Passionate teacher ready to embrace ‘new normal’

FOR A local educator who has been working with young people for more than two decades, teaching had become a huge part of her life, and Covid-19 would not change that.

“Covid-19 has changed the course of teaching as we know it,” the teacher, who asked not to be named, told the Cape Times yesterday as schools prepared to reopen on Monday.

She said her motto, “lift as you rise”, was what kept her going.

“Covid-19 is new for all of us, and there is no formula to guard against it, so it has forced everyone to try and make things work as best as we all can,” the teacher said.

Her biggest concern was that teaching was a field that required contact and patience, and physical distancing would be a challenge.

“You know, at times, as teachers, we need to get close to the children to help them understand things, but now we won’t be able to do that.

“We are going to have to find new ways of keeping both ourselves and the learners safe,” she said.

As someone who grew up in the rural Eastern Cape, she said being a teacher was her way of making life better for her family.

However, as the years progressed, she had fallen more “in love” with the teaching profession.

“Not everyone can teach. “The profession requires a lot of passion,” she said.

Going back to school was bittersweet, she said, as she had missed her pupils, on the one hand, but was afraid for everyone’s health, on the other.

Tension among teachers was high this week, she said.

“There is a lot of mistrust among teachers.

“At the end of the day, we are all scared for our families and the children because we don’t know who has it and who doesn’t,” she said

A “new normal” would have to be established as Covid-19 would be around for a long time, she said.