Chapter 9: And Finally …

What will your pupils learn from you?

Read the poems in Table 9.1 and Table 9.2. Consider the values that you as a teacher will pass on through your teaching and through the relationships you develop with your pupils.

Read the text ‘Natives’ by Akala if you can borrow it from your library or purchase it. Which of the teachers Akala had would you hope to be like?

Write a note to yourself about what you hope to achieve, and revisit and review your aspirations for your-self as a teacher at the beginning of each term of your teaching.

Dear teacher,
I am the survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness.
Gas chambers built by learned engineers,
Children poisoned by educated physicians,
Infants killed by trained nurses,
Women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates.
So I am suspicious of education.
My request is: Help your students become human.
Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmanns.
Reading writing and arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more human.

If a child lives with criticism,
he learns to condemn,
If a child lives with hostility,
he learns to fight,
If a child lives with ridicule,
he learns to be shy,
If a child lives with shame,
he learns to feel guilty,
If a child lives with tolerance,
he learns to be patient,
If a child lives with encouragement,
he learns confidence,
If a child lives with praise,
he learns to appreciate,
If a child lives with fairness,
he learns justice,
If a child lives with security,
he learns to have faith,
If a child lives with approval,
he learns to like himself,
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
he learns to find love in the world.