Being a teacher

 If you google the name of the author of this quote, Forest E. Witcraft, you will realize that little is known about his life. But, if you google his quote you will find it in several web pages used by a wide amount of authors in different contexts. This is so because nothing can detract from the fact that these are rousing words.

In Argentina, in September 11th teacher’s day is celebrated. This date has been chosen in memorial of the death of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, our 7th President to whom we thank his strong concern over education.

Still, I am not going to make a historical display here as well as I am not going to make any biographical description. I am going to write about teachers as a group of people in charge of forming other people to do well in life. It doesn’t seem an easy task, does it? Let me clarify something before going on; September 11th is the date in which primary teachers celebrate and September 17th is the date in which secondary teachers celebrate in our country. However, this year, both dates have been joined and it has even been declared a national holiday.

Being a teacher in my country doesn’t entail a huge monetary reward, salaries are low, materials are not enough or are in poor conditions, and sometimes the buildings are deplorable. If you are a primary teacher, you have to work with at least 60 students per day in a full time job in two different schools and, of course, with different groups of students with their particular characteristics. If you are a secondary teacher, you have to work in several institutions with different groups of students in different social contexts, with different needs and realities. You may be asking yourselves why... A decent life, yes, that is the answer.

Argentinean Educational System is full of irregularities and the one I previously mentioned is the one I disregard the most and that isn’t only because of monetary conditions, that isn’t even the most important reason... It is because of despersonification. Individuality is lost and our duty becomes mechanical...

Nevertheless, even if we consider every single negative aspect of our work, nothing can be compared with the most suitable reward for us: Appreciation, growth and happiness. If there is only one student whose development we can witness or whose love we can experience, that will be enough.

We don’t have to give the system the chance of blowing us down. It is our duty to change our students’ view of the world with tiny things such as acting as models for them, making them reflect on different aspects of life or just making comments about different issues. We should listen to them, make them laugh and enjoy being at school. They should feel comfortable inside the classroom and be proud of their learning process. We need to be an important part of their life, as Witcraft says.

We have to learn from our personal experiences as students and as teachers and give our best every day. Our main objectives have to be our students – children, teenagers, adults- and their welfare... Other aspects are secondary in this interaction student-teacher, interaction that needs to be carried out with love and devotion.

Andy