that a change in teaching hours makes the biggest difference. In Texas, I was in front of students 7 hours a day, 35 hours a week. In Sweden, it maxes out at 18 hours a week.

[DanielDavies-StellularNebulla]

I honestly don't know how they didn't mention the kind of education system Finland has.
I mean, that's probably the primary reason why teachers stay, AND ENJOY, teaching in Finland.

Seriously, look it up, it's fascinating.

[JM-usfr]

And yet, people continue to say "Kids these days are just lazy"

[Brianabar]

its also interesting how teaching in the us is considered a low level career out of degree required jobs yet in other countries in asia and europe teaching is one of the most respected jobs you can have

[professionalgiraffe]

As a millennial, by far the number one reason that I have heard from friends for why they left teaching is the parents. They expect teachers to raise and parent their kids, yet complain when teachers discipline them, and they blame teachers when their kid does not succeed.

[noonemaybesomeone]

my mom was a teacher in America and she quit because she couldn't take how disrespectful the kids were and how long she had to work.