Has a subject influenced what you want to do in life?

[StripedTiger]

I was inspired a very long time ago.
In year 7 i was inspired by my english teacher to become a teacher. Primarily i thought english, but it wasnt a subject i thought i was particularly good at in that point of my life.
By year 8 and 9 i was inspired by my maths teacher to do maths. Within the space of 2 years i went from bottom of set 4 (quite dumb) to the top of set 2 because she knew how to teach.
Then during years 10 and 11 i was inspired by my science teacher. she put in extra work and her time in helping me to go from a D grade to an A

so all in all 3 teachers inspired me to want to become a teacher. The latter one also inspired me to do science, which is how im on the path leading to a zoology degree. the only thing is, because i havnt seen any in a while the inspiration wares off i suppose. At the moment im not so sure about being a teacher, im looking at animal conservation (particularly tigers haha) or maybe finding a career in presenting or research for documentaries / animal or nature programmes - especially for the BBC. I'm not so sure yet, so for now i can do down 1 of three paths

[Frodo13.]

History definatly. I'm doing it at university at the moment, with a module in Politics (Political Ideologies to be precise) and hope to do PGCE Secondary History after my course has finished, which obviously would lead on to me being a History teacher. Going to need a 2:1 really for it to happen; thankfully passed my first year with a 2:1, so hoping the good marks carry on for the next 2 years!

[-:Undertaker:-]

brilliant maybe you should do something which needs someone with an un-bias approach to politicos since that comes into it alot. I can't see you as someone who would leave their love affair with UKIP at the classroom door.

Well i want to do law and have done for 3 years now, i guess my history teacher showed me what it was all about because of my ability in that subject and just the way i am. I love the subject because also love the analytical approach to reasoning and how to formulate opinions etc so wee.

I would leave it at the classroom door and would have no chouce not to as teachers are required to do so, but if asked my opinion then I would give it and encourage debate. History and politics are inseperable. To teach history is boring, to discuss it is much more fun. To teach children what to think is wrong but it is not wrong to discuss it with them.

My personal experience anyway has always been left wing teachers trying to influence the young, i've never come across a right wing teacher who has gone on the warpath like some of the left wing teachers have done so.

[Frodo13.]

I would leave it at the classroom door and would have no chouce not to as teachers are required to do so, but if asked my opinion then I would give it and encourage debate. History and politics are inseperable. To teach history is boring, to discuss it is much more fun. To teach children what to think is wrong but it is not wrong to discuss it with them.

My personal experience anyway has always been left wing teachers trying to influence the young, i've never come across a right wing teacher who has gone on the warpath like some of the left wing teachers have done so.

I 100% agree, and think that a personal political opinion is almost vital in teaching history. However, what a history teacher also needs to do is inform the class of the other opinions/debates on the topic being taught and allow the students to form their own opinions on certain issues. I would say 99% of historical events have some sort of political link, and therefore it would be stupid to say you shouldn't bring politics into a history classroom.

Saying that however, I am always fearful of bringing my own political opinions into my essays at university. In my 'Political Ideologies' coursework, we could do a question on the concept of ideology, Liberalism, Conservatism & The New Right, Socialism or Marxism. As a supporter of the Labour Party, the obvious choise for me would have been to write about Socialism, however, I went with Liberalism to unvoid a biased approach (and it worked, I got a 2:1 on that essay)

[louder]

if anything, school subjects put me off.
i guess doing creative sound engineering and music technology has made me want to do sound engineering more at uni.
but i wanted to do that anyway..

[Alex3213]

I would leave it at the classroom door and would have no chouce not to as teachers are required to do so, but if asked my opinion then I would give it and encourage debate. History and politics are inseperable. To teach history is boring, to discuss it is much more fun. To teach children what to think is wrong but it is not wrong to discuss it with them.

My personal experience anyway has always been left wing teachers trying to influence the young, i've never come across a right wing teacher who has gone on the warpath like some of the left wing teachers have done so.

Yes yes yes I agree with this. I would encourage debate often so that people are able to participate, give their opinion and not just write in their excersise book answering questions (although this is helpful to know what people know, it isn't good for that to be frequent). Discussions will always make the lesson more interesting and History is one of the subjects you can do that (along with things like Politics, RS and Geography) and even if you can't do it as much (ie Maths) it's what makes a lesson interesting, for both the teacher and the children.

[Inseriousity.]

You can have debates in lessons without giving your opinion at all tbh. My RE teacher never gave her opinion unless she was asked but she did encourage us sharing our own opinions.

I had no interest in RE. For me, it was always about Christianity and that's just boring (nothing against Christians but RE should be wider). However, GCSE RE came around and it was far less christianity and more about the ethics, philosophy and other world religions so it was far more interesting and appealing. Because of this, I've wanted to do something with RE/philosophy.

Ever since primary school, I've wanted to be a teacher but now I'm not so sure. We'll see where life takes me I suppose

[Sarah]

History definatly. I'm doing it at university at the moment, with a module in Politics (Political Ideologies to be precise) and hope to do PGCE Secondary History after my course has finished, which obviously would lead on to me being a History teacher. Going to need a 2:1 really for it to happen; thankfully passed my first year with a 2:1, so hoping the good marks carry on for the next 2 years!

This! Since taking history at GCSE i have a real passion for it now and would love to be a teacher

[Matthew]

No offense and a bit off topic but that passion might go, I loved reading until year 7 where it slowly died throughout the year. It changes alot in secondary.

same, in primary school i loved reading and writing, i often stayed up into the morning reading, but now, i rarely pick up a book to read for pleasure
(i still love writing though)
i guess my school has made me think about being a teacher, but that will come 2nd to being a pilot

[Swastika]

Subjects such as woodwork and engineering made me get interested in getting a trade, which is what i now have done.
Looking back now though, i'd have loved to have studied things like business, law and politics, rather than just getting my woodwork qualifications.