Running Head: APPLICATION PAPER

Application Paper
Daniel Coffin
Concordia University, Nebraska

Submitted in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for SOC 565
June 24th, 2016

APPLICATION PAPER

I will confess, somewhat abashedly, to being skeptical about this course before I
began it. I enrolled in graduate school in order to learn about how to better teach
reading and writing to young learners, I reasoned. Even if eight weeks of meditation on
the nature of service and leadership isnt in and of itself a bad thing, how will it help me
achieve my goal of becoming the best language arts teacher I can possibly be? What
do the concepts of service and leadership have to do with my work in the classroom?
Should I not be spending that time assessing reading difficulties or studying how to
mentor budding writers? Thankfully, my pride in my work as a student was greater than
my reservations about the material, and I resolved to give the course serious thought
and my best effort. Had I not, I would not have come to see that far from being
meaningless academic concerns, the nature of service and leadership have very real
and immediate importance not just in the classroom, but in my home and community as
well.
Contrary to its portrayal in popular culture, teaching is a hard line of work. The
hours are long, the pay isnt always great, and the pernicious truism that those who
cant do, teach persists in spite of the hours of professional development and graduate
education many teachers pursue in order to perfect their craft. Most teachers who enter
the profession do so with enthusiasm and optimism about engaging young people and
helping them to develop their talents. What happens when the luster of that vision
fades? They leave the profession, or bounce from school to school, searching for a
place and a student body that can make those dreams come alive.
The most recent findings from the U.S. Department of Education indicate that
about 15% of teachers either exit the profession or move to another school each year;

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that figure rises to 20% for those within the first three years of teaching (2014). 51% of
those leaving the profession indicated that the manageability of their workload
contributed to their decision to leave (2014). This turnover costs school districts billions
of dollars for recruiting and training of new educators, money which could be spent
otherwise directly on students. That is a very real and immediate concern for school
districts facing cuts to budgets and services. What can be done to stop the tide? I would
suggest, based on my experience, that the solution is as simple as it is profound. What
is needed is a radically different conception of what it means to be an educator. This
begins with the notion of vocation.
Most teachers have a mission, which consists of something in the vein of
teaching students, followed by a reason why teaching students is important, like social
justice or life opportunities or giving back to the community. The problem with this
conception of mission is, to be frank, the sad fact that learning doesnt always happen in
school. Students come to school ill-fed, ill-equipped, stressed about family situations
and otherwise unprepared to learn. Sometimes it can be a struggle just to maintain a
semblance of order in the classroom, let alone teach content. When ones sense of wellbeing is predicated upon student learning, what does that do to motivated
professionals? Rather than a sense of mission, I would rather teachers develop a sense
of vocation, the idea that work is a calling that carries with it holy responsibilities
(Veith, 2011, p. 18). If we accept that God moves in the sensible world, it then follows
that God acts through the agency of human works, or vocations, healing through the
ministrations of a doctor, protecting through law enforcement officers, feeding through
farmers and cooks, and teaching through educators (Veith, 2011). Teachers who

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understand vocation know that they are not working just for pay, or even in the service
of a noble ideal, but literally as the hands of God in the world, and that makes a
difference. Money runs out, ideals can be abandoned as easily as they are taken up,
but service before God? That is a resilient idea. Who could imagine standing before
God in judgment, saying, Sorry, Lord, I just wasnt feeling it? The idea of vocation, of
teaching as a holy obligation, is one that, I believe, could give teachers the hope and
strength to endure when circumstances and ideals fail them.
Not only does the idea of vocation provide a new and robust motivation for
service, it refigures what that service entails. Most teachers would define their work as
purely instructional in nature. Some might broaden their definition to include the
inspiration or motivation of students as well. But what does that mean for the student
who comes to class angry and defiant? The student who comes tired, hungry, dirty, illclothed? The student who is wounded physically or emotionally? All too often, teachers
shrug, send for the counselor, and say, Its not my business. Im paid to teach. How can
I tend to these issues while still covering chapters ten through fifteen before the break?
The idea of vocation makes this a very simple proposition. As Veith puts it, The
purpose of vocation is to love and serve ones neighbor (2011, p. 39-40). The specifics
will, of course, vary from student to student and day to day, but this means that, for
instance, providing for the material needs of students before providing for their
education isnt a failure, but rather the fulfillment of the role of teacher. To be a teacher
is to love and serve students in the context of being a teacher, whatever their needs
may be. Some need help with material needs. Some need mentorship and guidance.
Some need help writing an argumentative essay. All of these needs can and should be

