“IF YOU CAN READ THIS, thank a teacher!” I bubble with pride every time that I see this slogan. It always allows me to reconfirm the importance of what we as educators do!
All practitioners can only play a particular role in the developmental thrust, knowing our efforts will only ever make a contribution and never ever have a completion. This is difficult to understand and harder to accept when the critics come out of the woodwork to highlight what they see as our failures.
In our country, there are approximately 3 000 individuals who carry the tag of teacher. We are all painted with one big brush where accountability and effective production are not respected in ascribing the name. This is unfortunate, because I am strong in my view that everyone who goes into a classroom and gives instruction or passes information to students is not a teacher.
There must be commitment; there must be unrestrained passion and there must be such a high level of accountability that failure must be seen as a failing not of the student or the parent but of us, our preparation, our instruction, our level of motivation or some other act of ours! This drives the teacher to daily reflection, reassessment and a push for improvement. Failure must never be an acceptable option.
With this high level of respect for my profession, I was grieved and disappointed to read the comments of one of my colleagues for whom I have always had great respect. Dr Ian Marshall, to my mind, was out of line and absolutely wrong in his criticism of primary school teachers. These are the hardest working and most productive members of our hallowed profession and are too often treated with unearned and undeserved disrespect.
I am sorry, Doc, but I cannot join you in this unfortunate and unsubstantiated attack! I have had to bite my bottom lip out of basic courtesy while at a particular board meeting when the chairman took free swings at this same group of professionals. I easily dismiss his rants as uninformed and targeted, but I cannot with you, one who has earned my admiration. You are better than that!
I agree that primary teachers are usually younger and less experienced, in the norm, than their other professional counterparts. The percentage of trained personnel may even be lower. But is this reason for the onslaught?
They, more than any of us, are the manifestation of the collective usually used to describe teachers such as, doctor, nurse, lawyer, coach, babysitter, surrogate mum and dad, peacemaker, fundraiser and policeman. They live it daily!
It is an unfortunate truth that many children leave this level and proceed to secondary with gaps to be filled. Most of this results from systemic reasons. If we are honest about it, we all must accept that a focus on the entire class and not only the headliners will mandate that the full syllabus will suffer from time to time as we seek to address the needs of those less able. That is good teaching and should be commended, not criticised. Improved training is a must here and can quite positively impact.
An over focus on the Common Entrance Examination also negatively impacts on total student development. This coupled with the move from the limited subject offerings at primary to the wider expanse at first form in secondary helps to paint an unfortunate picture of unpreparedness.
Does Dr Best, Sir Hilary or any personnel department in our business community receive finished products? That’s the nature of education! It’s a lifelong journey and target setting and achieving must be the goal and must be understood in any critique.
To my primary school colleagues, while others fret and complain about school-based assessments, I see you struggling with your multiplicity of tasks, inclusive of criterion reference tests, daily updated scheme books, unrestrained diversity of persons and abilities in one classroom, and the all defining Common Entrance. Never fear, because ours is a profession of care and love and you are the first responders!
Keep the flag flying high and let my friend Dr Marshall see you for what you really are, the unquestioned giants of education! There are many reading this that never went past your stage and need to give you thanks!