[Cantarella]

Are there any ENTPs who chose teaching for a profession? If so, what do you love about the position and what have you had to grudgingly come to terms with? Do you find yourself growing through your work, or is it more demanding than stimulating? And how do you feel about your students?

 

[Phoenix Down]

I want to be a professor...

 

[Cantarella]

I want to be a professor...

Which subject, PD?

 

[Phoenix Down]

Which subject, PD?

Astrophysics.

 

[iKicker]

I'm not an ENTP or a professor, but I've had [I believe] two ENTP teachers before; one's a confirmed ENTP who told me she took a formal test.

One of them (an art teacher) had a bit of trouble disciplining students (due to not really caring, I think); and the other was a little too... smart, you could say?, and he often went pretty intense on the class - he taught science in an extremely intuitive-oriented way, so it was impossible to pass the class without thoroughly understanding the concept. The lab experiments didn't help us understand anything unless we understood the theory to begin with.

Both were great, very funny teachers, though. (Although I may be biased, since I was always a great intuitive learner.) I thought they were both naturally good at what they did, and teaching is supposed to be the best way to learn/retain information. I don't know if this is any help to your question, but I would say go for it. The only real problem I forsee is dealing with students who can't grasp concepts very well, but I'm wildly guessing at this point.

*this only applies for high school teachers, though. I don't know how ENTPs would function as professors in college or university.

...and MBTI has officially ruined my life. When have I started psychoanalyzing my teachers instead of listening to their lectures? D:

 

[st0831]

I don't think you will meet many ENTP professors simply because teaching at a university requires a Ph D. Getting a Ph D. degree for a ENTP is one of the hardest things to do in life. At least for me, that is why I failed getting my Ph. D. because I can't focus. If you're an ENTP with a Ph. D., you're a freaking exception!

As for teaching, I absolutely love it. I've considered teaching high school but it is not decided whether I will go into this field. Ideally, I would be teaching a class no one dares to venture into such as a special interest class which is not required by the curriculum. I would say the subject has to be Math or Physics/Chemistry because abstract is the language I communicate with. I will have to probably regularly teach my subject area (Chemistry) to obtain tenure/job position but I know that the only thing that will make me enjoy my job is to teach a special interest class such as the derivation of many functions. When I derive, I imagine all the possibilities and let my Ne drop out of my head. Unfortunately, I don't even know if this is possible all at high school level.

 

[yesiknowbut]

ha ha

*another ENTP who never finished writing her thesis puts hand up*

 

[Olmed3011]

Maybe the best question is: "Why get a PhD if you have an inborn natural resistance against that kind of structured work? Waste of time unless you really thrive in that line of work.

 

[yesiknowbut]

The thirst for knowledge puts you there, and the lack of desire to prove to others that you have found it prevents you finishing.....

 

[Olmed3011]

The thirst for knowledge puts you there, and the lack of desire to prove to others that you have found it prevents you finishing.....

You deserve a PhD for that comment alone.:happy:

 

[ctmany]

Just wanted to add that ENTPs can surely have doctorates and be professors! I just earned my doctorate in 2011 and I now work as a researcher at USDA. But then again, I love my field (global health and economic development, among other related areas). I did have to learn to deal with distractions during my doctorate, though. In fact, while writing my dissertation, I became a complete night owl (i.e., I was staying up from 8pm - 12pm the next day) because, as I like to put it (somewhat poetically), "the whole world is quiet" during those hours and I was able to really focus and dig into my work, which made the whole thing feel a lot less frustrating, and this lack of frustration plus the ability to accomplish helped me love what I was doing! Of course, my sleep schedule was probably not the best and this is something I still struggle with, as I still very much tend to work nights.

 

[Courtalort]

I've considered it because I really love sociology and political science, and would love the status and respect that being a prof would afford me; however, there is no way in hell I'd be able to focus on one subject for that long and in that much detail in order to do that. It's a combo of me being type 7 and ENTP. I don't stick with anything for very long.

I fear I will always be a bit of a hopeless wanderer with my career. But at least I'm interesting.

 

[Word Dispenser]

It's a rather strong dream of mine right now. I'm not sure if it will fade like the rest, but it seems to be pretty stubbornly coming back quite a lot.

I think if I were to go back to school, I'll be making it hard for myself again by choosing something I know nothing about, in order to figure it out and achieve and come out on top. :kitteh:

 

[azdahak]

Ph.D. in mathematics. Getting a Ph.D. is difficult for anyone. If you succeed of not has to do with many factors, including your health, how well you tolerate stress and criticism, how well you get along with your advisor, how smoothly your research goes, if you have a supportive social situation, but mostly how much you really want to get it despite all the setbacks you will have. I know very few people who thought graduate school was "fun", although I do know a few where all the stars aligned and they had for the most part smooth sailing.

For me it was a dream that I wanted to achieve, and when I failed, I picked my ass up and tried again. I'd like to say that that was fortitude or commitment, but really it was my ego that couldn't tolerate the failure.

Was it worth it in the end? In the greater context, probably not. I'm sure I could have found something else to do that I would have enjoyed with a LOT less stress, and focused more on building a successful career or family life.

Would I advise people to get a Ph.D. and try for academic post? Definitely not. Unless you're extremely focused and career oriented...almost more interested in your career as a scientist than doing the science itself...you are almost surely not going to get good job. The competition is beyond extreme.

If you want to make less money than a janitor, have a 3/4-time benefitless semester-to-semester job, and teach dumb-asses high school level material all day long...well then...the community colleges are always hiring fresh Ph.D.s

 

[Wings and Rise]

Please be professors, ENTP's.

The world needs more teachers who bust out the snarky teachers' pets. ; )

 

[Randomasd]

Well, I'm going to have my first experience in teaching this year with one class 6th grade, while I still have to handle work and college.:crying: Right now I'm procrastinating on getting in contact with the school.

But surely what I want is getting a Phd to be a college professor because dealing with child's and teenagers is erm...

And as a college professor I get access to the uni labs too which is good.

 

[Satan Claus]

After having a hilarious and possible pot head ESFP English teacher, I want to be a high school teacher now! Of course, this interest will die down as soon as something new pops up.

 

[Themorning]

ha ha

*another ENTP who never finished writing her thesis puts hand up*

I was close to not finishing. I loved the research side of things put I found it very hard to write up my work. I became very negative about it (who cares?, no-one will read it etc.) and then decided to stop and work instead. Then a few years later, I got back into writing and finished it off. I too did much of my work at night time. I also found having a beer or two before writing really helped calm the mind and made it easier to concentrate.

As far as academic work goes, I think I am out of that now.

 

[FakeLefty]

My Calculus 3 professor is probably an ENTP. He teaches well AND has a sense of humor. He's awesome.

 

[Cioranes]

Yeah didn't finish my thesis either. The months I spent doing research in U of Chicago were actually spent on booze, jazz clubs, and girls. The grant they gave me burnt my pockets like free money. Ah youth...
I still hated my years as a TA in France. Seriously. I thought I would like teaching but didn't. I felt like an impostor, never preparing my classes enough, improvising my way out of smartasses questions. I felt like I should teach them life and not the stupid program destined to turn then into sheep. I was supposed to be an agent of the matrix and resisted it big time.
Years later I had to take some other teaching jobs to earn a living. Bullshited my way in, ang got myself teaching stuff I knew not enough about. Felt horrible.
I see why ENTP should love teaching. But I never did.