Page Content
Intrinsic Value of Teaching Trumps Challenges
When my daughter was five years old, she and I discussed what she wanted to be when she grew up.
“How about a teacher?” I queried.
“Nah,” she replied blithely. “Too much work.”
Already she could see how many hours a day I put into assessing students and preparing my classes. She could see my stress and concern at report card time. And she could see the time I spent away from home—hours during which Mommy was “working.” What I could not explain in a way that would make sense to a five-year-old, however, was the intrinsic value of teaching—how and why it’s important to me.
For many years, I have taught English language arts. Only a teacher can understand the joy I feel when a student says: “I finished that book! Do you have any other good ones?” Only a teacher understands the deep satisfaction that comes from seeing a student do something that at the start of the school year seemed downright impossible.
Unlike the many hours spent outside the classroom preparing materials, marking, and meeting with parents and students, the rewards of teaching are immeasurable. For example, a few years ago, a new student enrolled in the junior high school where I teach. The student was enrolled in Grade 9, and the other students’ friendships had already been established as far back as Grade 7. Not only was he beginning Grade 9 in a school that was new to him but the student was also from a different country and did not speak English, all of which must have made his school experience feel insurmountably difficult. I remember seeing him outside the office on the first day of school. He was alone and appeared confused—not knowing where to go or what to do. Over the course of the year, however, he worked unbelievably hard. Curious and diligent, he pored over his materials, striving to learn both the content and the language. At the school’s annual awards ceremony, when I announced him as the winner of the school’s English as a Second Language Award, you’d have thought I had just announced the winner of the Oscar for best actor, for all the students and staff were cheering.
It is moments such as this—moments of pride, accomplishment, deep empathy and warmth for children—that make our profession worth all the sacrifices we make.
My daughter is now 16 years old. She understands more fully the type of work I do. She hears my stories about school and adds stories of her own about her experiences as a camp counsellor—experiences that have touched her deeply. Now when I ask her if she would like to be a teacher one day, she smiles and replies: “I haven’t ruled it out.”
There may be no escaping destiny.
____________________________
Nicole Lafreniere has been a teacher for the past 16 years. She is currently the assistant principal at St. Hilda Junior High School, in Edmonton.
