T is for TEACHER

You see I just don't get it. Here we are, once again in the middle of more educational restructuring in our province, devising a new curriculum or more correctly, revising the curriculum. Now it's not all about knowledge at all, it's about skills, it's about tolerance towards others, it's about being investigative, innovative, revolutionary even, in our thinking, respecting other's opinions, learning to take part in meaningful discussion, being responsible for our own learning, equipping us all to be brilliant at everything. So what do they do? They ignore the opinions of most teachers, won't tolerate their views and least of all show any respect towards them. How have we got to the stage where the tail wags the dog and the dog just barks but it can't bite because its got a muzzle? Unfortunately it's not the first time we have been down this road for in my almost thirty years of experience, change has happened several times in every decade and each time teachers are brought into line by inspectors who tell them what they are doing wrong, only for us teachers to discover a couple of years later that the inspectors were wrong all the time. If they weren't, why do we need changes again? It seems to me that the men in the white coats are needed pretty soon.

And the big change this time is that children are now being encouraged to direct their own learning, right from they enter primary school. Can you imagine that? Children deciding what they want to learn and when. How do they know? And where does that leave the teachers. Well, now we are often called facilitators.That means we arrange, coordinate, design, develop and promote learning, but it doesn't actually say anything about teaching. I tell you I could facilitate all day and the children would absolutely adore school, but, apart from a few, I doubt if they'd know much more when they leave at three o'clock. I was amused today when one of our infant teachers closed down the house corner because the pupils had preferred to wreck it rather than play in it. It was probably the best lesson they had all day! But can you imagine it in the world beyond school. I go along to the bank to cash a cheque but the staff have decided they just don't feel like serving customers today. Or maybe I want to withdraw fifty pound but the bank clerk only wants to play with Euros today. Then I stop at the Travel Agents and they're all cutting out pictures from the brochures and making collages but one of them is sulking in the corner because there are no more Florida brochures left yet nobody can sell me a holiday because (a) somebody stole their calculator or (b) the computers on Google and they don't want to change it or (c) they can't change stations until the boss blows a whistle.


At school we had different types of teachers. Some were strict disciplinarians, others relaxed in class, some shouted all day, a few didn't even need to raise their voice, some stopped you with a look or a frown, others encouraged you with a smile, one or two were spiteful, most remembered their own school days on the other side of the desk. Some were over- enthusiastic about their subject, others saw it as a way to pay the bills But they all had one thing in common, they were employed to teach us and most of them made a good stab at it, though their chosen methods may have been very different. And the strange thing was that we learnt from them, not only how to read, write, talk and calculate and knowledge in the subjects that they taught, but also how to respect others, how not to treat those around us and how to be tolerant of all races, religions and creeds. And we learned because they knew what we needed to know. Only for their perseverance, I would still be sitting at page one of 'Approach to Latin' or 'More Rapid French' or stumbling over 'A First Chemistry' textbook. For that's what teachers do best, they impart knowledge and give us understanding, they answer our questions and help us expand our horizons but most important the majority of them know how to teach and make a good job of it.


When Nicodemus came to see Jesus one night, he was very clear as to what he thought of Him when he said 'we know you are a teacher who has come from God.' The New Testament is full of references to Jesus as Teacher, many from the Pharisees and so called teachers of the law, but there is no doubt that such a term portrayed no only the understanding He had of all things spiritual but the fact that they could learn from Him. Jesus, speaking to His disciples once said 'Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.' That reminds me that while I am a teacher by profession, I am always a learner or pupil in spiritual terms but I only learn by reading the words written under the inspiration of God and recorded in the Bible. If I was left to my own devices, ideas, whims and timetable, I could never learn the wonders of my Creator, let alone His love for me. As a small plaque in our house says, 'To teach is to touch a life for ever.' Has the Teacher touched you yet?