Maybe it's just me getting ancient, but many professions seem like they become more complicated in contemporary realities.
Despite the advances technology offers in most fields, I feel that the fast pace of changes pushes us to adapt faster and faster. That adaptation often seems close to impossible, and we lean towards ways we've used before, often not as efficient, which makes jobs complicated.
For example, harvest some 100 years ago took way more manpower, but it was easier to learn for each involved individual. Now, one farmer with one combine can cover as much land as probably 100 or more people did before. But to learn how to properly operate a new combine takes way more skills and is not something everyone can do anymore.
That's just one close-to-home example. I do see similar tendencies in most fields, but one profession appears to me as the most complicated nowadays.
With school being back this week, I couldn't resist thinking about what it takes to be a teacher in today's classroom.
That job always was a difficult and well-respected one. Not only do teachers have to have a deep understanding of one or more subjects, but they also have to know how to transfer the most important parts of that knowledge to young students, ensure this knowledge sticks well and grow students' ability to implement it in real life.
It's never been an easy job. But I think what teachers experience today is beyond hard.
I'm a millennial, and when my generation was growing up we still mainly relied on parents and teachers as main sources of information about how the world around us works. We would bring our questions to elders and mostly wouldn't argue with them when they shared their knowledge. We learned to read to be able to widen our worldview ourselves, but we still looked up to the previous generations and specialists.
Kids nowadays are fast and amazingly alert in navigating the ocean of information. If something is interesting for them, they learn all about it before we know it. But if something seems boring or lame, it's hard to explain why they may need to know it. They have free access to more information than any adult usually would know, which makes it extremely difficult for teachers.
A six-year-old recently gave me a lecture on how to survive in a variety of force-major situations, a very informed one, leaving me sincerely impressed. He learned it all through an online game.
The reality is also changing fast, and teachers have to upgrade themselves all the time to be able to implement new technology to not fall behind. As an example, artificial intelligence was still somewhat of a thing of the future a couple of years ago, but it's an accessible reality for everyone today. Teachers have to adapt to the fact that students may now try to complete assignments using AI, which is often almost impossible to identify. And there are many other changes.
Besides, the perception of a teacher has changed a lot over the past decades. A teacher used to be one of the most respected persons in the community, whose words and approach wouldn't be questioned. Now, education is viewed as a "service" provided to families, and schools and school boards have to ensure they satisfy the vision and needs of their diverse "customers". Teachers face a lack of trust and receive a lot of criticism, as in today's world there are a lot of experts in everything, thanks to Google.
Being a teacher is also way broader than just delivering knowledge. Not only do teachers guide kids in their academic journey, they also help them learn about social connections, their own emotions and feelings, relationships with their peers and adults, and much more.
And those aspects of the job are also constantly evolving. Gadgets, which probably are not as important for many teachers, are a huge part of students' lives, which teachers can't just ignore. They have to work with this reality as well, even though it's not something usual, approved or sometimes even understandable.
There are also more high-need students and a lot of multiculturalism in any school, including the smallest rural ones. I used to live in Boissevain, Man., for some time, and even that small, 1,000-person town had residents coming from every populated continent. And they all brought in their culture, needs, visions and expectations that teachers need to keep in mind.
On top of all that, the education sector is underfunded and often understaffed, which puts even more strain on those working in this already extremely complicated field. Teachers are overworked and lack the support they need to ensure the next generation is equipped to navigate the future.
So, with school being back, I just wanted to pay tribute to those brave individuals who keep facing the challenges, adapting and doing their job with a smile and a positive attitude. They make a huge difference in our world.
I do believe that being a teacher in today's world is the most complicated job.
