Tag Archives: professionalism

May 12

All In A Day’s Work

Posted on by

My wife and I recently attended a rather special show at Sweet Valley Primary in Meadowridge, Cape Town. What made this school concert different was that no children were involved in the show. All parts were played by members of the school staff. It was a wonderful evening’s entertainment and was certainly value for money.

I could not help wondering as I watched these academic professionals perform their hearts out in music, dance and song, how many other professions would happily give many, many extra hours of after-hours time to prepare costumes, decor, sets, practise lines and perfect dance steps so that they could perform in front of 300 people (many of whom may be unknown to them) for three nights running with no extra remuneration other than the applause of the audience and the knowledge that they have contributed to a greater sense of esprit de corps.

One must remember that this was done in addition to the ongoing responsibilities of lesson preparation, marking of assessments, extra-curricular activities such as sport coaching, parent meetings and all the other responsibilities inherent in teaching.

I salute the Sweet Valley Primary staff and all other teachers who continue to give way over the expected time and effort they are paid for in order to improve the school experience for pupils, parents and community.

Sep 16

What Happened To Professionalism?

Posted on by

Local school teacher to a pupil in her class: “Where did you go to school before you came to this school?”

Pupil: “I went to {insert name of another local school here}.”

Teacher: “You are so stupid to have wasted half your schooling at {insert name of another local school here}. Only idiots go to that school.”

This is unfortunately a true story…

It never ceases to amaze me that a teacher can be so small-minded and insecure in herself that she is forced to make this kind of comment in front of a class of 11 year olds. Not only is this a ridiculous thing to say, it also reveals an astonishing lack of professionalism. There is also a lack of judgement evident in what is appropriate to say to children and what is not.

Teachers such as this have no place in a classroom in a society in which we are striving to develop children who have the emotional intelligence to seek first to understand before judging others and who have the core value of respect for others. How many other teachers like this are in our schools today? Whatever happened to teachers being the pillar of society and those to whom our children turned for moral and ethical guidance in an often confusing world? Call me naive, but I believe its time to bring honour back into our profession.