You’re a teacher. Deal with it.
My gripe with teachers is that many of them always seem to view the teaching profession as something that’s gone to the dogs. I suppose I’m generalising here, because even in the work place (i.e. business) there are people who absolutely despise their jobs to the point of rather wanting to work on a kibbutz or log pine trees somewhere in remote Siberia while drinking vodka and singing the “Volga Boatmen’s Song”.
My gripe with teachers is that many of them always seem to view the teaching profession as something that’s gone to the dogs.
I suppose I’m generalising here, because even in the work place (i.e. business) there are people who absolutely despise their jobs to the point of rather wanting to work on a kibbutz or log pine trees somewhere in remote Siberia while drinking vodka and singing the “Volga Boatmen’s Song”.
My point, however, is that teaching should first and foremost never be seen as just a job. If there are teachers who teach merely for the pay slip every month, then I sure as anything want to keep my own child far, far away from them.
I was recently invited to speak at the parent teacher evening of *Habibia Primary School in Cape Town. The event itself was hosted at Alexander Sinton High School as Habibia do not yet have their own hall. During the various talks given by many of the teachers, I was surprised, no, shocked, to hear of the challenges that their teachers face daily in terms of the learners (for the benefit of our international visitors, the students).
From general laziness and incorrect uniforms to offensive language and adult material on cellphones, I simply sat there thinking “Wow, times have changed since I was last in school”.
But, have times really changed all that much? Are learners far worse now than they were 20 years ago?
I’d like to say that things were much better when I was in school, but reflecting back on those days, I was reminded that there is certainly no new sin under the sun.
There was general laziness, there was always uniform and hair-style issues, there was certainly offensive language and very often alcohol and drug problems too. Not that I was involved in any of those, barring general laziness and the occasional detention for styling my hair with gel (wax was not the ‘in thing’ during my high school years). At the end of the day though, discipline has always been a problem since Adam and Eve first bit into that apple.
So the question begs, have times changed? Are learners worse? Do they give teachers more reason to go on stress-related leave and be out of the classroom so frequently?
My father, ex Head of Science at Fairmont High School, once told me that never in 20 years of teaching did he send a child out of the class during a lesson, nor refer the child to anyone else for discipline. He always handled everything ‘in-house’ so to speak. Granted, those were the days when corporal punishment was still allowed, but I doubt very much that he metered out many beatings.
He told me: “Adrian, the trick to getting those kids to respect you is by using subtle techniques that show them you’re very much in control of the situation. Never, ever lose your composure in your classroom. Own your classroom, and let them know that when they walk through that door, they’re walking onto your property and into your domain.”
This is not achieved by screaming and shouting, nor by dishing out wholesale punishment in my opinion. The trick is to set the tone from the very first lesson onwards.
When I was in grade 8, I had a teacher, Mr Titus, who set the tone very well during our first history class. He told us upfront that he was not there to be our friend. He was there to be our teacher. He laid out the rules for his classroom, and also detailed the consequences of not adhering to his rules. He applied the “do not smile for the first 4 months” philosophy and needless to say, we experienced quality teaching in his class with few discipline-related disruptions.
Did he possess some magical power? No. Did he have unwavering support from the Department of Education? Probably not. Did he have advanced training and high qualifications from some top university? No. Was his salary much higher than YOURS? No. Was his salary higher than YOURS at all? Probably not.
So, my advice to teachers is this:
- Stop complaining about the money. If it’s REALLY about the money, then find a different job.
- Stop complaining about the children. They need love the most, when they deserve it the least. You can make your mark in history by making your mark on them.
You might ‘only’ be a teacher, but by being a teacher you can shape the future. If you cannot see the truth behind this, then in the words of Danny in Hot Fuzz: “Jog on!”.
* Habibia Primary School is an institution that is working hard at making it’s mark in history despite facing daily challenges. The school has many experienced teachers, some who have been teaching for over 40 years. This is a school were teachers do not complain about the state of education, but simply get on with the job of educating the nation.
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Wow,
Hard hitting words Adrian. I’ve always known you to be someone who pulls no punches.
What you say is true, especially about the need for teachers to set the tone of the classroom early on and make the classroom their domain.
The teachers who do this right are always the ones who end up getting the most respect out of the learners.
One of my maths teachers in Grd 8 did this brilliantly at the beginning of our year. He absolutely blew his fuse one day and ended up splintering a window opener pole on some poor chaps desk. We all learnt never ever to put our foot out of line in Mr Horne-Botha’s class, and if i recall correctly, he ended up having the most successful matric maths class in the province come final exams 4 years later.
Good article mate.
Well done,Adrian. I agree, let’s say, 95%. I always used to tell my staff that they seem to think that there was once a golden era when all children behaved well in class, worked hard and respected their teachers. Nonsense! So teachers need to be realistic and accept that disciplining children is one of the main aspects of the job they have chosen to do, rather than to refer the problems or merely whinge. The 5% deviation is there because, with some children, the kind of misconduct is worse that in the past – there is more violence, and more ‘in-your-face’, ‘I have my rights’ attitudes these days. But, even so, teachers have to find ways of handling these things. Part of their problem, however, is that the authorities side with the children often when they should be supporting teachers in their job.
