Why great teachers are changing lives
Laura Dooney meets some of the people who have the most influence on us – encouraging, inspiring and bravely stepping up at times of emergency.
The blinds are down in the warm, typically stuffy classroom at Kapiti College. Students sit in small groups, working on describing characters from the film Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a clip paused on screen the reason for the darkened room. The class has the typical hum of students at work, as the teacher leading the class moves around the room talking to students, and another offers extra assistance.
Watching the unassuming teacher at work, it’s hard to note the significant impact Sarah Sharpe has had on each of these teens, and dozens more at the school.
Students who’ve been taught by Sharpe say they were certain they would have dropped out of school as soon as they could; instead they’re now planning to go to university, or to help make change for students like themselves who haven’t had the benefit of Sharpe’s influence. Some of them have spoken before politicians at a select committee – calling for change to the education system so more children with dyslexia keep the help they need.
Before they met Sharpe, few had the confidence to take such a step.
The teacher in charge of dyslexic education at Kapiti College, Sharpe transforms lives daily though her teaching methods.
George Stuart says she opened doors for him. His self-confidence went from ‘‘zero to ten’’. Sharpe understands dyslexic kids all understand things in different ways, and so she will explain one concept in several ways, not stopping until everybody has grasped it, George says. She clearly wants each student to succeed.
Anew Unicef report, The State of the World’s Children 2016, emphasises the importance of education in helping young people realise their potential, and contribute to the world around them.
It notes good teaching is ‘‘inextricably linked’’ to better education outcomes – ‘‘effective teachers can transform lives’’.
‘‘Societies need to make sure teaching is considered a highstatus profession, in keeping with its critical role in shaping the future,’’ the report reads.
An Education Council proposal for the future of Initial Teacher Education is now out for consultation. It proposes better literacy and numeracy requirements for those wanting to get into teacher training, and new Graduating Teacher Standards.
The council is also proposing teachers be required to get postgraduate qualifications.
Anything that increases the quality of those applying, and the perception someone has to be of high quality to get into teacher training, is a good thing, says education researcher Professor John Hattie. However, if institutions aren’t raising the standards of their graduates, it is a waste of time.
Hattie is world-renowned for his work demonstrating how teachers make a measurable difference for their students and those kids’ prospects in life.
Hattie wants teacher education providers to focus not so much on the skills of those entering teacher training, but the skills of those leaving it.
‘‘The majority of your learning is still in the first year of teaching, and not in the teacher education institution.’’
Hattie’s research shows that when it comes to variance in students’ achievement, 50 per cent of it comes from the student themselves, and 30 per cent from teachers.
To put that in perspective, he says schools themselves, and the students’ peers, count for 5 to 10 per cent each.
So it is the teacher who has more influence than anything else on whether your child succeeds.
Parents, policy-makers, and teachers look at structural elements, such as class sizes, or curriculum – but his research show those ‘‘distractions’’ have very little effect on students, compared to the person standing in front of the class.
It takes a certain disposition, says Auckland University’s Dr Carol Mutch. A good teacher is approachable and warm, can build good relationships, but at the same time remains professional.
‘‘You also have to know an awful lot, to have breadth in your knowledge, so you can make links across the curriculum. You’re trying to make links beyond their own world at home ... a good teacher can make learning relevant, and significant.’’
A good teacher has a life-long impact, Mutch adds.
That is certainly true for Newlands College teacher Jerome Cargill. He’s been working at the school for eight years; it was his first job when he graduated.
He was 11 when ‘‘the best teacher in the world’’ inspired his career path.
‘‘He told me one day after school the reason why he wanted to be a teacher was because he really liked to help people. He said he saw the same qualities in me, and that I should consider being a teacher as well.
‘‘From then on I never had any other intention, I just wanted to be a teacher.’’
Cargill loves the opportunity to empower others to realise their potential, and see the difference they can make in the world around them.
Outside of his drama and media studies classroom, Cargill has worked with gender and sex-diverse students to help create safe spaces within the school.
‘‘They can now actually be out and happy amongst themselves around the school and be who they are, and not have to hide it. That’s a beautiful thing.
‘‘Those moments have been significant to me.’’
Teachers are so much more than deliverers of knowledge, and hundreds around Canterbury proved that in the February 2011 earthquakes.
Carol Mutch has researched the roles of schools in disaster response and recovery.
The big quake hit in the middle of the school day. ‘‘Teachers were suddenly thrust into first responder mode, they had to calm children, save children, collect children up, and make sure they were safe. They were doing that while they had their own families to worry about.’’
One principal told Mutch that straight after the earthquake she had no idea if her loved ones were safe, but her duty was to stay at the school and look after the children in front of her. Tragically, one of those mums would never come home.
That principal, Jacqui Duncan, is embarrassed to be singled out: she says almost every teacher and principal in Canterbury that day did the same. One of her friends at another school stayed the night in a classroom, looking after several children whose parents were unable to pick them up.
Duncan, now retired from her role as principal of Cashmere School, works as a consultant helping other schools and teachers. She thinks all teachers are motivated, like she and her staff were that day, to look after children and help them be the best they can – that’s why people get into teaching.
‘‘On the day of that earthquake, children were naturally scared, worried.’’
So every single one of her staff went into automatic mode, she says, ‘‘putting on a smiley face’’, reassuring the children they would be cared for until their parents got there.
‘‘As it turned out, my family were fine. My husband was a secondary school teacher, and he was able to get to my grandson’s school to pick him up. That’s because my daughter, a nurse, was working at the hospital and couldn’t get away.’’
At Kapiti College, the work Sharpe does is driven by passion, by seeing how she can change lives. It’s clear from the way she talks about her students that it’s all for them; it’s hard to get her to talk about herself, and what makes her such a good teacher.
So we let the students do the talking. A student who couldn’t read or write in year 9, progressing to speaking at Parliament. Another who was a ‘‘handful’’ when he arrived at school, now identified as a fantastic orator and potential leader.
Another student, Meghan Harris in Year 13, is no longer taught by Sharpe, but still works with her. A lunchtime meeting has students from all year levels gathered in Sharpe’s office, talking about who will speak at a forum being held in Parliament the last week of June.
Sharpe always goes out of her way for students, Meghan says. ‘‘It’s like she feels she’s never done enough.’’
Kiaya McLuckie says her teacher has had a big impact on her whole life. ‘‘She’s shown me that it’s OK to be dyslexic. She’s inspired me to go for it . . . and make the world a better place.’’