When I first started teaching, my definition of the work was nothing more than what I had formulated based on previous experiences with my own teachers. A teacher is someone who teachers and imbibes knowledge to students. A teacher is a professional who gets paid to make students learn using any or everything in his/her assortment of arsenals - textbooks, exams, reports, and now even the internet.
After 5 years of living it, my definition has grown to something a bit more abstract and complicated. Teachers are not defined by their work. They are defined by their devotion to their profession. Their main objective is not to pass on knowledge. (That I feel is secondary if not coincidental.) Their primary goal is to inspire students to want to seek knowledge on their own.
And with lives of children hanging on their shoulders, they bear a huge weight - the responsiblity to shape each and every child they teach to become the best that he/she could be regardless of how much they’re willing to be changed.
Now that my definition of a teacher is complete, I’m proud to say that I am a teacher, and that’s what I do. That’s the cross I bear and the badge I’m deeply honored to wear.