Applause for our children’s teachers
Many educators go above and beyond to inspire and cultivate young minds
I have vivid memories of my kindergarten teacher. She had long, red hair and always wore high heels. I will be forever in awe of how she managed to command a bunch of five-year-olds with such flair, and I will never forget her life lessons, such as not to push in line, how to play a tune on the piano and how to mould lions out of Plasticine.
As my first teacher, she left an indelible impression, but there were many others along the way: the Grade 5 teacher who showed us how to play the ukulele, the French teacher who encouraged me to go on an exchange to France, the law teacher who took us to court and had us conduct mock trials and, of course, the English teacher who sparked my interest in journalism.
School’s out. Lockers and desks have been emptied. All those notebooks and projects from an academic year bursting with activity have been brought home. We’ve all just enjoyed that first long weekend of the summer. But before we get caught up in day camps, family activities and vacation plans, it’s worth taking a moment to look back on the school year that was.
First of all, where did it go? It seems like just yesterday we were dropping off the kids for the first day and settling into new routines. Now they’re another grade higher, maybe another year older, certainly another year smarter.
And we can credit all they’ve learned this year to the efforts of the teachers, principals, resource workers, after-school program staff and parent volunteers who keep our schools humming amid all the natural chaos and neverending challenges.
Teachers, especially, deserve our respect and admiration. Standing at the front of the classroom every day and keeping order is no small task, whether they’re dealing with wriggling preschoolers or restless teenagers. But more than just delivering lessons set out by the curriculum, many go above and beyond to inspire, nurture and cultivate the young minds they are moulding.
That important work takes a tremendous amount of patience. Having recently hosted a birthday party for a bunch of eight-year-olds that only lasted a couple of hours, I got a tiny glimpse of the tremendous energy it must take, day in and day out, to harness children’s electric excitement.
But our children’s teachers often do far more. They plan lessons that are interesting, engaging and relevant. They volunteer to coach teams, put on concerts or accompany students on field trips. They spend time marking work, giving feedback, answering questions from parents and offering the students who need help a little extra attention. They attempt to address world issues and answer difficult questions.
Then there’s motivating students who are falling behind, helping them discover their unique talents, accommodating kids with special needs, trying to prevent bullying, welcoming newcomers from around the world who may be struggling to learn a new language or recovering from traumatic experiences, and offering a helping hand to pupils who may have mental health issues or family problems.
It’s a huge responsibility, being a teacher. We are entrusting them with forming the next generations of citizens. And the impact they have is too great to quantify.
And yet, as a society, we often fail to appreciate their invaluable contributions to our children’s development. Teachers’ pay and work conditions may not adequately reflect the intensity of their job, given they are part professor, part psychologist, part motivational speaker, part life coach.
There are many cases of burnout and stress leave due to insufficient support. Many young teachers just starting out end up quitting the profession due to its tremendous demands.
Every now and then, debate is sparked about how we can valorize the work of teachers. Is it through higher pay, creating a professional order, requiring more stringent credentials? Maybe we can just start by saying thank you.
Thank you to all those teachers who put their heart and soul into making the year so fun and interesting for our kids, who came up with inventive ways to capture the attention of an oftentimes tough audience, whose creativity was the spark that ignited young minds, who went to such great lengths to show they care.
This is the time to say hats off, and wish educators a great holiday. Some of us may be envious of the time they have off in the summer, but we certainly can’t deny that teachers need a breather — before they have to gear up to do it all over again.
People will always criticize the education system because they expect miracles — they want schools to produce geniuses out of average people.
PAUL GÉRIN-LAJOIE