Happy Gael is under pressure comments on teachers by Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary at a Fine Gael event last weekend. But here are 14 reasons why teachers deserve all the respect in the world.
1. They interact with copiers and printers far more than any human should ever have to. Copiers and printers are, of course, the only things on earth that are less predictable than children.
2. They are constantly forced to listen to boring people making ‘jokes’ about working half days and six months of vacation a year. The same boredom would probably last twenty minutes in a classroom on a rainy day, when no one can go outside for the big lunch and everyone is climbing the walls. Just think of marking, lesson plans, preparation for the Lord’s Supper, Halloween parades, school fetes, concerns about additional needs, Power Points, mandatory reporting and Christmas plays, which are now likely to be on the rise.
3. They argue with parents. When I was a student there was an information gap between school and home – there was a parent-teacher meeting once a year and a letter if you played the maggot, but that was it. Now parents can easily access teachers by emailing or sending them DMs. And of course there are the WhatsApp classroom groups, some of which are rife with bashing teachers and principals. Some schools even publish advice on their websites about these groups, stating that they are not the place to air grievances, political opinions or unsavory jokes. Teachers have enough to do without Sorcha’s mother complaining that Dillon’s father called her “hysterical” via text.
4. They advocate for vulnerable and high-needs children as if they were their own, often providing reams of supporting paperwork and vital information to doctors, psychologists, social workers, etc.
5. They have to deal with the unbearable honesty of children who ask how old they are, whether they have a baby in their bellies and why they always pull up their pants so high. Secondary school teachers must endure the cruel nicknames thrust upon them and play all jokes with a brave face (Mr. L, I am deeply sorry for the time we traded your crayon for a tampon, and Mrs. B, your beautiful small Christmas tree should never be decorated with condoms. Teenage girls are hell on earth).
6. They are never safe in public. My mother was a teacher, and I remember many childhood trips to supermarkets where there was a chorus of ‘ah there’s a teacher!’ on every corner. And of course every child has a parent. I refer you to number 3.
( Michael O’Leary doubles down on teachers’ comments after ‘piling on’ and says he was making a ‘serious’ pointOpens in a new window )
7. Many of them really love children and education. A friend once showed me, with tears in her eyes, a school report that a teacher had written for her child. It was such a gentle and succinct portrayal of her eight year old that it made me cry too. “He really knows her,” I bluffed, thinking about my own teacher when I was eight, who always brought his guitar and taught us Beatles songs.
8. They sometimes bring their guitars and teach little kids Beatles songs. It doesn’t get much more fun than thirty voices singing When I’m 64.
9. They promised themselves they would never give in to stereotypes, but then they find themselves crossing their arms, meeting the teacher’s gaze, and saying things like, “It’s only your own time you’re wasting.” I’ll wait until you stop talking, okay?’
10. They teach little people to read. This one baffles me. They take letters and sounds and turn them into words and stories on a page. They don’t get paid enough for this alone.
11. They spend so much of their own money on Blu Tack so the kids can steal it, so all the posters and flashcards they’ve worked so hard to make for their classes fall. Why is Blu Tack so irresistible to children? Santa should bring a package for everyone this year and see if they can get it out of their system. Yes, it will be carpeted, but that’s the price you pay for the joy on their little faces.
( The Irish Times looks at Fine Gael’s early shaky campaign: the curse strikes againOpens in a new window )
12. They are forced to listen to rooms of people laughing at their expense at a time when a housing crisis means many of them cannot afford to live anywhere near where they teach, and terrible services for vulnerable children and people with additional needs means people are falling through the cracks.
13. Meanwhile, millions are spent on pointless phone cases and annoying bike racks, while schools are under-resourced and overcrowded.
14. Finally, teachers are sometimes asked to tie small shoelaces that are wet when it hasn’t even rained. And they do it and then just wash their hands in a small sink. Angels.
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