In Scotland, there are two very evocative and effective expressions that suggest people are in imminent danger, primarily as a result of their own actions, it has to be added: “you are heading for a spreading” is one such expression while the other is “you are cruising for a bruising”. If we look at society in general worldwide, it may well be seen to be heading in the direction of serious trouble, much of it as a result of its own actions (or equally inaction), through many very real and disturbing challenges. Global warming, growing terrorism threats, refugee problems, poverty, are just some of the massive challenges facing society today.
The challenges for us living here in Zimbabwe are also many. It is a constant challenge on a personal level simply to make a living, to put food on the table, to pay ever-spiralling bills, while having to face queues, shortages and outages. More specifically for us as teachers, on a professional level there are major challenges that we face. We are being challenged by the ever-changing and ever-expanding curriculum, the increasingly demanding expectations of parents, the advances in technology at frightening speeds, not to mention the tightening of belts in our educational institutions.
However, perhaps our greatest challenge as teachers, in the poetic trend of the Scotsman alluded to above, is not so much to be found in our teaching but in our reaching. Our greatest challenge is in reaching the child, not in teaching the curriculum. We will make a big mistake if we think that because we have taught something it has been learned. Two true stories reveal this. In one incident a coach said to his sports team, “Why don’t you get this? I’m a good coach!” He taught the skills and tactics but he did not reach his pupils and as a result he was not a good coach. In another incident a teacher was reduced to tears in a class because he was upset that he could not explain the concept in a way that his pupils understood; he was aware his teaching was not reaching them but more importantly he was aware it was his responsibility to reach them.
In last term’s newsletter we considered how we must teach the child, the whole child and nothing but the child. We need to go further, though; we need to reach them, where they are, not wait for them to come to where we are or where we think they should be. We need to reach them so they have a response and feel the relevance of what we are sharing. We will never reach them if it has no relevance. Furthermore, children today are wired differently to when we were at school; they will not be reached in the same way as they used to be. The fresco painting ‘The Creation of Man’ by Michelangelo portrays the finger of God reaching out to touch the hand of Adam as a symbol of God giving life to mankind. That, in some ways, is a picture of what we as teachers can do for our children; we reach out to touch and so inspire and give life to our pupils.
As teachers, we will find ourselves “heading for a spreading” if we are more committed to teaching as opposed to reaching. We need to be ‘reachers’ more than teachers. Our children will find themselves in imminent danger, primarily as a result of our actions, if we do not actually reach them.
For a further article on this theme you may consider the article entitled ‘What are the Chances?’ on the ATS website:
We wish you a fruitful resolution to these challenges this term.
