It has been my experience that when people find out that I am studying to be a teacher their first question is where do you want to teach? Quickly followed for so you want to teach back home? Or why don't you want to teach back home? I often wonder what affects where we choose to teach? Is it our experiences in our schools growing up that draws us to teach in our home towns or negative experiences that keep us away?

For me I know I do not want to go back to my hometown to teach after graduating college. The factors that helped me make this decision are varied and come from experience and goals in life. Personally I know that I grew up in a well-off community where I was the same as everyone in my school. My teachers were just like us as well. We all lived within a few miles of the school, attended the same churches, and shopped at the same stores. Personally I don't want to teach an entire class of students who are just like me ethnically, socioeconomically, or religiously. I am aiming to teach in school systems that are more diverse than the one I grew up in. Part of my decision is based on the fact that I hope to use the resources that I have because of my family to help give students who are from those homes where life is not full of endless opportunities a chance to have access to new resources. I also find that I connect with students who come from difficult home-lives easier than those that come from the ideal family situation. This is what draws me to inner city or rural locations for my teaching career.

What about you? Why do you want to teach in a specific area? Is it because of the location, the students, your experiences?

I am agreeing with Dr. Turner on this one and saying that most teachers will seek to teach where they are most comfortable (i.e. in an area that suits their social background). I will admit that this is what I plan to do. I will most likely attempt to find a job in a small Southern town because that is the atmosphere in which I am the most comfortable. This does not mean that I would like to move back to Georgia and teach in the same small town that I grew up in. I enjoy the mentality of small Southern towns but feel that some are lacking a sense of culture and an open-minded attitude. Finding my ideal small town in the South is going to be a challenge but I plan to do my best.

I plan to move back home, which is in Mars Hill, but to teach in the county over, Buncombe. I plan on doing this because the schools in Madison County are very limited and not very diverse. I would rather teach in Buncombe County because I feel like it would have better schools, and give me a chance to really work in diverse places and make an impact in my student’s lives. I also would choose to work in buncombe over Madison County because they get paid more and since teachers aren't rolling in cash I’ll choose the higher paying county. Especially when it has more options for me and a lot of my family has worked there before. My step mom is actually a principal at West Buncombe Elementary school and my dad has been a principal at two different Buncombe Elementary schools so I’ve grown up around that county. Overall, I've always know that I would go home to teach because that’s where my family and friends are plus I really love the environment and friendly atmosphere there.

The single most important factor that will influence where I teach is the question of, will I be able to enact the kind of change and that I want to in a child's life, in the environment of the American Education system? Will I be able to truly make a difference and offer the kind of true guidance that I wish for despite the flawed organizational structure of our education system. If I cant change the system, then I will have to create or find my own where I can do the things that a child needs in order to grow and mature into a true human being. Perhaps by running my own school or finding one not hindered by our present system. Learning to test, testing to learn, what is the point of it all. I am just disillusioned by it. It truly is a sad sad thing. Why do so many people hate school? Can I change that? Would I have to conform to the status quo? I hope the answer is hell no. (haha i rhymed)

I have heard this question many times as well, and my usual response honestly is, "i don't know!" However, I believe that I will most likely go wherever I find a job that suits me financially. I am a B-K major, and have a Spanish minor. There will probably be many job openings for me. I have very diverse options for after I graduate, whether it is a head start program with ESL kids, or a 5 star preschool which I have worked at for 2 years now, or working in a mainstream kindergarten. I am glad I have so many options because it will give me a lot of flexibility when looking at location. I doubt I will come back to Raleigh, because I would like to branch out a little bit, but honestly I will probably take the best offer I can get that will support me living on my own and establishing a life for myself. Ideally, it would be in a middle class area, with some cultural diversity, although I do not have a particular location in mind.

This is a question I get asked a lot as well. My answer is the same as Alison's - "I don't know." Because I am going to graduate with a Special Education degree from Appalachian State, I can pretty much pick where I want to work. I want to stay in the Boone area because I love it here and my whole life has been moved up here except for my family back home. However, back home (Wake County) there are endless job openings whereas there aren't very many in Watauga County. I'm not completely closed to working somewhere other than back home or here in Boone. However, I do know I will have to work in NC for at least a couple of years in order to "work off" the scholarship loans I've received to help pay for my college education. But after that's over, who knows where I'll be? One thing I'm looking at is using my degree on the mission field. I'm really interested in going overseas to teach missionary's children with special needs or even children with special needs in locations that don't have any kind of education system for those students.

I am in agreement with Katie on this one. I am hoping to go to the exact opposite of the area where I grew up. I want to teach the children who need great teachers the most. Children from low socioeconomic status or minority families. I want to be able to try and really change the lives of my students for the better and I think the area where I could do this the best would be in either an inner city area or a very rural area. I will admit that I am also going to teach in that type of area because of a few selfish reasons as well. I am ready for something different and challenging. I am tired of upper middle class white suburbia. Diversity is the spice of life and I am ready for some change.

I absolutely want to move back to my home town, where I grew up, to teach. Just as April said, I have to work in a North Carolina public school for at least 3 years to pay back scholarships that I have, but that is absolutely no problem for me. I grew up in Oxford, NC, which is a small town about 30 minutes north of Raleigh. I really want to teach in this county, Granville County, because I had wonderful experiences growing up in the schools. The community is very closely knit, which I find very charming. The elementary schools in Granville County are decent, meaning that they have an acceptable amount of money and supplies to work with, but the children in these schools could definitely benefit from great teachers. I hope and plan to be one of the teachers like the ones that I recall from my elementary school experiences. They made such an impact on my life and I will never forget them. There are 5 elementary schools in the county, so I will have plenty of opportunities to make an impact on young children.

