#WhyIChoseEducation: ‘I Think the Most Important Job is Being a Teacher,’ Says Elizabeth Saylor ’15PHD

Elizabeth Saylor ’15PHD was a public elementary school teacher in North Carolina for 10 years before deciding to earn her doctoral degree in what is now the Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences at the NC State College of Education.

Now, she works as a clinical associate professor and program coordinator for elementary education at the University of Georgia’s Mary Frances Early College of Education, where she  has received numerous awards in recognition of her teaching, including the Ocie T. Dekle Excellence in Teaching Award in 2019, the First-Year Odyssey Teaching Award in 2021 and the Student Career Success Influencer Award in 2022, 2023 and 2024. 

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why I Chose Education: 

Our education system is the cornerstone of our democracy, which is very important to me. It is a great equalizer; it gives students some possibility for opportunity, and so I am a huge proponent of public education.

Also, I really, truly enjoy working with children. I supervise student teachers sometimes, and I just love being in the classroom with the children. 

How Education Shaped Me: 

Education has shaped me because it’s forced me to question my epistemological constructs of knowledge. What that means, for people not in education, is: How do you know what you know? It’s important to understand that everyone’s different perspectives actually come from their experiences, who their teachers were, their community, their families. 

It’s just made me so much more open to listening to people, even those who completely disagree with me. My education has allowed me to see the world through that lens. 

What I Enjoyed Most About the NC State College of Education:

What I loved was that everything there seemed very elevated. It was at a high level of rigor. Everything that they did was to make you better, and that takes time because it actually takes time to give detailed feedback. It’d be so much easier for them to just say, “Yeah, it’s fine.” I enjoyed the people, the faculty members, and I really enjoyed my classes. I thought they were really interesting, and I still use them. 

What Others Should Know About the College of Education:

It’s incredibly rigorous and challenging, but in the best possible way, because ultimately, when you finish your degree, you will be prepared. 

As nerve-racking as it can be to be on the job market or to be presenting at major national or international conferences, I really did feel prepared, and I felt like an equal. I know it’s because of my preparation at NC State, and I honestly can’t speak highly enough about it.

What Being Recognized for My Teaching Means to Me:

I’ve decided consciously that I’m going to focus more of my work and time on instruction, because I feel like that’s really important for students getting their degrees. It’s very nice to be recognized for the work that you do, but I also feel like the reason why I received those awards is because of the significant impact to my students.

When I retire, no one’s really going to remember me except for my students, and that means something to me, that they have learned something from me that they can take into their careers as teachers to be successful in the work that they do. I think the most important job is being a teacher. 

The Last Thing That Inspired Me: 

It’s my students. They’re so courageous, and they’re so kind and they’re really nice people. They’re trying so hard with so many different challenges presented before them, whether that be different curriculums that they have to learn or maybe a student that might be challenging. It changes all the time, but I love what I do, and it’s because I enjoy working with them.