“Before we are educators, we are people first.”
It’s Teachers’ Day and there’s bound to be an abundance of tributes to teachers all around. Today they are heroes and can do no wrong. We remember our teachers all the way back from pre-school and remark on how they helped shape us all these years, how they taught us not only the required lessons but the real lessons in life. Their presence loomed large — and it was not just because they stood in the middle of the room while the rest of us sat.
Some of them become their students’ lifelong mentors and friends.
In fact for today I thought about writing about my teachers who are still in some way present in my life, either because their influence has stayed with me or I still catch up with them once in a while. But then I remembered, what about all the others whose impact was not as noticed or profound but who put in the work, nonetheless? Are they any less worthy of our tributes?
It was not until I became a full-time teacher myself that I realized that before teachers are educators, they are people first. Like everyone else, they are not entirely good – and not entirely bad, either. They are complex characters who experience a range of emotions from the altruistic to the unsavory. They have good days and bad ones.
And so today I thought I would pay tribute to the teachers who:
Wake up weighed down, feeling like they don’t want to get out of bed and go to class;
Are shy or introverted and who have to muster all of their energy to talk in front of many people the whole day, every day;
Who are neither witty nor funny and have trouble holding their students’ attention;
Struggle with managing their temper especially when they have unruly students who don’t do as they must;
Keep forgetting things;
Are limited by physical or mental issues from doing more and doing better;
Doubt their abilities and wonder whether they will ever measure up to what is expected of them;
Have to deal with so many things on the job that it is humanly impossible to be as prepared for class as they would like to be;
Feel frustrated that they could not get students worked up over something that would be helpful to them;
Sometimes feel judgmental toward their students;
Sometimes feel judgmental toward their colleagues;
Sometimes feel judgmental toward their superiors;
Try very hard – and often fail — to make ends meet given their meager salary and the high cost of living;
Balance the demands of the job with the demands of family;
Are exhausted from being caregiver to family members who need special attention;
Are sometimes absent because of personal reasons beyond their control;
Spend significant time and energy going to and from school because of great distance or inaccessibility;
Sometimes feel like they were meant for something else but feel feel compelled to stay;
Face threats to their security;
Want to quit or at least pause but are afraid of being judged;
Want to complain about what is wrong with the system;
Feel defeated by the flawed system;
Feel trapped in their personal circumstances; or
Wonder whether they are even making sense or making a bit of a difference.
Teachers are great because despite all these, they show up and do what they have to do. On any given day, this in itself is commendable. But to do so day after day, consistently over many years – now that’s a real feat.
Happy Teachers’ Day!
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