Why Do You Want to Teach an Online Class?
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It's a big day when you decide you want to teach a class. I’m super excited for you that you do! There is so much opportunity, and it’s an extremely rewarding pursuit. With that in mind, there’s a really important question that you need to answer. Why do you want to teach?
This seems like such a basic question, even trivial. However, it’s more important than you might think. In fact, it could make the difference between you being an okay teacher and being an excellent one. Why?
Well that’s the point isn’t it? Your motivation for teaching will drive everything that you do from here forward. For example, if you just want to teach to earn some extra money that’s great. However, your students may not feel the compassion from you that they might otherwise. If you want to teach a class because your mother was a teacher and your grandmother before that, and you feel it’s your calling to guide others, that’s a very big why.
Do you need a deep philosophical reason to teach? No, not really. But it’s extremely helpful to know what that reason is and be honest with yourself about it. It’s something that your students would want to know as well. In fact, it may make the difference between them wanting to take your classes or not. People like meaning.
Maybe you learned a skill the hard way and you want to make it easier for others. Or perhaps you had the privilege of learning a very technical skill, and you have a very easy way of sharing it, that would be another excellent reason. Making someone else’s life easier or better is compelling. People are looking for more of that.
My challenge to you is, whatever your deepest reason is for teaching, do your best to discover it. It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s actually taken me quite a long time, but I hope that it won’t take so long for you. In fact, I want to help you.
Here are some thought provoking questions to ask yourself while you work this out. Think about these deeply and answer them the best you can.
Regarding your teaching subject:
Why do you want to teach that particular thing?
Why did you learn it in the first place?
How did you get good at it?
What makes you good at it?
Why should others learn it?
Why should they learn it from you?
How long have you been doing it?
How did you approach it as a beginner?
How did you feel about it as a beginner?
After thinking about answering these questions for yourself, what did you learn? Are there any patterns or similarities in your answers? Did it inspire you to think about teaching differently? Did this exercise give you some ideas on how to talk to your students about your subject?
There are even more questions you can ask yourself to bring out your big why. Incidentally, this is an amazing way to bust creative block when you run out of ideas. I'd love to talk with you about this more. Give me your questions, thoughts, and comments below so we can continue the converstion. : )