Do I want to become a teacher? What do I need to become the best teacher possible? What should a professional in the field of education know? If you have students asking themselves questions like these, Exploring Teaching: An Introduction to Teaching focuses them on getting the answers. This book takes students contemplating careers in teaching on a journey of exploration into the world and work of teaching, and into themselves as future teachers. It is the only text to make a sustained effort to help students decide whether teaching is the right career for them. There is much more of a focus than found in other texts on what teachers really do, on the realities of the classroom, and on the instructional demands teachers face.Part 1 provides an overview of teaching and teachers, while parts 2 through 5 profile the various contexts of teaching (classroom, school, sociopolitical, and professional) and examine the demands of each context. Each part ends with application and portfolio activities (self-assessment, observation, and interview) that help students evaluate themselves in terms of these roles and settings.