I Call Myself a Teacher – Not a Saint

‘Saint’, ‘angel in disguise’, ‘strong person with endless amounts of patience’ are all things I have heard to describe me and what I have chosen as my career as a Special Education teacher. Awkwardly, I always shake my head and claim that I’m none of those things – why? Because I wake up and go to work just like anybody else in this world. So why does my career in particular make me a ‘saint’? I’ve always had a problem with that sentiment.

Well, today this sentiment was brought up again in a different forum. I am a part of an empower teacher group on Facebook and a post this morning really struck home for me. With things being able to be so misconstrued on social forums, I don’t usually voice my opinion. 𝐻𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑐 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡.

This is the picture that was posted in the group and the reason it struck home is because this is something I hear more often than not when I tell people what I do for a living. So I finally decided to say what I think about comments such as these.

This was my response:

The sentiment behind this is sweet, however I disagree and here is why. Every time I have the conversation of what I do for a living the response is always the same:

Stranger: “What do you do for a living?”
Me: “I’m a special education teacher!”
Stranger: “Oh my gosh, bless your heart. You must be a saint and have so much patience!”

I’ve always wondered why this is how the conversation goes when really, I’m just a teacher who works with a special population. But have you noticed that no one ever says things like this to our ELL teachers? Or the teachers that work in our tougher schools? Why is that? Those people work with special populations too and work just as hard as the rest of us.

Now, I know they are trying to give a compliment – but lets be real, I’m human – we all are. No one can truly be a saint and everyone’s patience wears a little thin from time to time. Truth be told, working with students who have special needs, doesn’t make me any more of a super hero than any other general education teacher. When it comes down to it, I have the same heart and passion for what we do and I went into this field for the same reasons as everyone else. To teach kids. To see that light bulb go off when something finally clicks! To make even the slightest bit of a difference.

I just happen to work with a different population of students who deep down are like every other kid. So why does that make me a saint and not my general education colleagues?

Don’t get me wrong, of course the job differs. Have I mastered the “mom look” without even having kids? Absolutely. Am I able to ignore an unwanted behavior for a long period of time until I see the behavior I’m looking for? Of course. Can I modify an assignment or assessment? ALL DAY . Do I have to write detailed reports about what each one of my kids needs to help them be successful? Yup. Most importantly, do I have to help my general education colleagues implement it to the best of their abilities? Gladly but I never let that minimize my strong partners I work with each day.

When I have reports to write, they have WAY too much grading. When I deal with only one behavior at a time, they may deal with five. Could they modify an assignment if I can’t get to it? Yes, because I’ve helped them enough for them to do it without me (when needed). We have each other’s back. We are a team and without one the other would struggle. I learn so dang much from my general education teachers on the daily and I’m grateful for them in different ways than they are grateful for me (at least I hope ).

Which is what leads me to why I disagree with claiming I am any of the said things. If we are all super hero’s in our field and we all have a part in our students success, why do people think just because I work more directly with students who have special needs makes me more of a saint and have endless patience then my peers? I’m a teacher. We’re all teachers. Just as they are kids and that is where I think the difference comes in. Sometimes people don’t think of them as “average” kids because all they see is their struggles or what they can’t do. However, when I get asked this question, I challenge people to look at it with a different light and think of all the things they CAN do with the right support, guidance, and love. Those things don’t just come from me, as their special education teacher, they come from anyone who encounters them. They’re all just kids with so many opportunities ahead of them. And to be completely honest, they want to be treated just like any other kid too! So shouldn’t we be giving them that respect and treating them as such?

As teachers we all play an equal role in our students success, no matter our title. I don’t think I am any more critical or important then someone else on my team. So I ask the same question, shouldn’t we be giving ourselves that respect and treating each other as equals?

If we continue to make comments like this, we continue to stigmatize kids with special needs as “difficult” and lets be real, there is nothing more difficult than a closed minded individual who is afraid to open up their heart. It’s time to change the way we think.

Change the way we view not just teachers and students, but about our individual abilities as well and what we bring to the table.