ELT in Brazil

Partially for the money, of course, because we all have got bills to pay e as blusinhas são caras.
 
On a more philosophical perspective, though, I believe having the answer to this question is an absolute must to being an effective educator. It is, in essence, the goal, the objective of our efforts – and we can only trailblaze a path having the destination in sight.
 
I saw the post below the other day here on LinkedIn and, meaning no shame or shade on the author, I believe it is high time we engage in some reflection on the reasons why we do what we do.
 

I gotta say I got the shivers when I read the caption of the post. I mean, is education a servant, a slave to the labor market? Are we going through all this hustle of learning, teaching, developing, training and being trained, developing materials, revamping assessment systems and mindsets only because we want our learners to be well-functioning employees?

Is this it?

I beg to differ. I do what I do as an educator so that the ones who benefit from my work can lead happy lives.
 
I want the students and teachers I teach to be happy.
 
Sure, having a good job is part of a happy life but see, it is part of it, not an end in itself. Education does not serve the market. Education can free people from enslaved thoughts and dogmas – and I am not building this legacy of mine to serve the labor market.
 
Education is much bigger, denser, and much more meaningful than simply training the labor force of the future.
 
Education leads to possibilities which in turn leads to freedom and freedom, in my humble opinion, is what happiness is made of.