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part of my mandate as a teacher. I should not be frustrated or discouraged when

meeting these needs, but rejoice, because I am acting as Gods agent in doing so,
helping to heal a broken world (Benne, 2003, p. 178).
While I think of myself and define myself primarily in terms of my occupation, I
am more than a teacher. I am a husband, a father, a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend.
Each of these roles is important. When I began my employment as a teacher, it
consumed my whole life. I volunteered for afterschool programs (partly for the additional
stipend it afforded and partly because I found it helpful to cultivate relationships with
students outside of the usual classroom dynamic), I spent hours preparing lessons,
grading papers, and checking in with parents via phone and email messages. In my
dwindling spare time, I read professional development books to try to improve my
performance and perfect my craft. I didnt spend nearly as much time with my wife as I
had. I didnt see my friends as regularly. I would go months without seeing my father,
sister, or nephews. As I strove for accomplishment in my role as a teacher, I left every
other role by the wayside. As Benne would say, I placed work in an idolatrous position
(2003, p. 170). This got only worse as I enrolled in graduate school and added
additional responsibilities to my plate. It was only when my daughter was born that I
started thinking seriously about how and where I was spending my time.
I knew that I had responsibilities as a father and husband that I could not shirk,
even for something as important and meaningful as work, but I felt guilty pulling back,
cutting down on the number of additional responsibilities I volunteered for and spending
less time on my lesson preparation and parent communication. I am not alone in that
regard. Work-life balance is a serious concern for people in a number of professions,

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especially teachers, as the figures I mentioned previously indicate. How, then, to divide
my time? When I owe time and energy to so many people, how do I decide to divide the
finite time and energy I have?
Benne calls these various roles places of responsibility, each of which is
divinely ordained for the purpose of serving as channels through which we, as agents of
divine will, move and act in the world (2003). Not only is my work as a teacher a
vocation, but my work as a father, husband, etc. In each of these roles I have a
vocation, a calling to love and serve. Parenthood is a vocation, as is being a spouse
(Veith, 2011). In those places of responsibility, I have no less of an obligation to love and
serve than I do in my classroom. Just as in my work as an educator, the specifics of that
love and service will vary from day to day.
It was difficult for me to conceive of marriage as involving service. Surely our
union was an equal partnership, with neither of us enjoying any advantage over the
other. I dont tell my wife what to do, and I wouldnt accept orders from her willingly.
Perhaps thats why I have suffered so much trouble in my marriage. First I spent too
much time working, then my time and energy was absorbed by taking care of the baby,
and in both instances, I neglected my wife. I didnt actively work against her, mind you, I
simply didnt think of her much at all. She did her thing, I did mine, we both took care of
the baby, and a year later, it occurred to me that maybe I didnt love her as much as I
thought I once had. I seriously contemplated a divorce.
Even as I was doing so, though, I was working on this coursework, thinking about
what it meant for me to conceive of marriage as a vocation, a calling toward love and

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service. Marriage isnt a passive state that is fixed and done once the vows are spoken,
it is an ongoing act. It is work. Furthermore, there is no shame in service of ones wife. It
is not contemptible to subordinate ones desires and needs to those of a spouse, as that
spouse will to do in a healthy marriage as part of the dynamic of love (Veith, 2011, p.
42). With this in mind, I set about to reorient myself in my marriage according to the
standard of vocation, and it had made all the difference. Applying the simple test of Am
I loving? Am I serving? has made it simple to fulfill my roles, each in their due measure.
Do I need to do that extra duty for work? No, because I have served my students today.
Now it is time to serve my wife and daughter. The notion of vocation and balancing
obligations to the various places of responsibility has helped me to achieve greater
work-life balance and save my marriage.
If you had asked me, when I was working so much and putting my marriage in
jeopardy, why I was doing so, I would have said Because I am needed. I thought of my
work as service, as necessary, and worthy of my time. But that is only part of the truth. I
truly craved recognition. I got it the more I worked. I was the go-to guy. I was a leader
in my department. My administration confided in and relied on me. And I loved it. I was
tempted to the way of glory (Veith, 2011, p. 148). This was, in part, because I was
seriously confused about what leadership entailed. I wanted to help people to do their
job better, but I also wanted them to flatter me by telling me how skilled and clever I
was. I wanted to serve my students, but I also wanted people to notice and comment
upon how dedicated I was.
This is not the leadership that Jesus showed us. Jesus did not accept accolades
and honors. He took no crown but one of thorns. He suffered and died for our gain. For

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our Lord, leadership and service were not diametrical opposites, as I had once thought,
but rather service was the means by which He led. So, too, could I, by remaining
humble with a servants heart, doing the best job I could and giving the consequences
to God. In this way I could lead by showing others through my example how to live the
philosophy of vocation themselves.
This course, which I had originally assumed would be a speed bump on my path
towards becoming a better teacher, has not only helped me to become a better teacher,
but a better husband and father as well. What I have learned about vocation has given
me a new peace. I dont have to stress about how successful I am relative to my
colleagues and peers, or worry about what things exactly I should be doing on a given
day to please my wife, or fret about how exactly I am to raise my daughter. All is simple.
I just need to love and serve and give the consequences to God.

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References
Benne, R. (2003). Ordinary saints: An introduction to the Christian life (2nd ed.).
Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
U.S. Department of Education. (2014). Teacher attrition and mobility: Results from the
2012-2013 teacher follow-up survey. Retrieved from:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014077.pdf
Veith, G. E. (2011). God at work: Your Christian vocation in all of life. Wheaton, IL:
Crossway.