We interviewed Andreia Florea, a grade 1/2 teacher on finding a career in the arts as a recent graduate. We thought it would be helpful for students to hear about potential careers available to Bachelor of Arts graduates.

Andreia is a grade 1/2 teacher, with 15 years of experience, 8 of which as a Special Education Teacher and school librarian. After working in the corporate world for 5 years, as a programmer, and then, consultant, she transitioned into teaching.

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What do you think was the biggest difference you found between working in the corporate world and becoming a teacher?

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In the corporate world there’s a lot more flexibility working from home, although funnily enough, we’re all working from home now because of the pandemic. With teaching, you have to have people skills because obviously, you need to have a passion and to connect with the kids. I think empathy is also a huge part. You’re modelling behaviour and I have to be super careful with what comes out of my mouth and because I’m influencing them.

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What kind of transferable skills do you think students gain from a B.A.?

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So many people kind of knock the arts degrees, which I actually don’t agree with at all, because I think they teach critical thinking skills. I always say my degree taught me to think because you’re reading so many different perspectives. That helped me in my life when I was doing my consulting job and then it helped me in teaching.

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What kinds of qualities make for a good teacher?

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The number one thing is you have to want to be a teacher. I find any kind of personality can be a teacher. I think you need a lot of patience just to deal with different learning styles and individual characters and such. You also need to be able to be flexible. In the classroom, you might plan a lesson and realize these kids aren’t even understanding what you’re saying. So you have to figure out a better way for them to learn it.

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Do you have any advice for current students who want to pursue teaching?

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I think a good way to actually dip your toe in would be to volunteer in a school. You’re networking, you’re making connections. So then, once you finish school, the principal or other teachers will remember you. You have to stay connected to the world even before you’re in it. Start to learn about it before you get there. Beyond the volunteering, read the newspaper, see what’s going on. There’s a lot of teachers on Twitter. Don’t be afraid to reach out, even to me for instance.

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Thank you, Andreia, for sharing the excellent advice with us and our readers! 

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Book Mentioned in the Episode

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I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn’t) by Brené Brown

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Missed the episode? Listen here:

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