Yes, there is in fact that other 5% unfortunately.
Picture this …
Scenario 1: A teacher slaps a child through the face for being cheeky. Teacher gets fired.
Scenario 2: A child stabs another child in school. Meetings are held, the parents are called in, more meetings are held, the DoE are called in, more meetings are held, the SGB try to get the child expelled but to no avail. Child gets a mild slap on the wrists and is suspended for … what … about a week or two? DoE blame ‘incompetent school management and teachers’ etc etc etc.
My next article will be about the lack of support that the department give teachers. I suppose it really follows on from your article Let’s MIXit! http://www.teachersmonthly.com/index.php/2010/02/lets-mixit/
Regarding me possibly beating kids when it was still allowed – no I did not need to metre out any corporal punishment to any of the learners in my class during my years at Fairmont High, The Settlers High and Edgemead High.
In my opinion the secret is quite simple and costs very little:
1. be prepared – this will require some time, but it’s WELL worth it.
2. if you are not prepared, DON’T pretend, the learners will see through you quickly.
3. Care for every individual – take an interest in them as people.
4. SHOW your care – be genuine, if you can’t, find another profession!
I had excellent role models when I was a learner at school, namely Ron Jones (science), Clive Roos (english) and Mike Rheeler (principal).
Become a ROLE MODEL to your collegues and learners – show empathy, they are struggling with life just like you.
I am like your article on teachers and their profession. The profession has not gone to the dogs only to the privileged. Have you ever taught at a pervious disadvantaged school ? IF yes then you will understand my frustration when I say that teaching has lost is value in our institutions’ , in the said when parents teach their children that lazy people become teaches and if you encourage learners to become teachers. One is scorned by these parents not to encourage learners to do so. Parents also to refuse pay any school funds at all. And those that pay has to carry the rest of the schools debt
Teachers are demoralised by other teacher , learners and parents. Learners are lazy and expect to pass at the end of the year. Record keeping is not done by all and learners fell that they do not need to learn because they are of African decent or worse of coloured decent and will not learn because there are no job prospects after school. They normally refer to university students without work for years because they are told they are coloured and not of African decent.
So please the only reason to teach is for the pay. Did you forget that many of teachers of colour could get in to university to study and other subject was due the fact that they were not allowed to do so, due to some laws of the past that is still affecting most of the population.
So if I am marching for more money, it is because I wish to stay in this profession to help this nation grow and please do not forget that most the so call teachers of European decent has left the country that trained them and are teaching other nations children instead of helping those that needs is from here. How many people, do you know from your group of friends has left our shores for better salaries in other countries. All that we are trying to do is ensure that we have educators for the future and not only for now.
Thanks for your thought provoking comments Hugh. Please find my replies to your various issues raised below …
1) I’ve never taught at a previously disadvantaged school, but I’m very familiar with the challenges that these teachers face. I mentioned Habibia Primary in my article above. What I left out was a story that one of the teachers told. She said that a mother gave her son a cell phone so that he could record the teacher disciplining him for poor behaviour and for being lazy, and to use this recording as ‘evidence’ against the teacher. I think that this is horrendous. The situation will only change when PARENTS start supporting teachers. The way most parents talk about teachers (as you mention in your reply) are truly outrageous. Why would a child listen to his or her teacher when the parents are telling the children how ‘useless’ their teachers are?
2) I feel that a lot of the reason learners are lazy is to do with the fact that they know they can do ‘whatever’ they want and they’ll get away with it. Whereas the teacher will have a performance evaluation from the department and might lose his or her job. Very pathetic in my opinion.
3) If it is true what you say about learners feeling they do not need to learn because they are NOT white people, then I feel their parents have the biggest part to play in this. I know many black people, and coloured people, who actively encourage their children to learn and to do well at school. And conversely, I know many white people who take no interest in their children’s education at all. They assume that because they are white, their children will pass. This is quickly starting to prove false.
4) Even after reading your arguments, I still feel that teaching should be more of a passion than simply a job. If the pay is really so poor, and the support is none existent, then why teach? There are other jobs in the world where the pay is better and the morale is higher. But yes, I fully understand your point about our country’s past history, and I fully agree that the situation we are now in is due to the apartheid regime. I’m not sure the exact statistic, but apparently for every R10 that was spent on educating a black child during apartheid, R100 was spent on a white child. This is shocking, unfair and inhumane.
5) I personally only know two teachers who have left South Africa to teach overseas. They are both coloured, not European.
6) While the title of my article could be viewed as provocative, my intention was to point out to teachers that most of the time, things are not always as bad as we perceive them to be. Having said that, I am a strong activist for better pay for teachers, and I will be until the day comes when the DoE pay you better!
Habibia Primary School is an institution that is working hard at making it’s (its) mark in history.
This is a school were (where) teachers . thnak you for the article ,it helped a lot.