In the secondary school environment, those skills come into play in relation to overt solicitation for advice from students as well as in the context of unsolicited counseling initiated out of perceived need on the part of the educator.
Conclusion:
The opportunity of specializing in the academic areas of my own greatest interest provides a strong attraction to me intellectually. I can anticipate the reward associated, in particular, with the challenges of working with motivated students who have already expressed a specific interest in academic areas of my own strengths. It is conceivable that secondary school instructors may be less susceptible to professional burnout by virtue of the subject matter level of instruction. However, it is somewhat unrealistic to focus on the most challenging potential instructional opportunities inherent in secondary school instruction when that aspect of instruction when that is only one component of the position. Generally, even instructors who specialize in specific academic areas, (and even those afforded the chance to teach at the honors level), still must devote significant effort to general studies and to the needs of the average student. More importantly, in my experience, by the time students reach secondary school age, it is much more difficult to help students develop a positive attitude to the education process if they have not already done so than it is to instill in them at the primary school level. Similarly, by the secondary school stage, students with greater academic aptitude and potential for educational success lies in non-traditional areas of talent who fall through the gaps of traditional educational programmatic focus tend to have done so already by the time they leave elementary school. Since salvaging their potential for academic success is one of my primary vocational motivations, this alone is a very significant reason for leaning toward an elementary school position.
The fact that secondary school education emphasizes the role of counselor over the role of educator and childcare specialist also militates against the secondary school
My ability to establish close rapport with secondary school students is somewhat limited to doing so with students who have already expressed a commitment to academic success; by comparison, it is, admittedly, more difficult for me to reach out to less motivated students.
Conversely, I consider myself much more capable of establishing a close rapport with primary school-age students irrespective of their natural academic aptitude or degree of interest in the educational process. That, combined with the more realistic opportunity to help salvage the future academic success of non-traditionally gifted students at that stage suggests to me that my ability to make a meaningful difference is considerably greater at the primary school level.
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