Like Dana, I absolutely want to teach in the county were I grew up. I am from Kings Mountain, NC and absolutely love small towns and the simplicity and the community with in it. I also agree with Dr Turner and Corey most teachers will teach were they feel comfortable, and I feel most comfortable in a small town school. Although, I do love diversity and different cultures. I have often thought that I would like to teach in a inner-city school for a few years. So, yes I will be more likely to teach in a school with similar backgrounds to my own but whose to say I wont step out of my comfort zone and try something new.

I would love to teach in close to the area I grew up in. I am from Gastonia, NC, which is a rather large place, but I attended a private school so I had the small school experience. I want to teach in Kings Mountain, Mt. Holly, Belmont, or Mcadenville; I think these are great small towns that I could fit into easily. I agree with Dr. Turner and others that we teach where we are most comfortable, which leads me to believe that I will be teaching in a small school close to home, where I have the most support. I do however want to make one small change to in regards to my schooling experience; I want to teach in a public school rather than a private one. Personally, I want to use the resources my family provided me with to make a difference in a different school system.

Like most of the other post I also want to teach somewhere close to where I grew up. It was a rural community and I don't plan on moving to the city. However, I live close to where 4 couties meet and most likely, like Britini said I will choose the county with the larger supplement. But, honestly when I graduate I will more than happy to get a job anywhere (like at the beach , so it might take me some time to settle down and find the right school.

I completely agree with you Katie that your life experiences impact where you want to teach. My father was in the military and I moved around a lot in my childhood from England to New Mexico to the deep south. I've been to a k-12 school, a high school of only 500 students, and a high school of 1700. Of all the variety my favorite place to live was England and my favorite schools were D.O.D.E.S schools ( Department of Defense Education System). These are the schools overseas that the military children go to( or on certain bases in the U.S. ) The teachers were always incredible and the students were diverse and excepting. Friends were easy to make because everyone in the school knew what it was like to be the "new kid". All of the good memories probably contribute to why I want to teach at a D.O.D.E.S. school over in England. England is by far the greatest place to live, in my opinion! Also D.O.D.E.S. schools are so different than public schools because they are faced with so many more issues. For example, in normal schools everyone is excited about summer but in D.O.D.E.S. schools, the end of the year is full of tears for many of your classmates will move to another base. Since I personally understand their problems I want to help them through their hard times. ( Plus you get paid extra to live over in England..Yeah!!)

I do not particularly want to teach anywhere near where I grew up. Its not that I don't like hickory, or that I couldn't get a job there. It is simply that why shouldn't teaching be a way of traveling. I want to teach all over the country, and experience diverse classrooms state to state. I think that teaching in different location across the country will also make me a very diverse teacher, and will be able to teach students more effectively cause of experience.

I definitely want to go back home to teach when I am done here. I really like the area that I grew up in and I had a great experience there. I also am ready to go back home after being away for four years at college. I have been eight hours away from my family for the past three years now and I am very ready to go home and be close to them again. I really want to coach field hockey as well and down here very few schools have it and a lot of people do not even know what it is. My high school was a power house and I would love to go back and coach there. So I definitely want to go home to teach.

I would love to teach here in my hometown. Watauga County Schools have a pretty good reputation and this is where my life and family is. I would be completely lost in an urban school, because I have never been exposed to that sort of life, so I wouldn't know the first thing about relating to my students and their families. However, I do know the kind of people that are here, and I know the issues that face the students here. It is definitely a more comfortable situation for me.

Personally, I would love to teach close to home. I have always loved where I'm from (Wilkes/Surry County) and I would love to teach there. I loved my experiences growing up in my schools and I would love to work in that environment. Plus, I have an extremely close family and both of my sisters and most of my extended family have stayed close and I love being close-knit.

I would be most comfortable teaching in a rural school setting because that is what I am use to; I'm from Yadkin County. My goal is to live in Winston-Salem (Forsyth County) and travel to Yadkin County to teach; those counties connect. I love my hometown where everyone knows everyone else in some way or another. I also would have a better chance (it says so in the terms of agreement) over someone else trying to get the same teaching position in my county because I received a scholarship from an important figure in the county.
In reality, I will have to get a job where ever I can. I plan on getting married after I graduate college. My fiance will be starting law school a year after I graduate. Where I would teach depends on where he goes to school. Luckily, I would only have to teach there for 3 years and then I could teach where I wanted to. Hopefully, he will get into Wake Forest and we can live in Forsyth County.

I would like to teach back in my home town. Im from Hickory and like where Im from. People always try and move away from where theyre from but I couldnt wait to get back. If my life goes in a different direction that will be ok, but for now I would really like to stay here. If nothing else I think the fact that I know so many people in this town is a good thing. My father also was riased here and knows some people that may be able to help me get a job. I also work in this community and just love where I'm from. Everytime I hit the city limits I sigh with relief that I'm back where I belong, I cant imagine not living here. I do think that there are a wide variety of schools around here though that I could get a different experience from them. I would like to try and teach at an urdan school sometime, but we will see.

At first, I would like to teach back home but after a couple of years of that I think I would like to move around and teach at other places. I think I would like to move to a completely different state and try something completely new. I have always lived in the same area and I have never even moved houses so I would like to experience moving. After I have traveled around some I think I will probably end up back where I grew up. Maybe not at the same school I went to but probably in that area just because it is where I am comfortable.

I wouldn't mind eventually going back home to teach, but if a job came open as soon as I get out of here and I need something, I would go for it. I feel that once out of college, I want to go somewhere and establish myself. I think it is prime opportunity to go somewhere else and see a different perspective. I have seen what home is like, and I have seen what this area of NC is like. This is a great state with lots of diversity, and I wouldn't mind experiencing it more.