Getting teaching back to its former glory

Teaching is, in my opinion, the best job in the world. One of the hardest, but still it is the most beautiful in many aspects. Unfortunately, teaching often has bad press. The public opinion has changed in recent decades. Previously, teachers were seen as pillars of society, being those who trained and shaped young people. Today, teachers are seen more negatively. Never, twenty years ago, would a parent have questioned the decision of a teacher. But now it is a common, normal thing we must face weekly.

“Society has to start helping the school instead of asking the school to fix itself.” (Alexandre Jardin)

They Do Not Understand…

People who do not work in the school environment see the long holidays, the summer vacation, a schedule from 8 to 4 Monday through Friday, and excellent working conditions. Yet, what they do not see are the hours spent at home correcting students’ work, weekends spent planning our classes making our educational activities more interesting, us being around young people for a full year, whom sometimes go through difficult periods, often with difficult lives. They do not see the cognitive overload we have to live with daily, from late August to early July! They do not hear all these noises of our everyday life: moving chairs, whispering students, the bell, hallway movements, sneezes, coughs, and so on...

Humanly speaking, our profession is pervasive on many levels. We love our students with all of our heart. We would like what is best for them. During the school year, we build a special relationship with all the children who are part of our daily lives. We get to know them and their families. We think about them every night at home. They are always skipping a little with us in our thoughts. That people do not know either. They do not see all the efforts we make to help a young person with learning difficulties, all the means we invent to enable him to acquire the most knowledge and skills. They do not know that sometimes we stay awake all night because one of our students came to school with a bruise on his or her face. They do not understand that day after day we face problems between our students, and that we need to help them find solutions to their conflicts.

“Never say that a person is only a teacher. It would be like saying that Clark Kent is only Superman...”

We (teachers) are lucky enough to meet children and adolescents (in my case) in their development phase. I speak of luck and I mean it, because in our classrooms are found leaders of tomorrow, future citizens, future voters, adults of our future, doctors, lawyers, carpenters who will work to outperform us, at least I hope so. In short, the people who will build our world. This is serious! And we certainly should not be taking this task lightly. That’s what people forget...

Our students are still malleable, we can still teach them good values and show them the way to a healthy and sustainable future. Our impact on them is greater than we believe. The seeds that we plant in them, that of solidarity, teamwork, sustainable development, respect for others, grow even after they have left our classroom. Our main job is to provide them with the tools they need to face life. Nothing less. A teacher must teach students to learn. It’s not an easy task! It’s the basis of everything we need to do in our life.

Teachers prepare all the children of our society for adulthood. How not to consider this profession as one of the most important ones? How not to see it as the best job in the world? Why not give more value to these teachers who are struggling throughout the school year? These are all questions I cannot answer because, in my opinion, teaching is the best job in the world. The question we should ask ourselves is ... and without teachers, what would become of us?

“To teach is not to fill a vase. It’s to light a fire. ” (Montaigne)

After many years in the teaching world, I left the boat to join Optania’s team of web developers, psychoeducators, psychologists, resource teachers and teachers. We work hard to model technological tools that exactly meet the needs of teachers, their students, the school staff and even parents! While developing these tools, we hope to succeed in changing the vision of others regarding school workers and we believe that it is possible, one text and one tool at a time!