48 Unit 1 You: The Teacher of Tomorrow
Set a Career Goal
Dreams rely on chance. Goals take concerted effort, 2-4. However,
your life’s dreams can become life’s goals. How can you make your dream
of becoming a teacher—and others—reality?
Think seriously about what subjects and age group you would like to
teach. These are two important questions in understanding your desire to
become a teacher. First, think about what you would like to teach. Do you
have a passion for a particular subject? Some people love a single subject
area such as biology or art. Others like to teach in all basic areas, including
reading, writing, and math. Are you drawn to young children, those in
middle grades, younger teens, older teens, or young adults?
When you know what you want to achieve, you are more likely to
achieve it. Use your personal answers to the “what” and “who” questions
as a basis for writing a career goal. A career goal is a clear, concise state-
ment of what you want to become in life. Write down exactly what you
want to accomplish in specifi c terms. Perhaps your goal is to be a third
grade teacher. Maybe you want to teach in a rural school. How will you
feel when you accomplish this goal? Although you may modify your goal
later, having a career goal will help you move ahead.
Your career goal forms the base for identifying interrelated goals that
will help you achieve it. For example, to become that third grade teacher,
you might set the goal of being admitted to a particular university with an
excellent teacher education program.
2-4
You have many other
goals to consider
when setting your
career goal.