Let’s Educate For Our Children’s Sake (Poem)

What’s the relevance to the teaching profession and the teaching-learning experience of both educators and learners?

As an advocate of learning-by-doing because it is such an engaging and fun experience, here’s a poem from our reader Lucille Dass who was inspired by an article written by Roshan Thiran on high-quality learning.

Happy Teachers’ Day!

 
Related story: Whose Duty Is It To Ensure Our People Gain High-Quality Learning?
 

The poem goes like this:

Have you seen this ad?
Its intent may be something else,
But to the teacher in me… sounds a little sad:

“It’s a law of the universe. Children walk to school. Children run home.”

And as I read into this ad
In truth I find that
Children go to school
Eager and hopeful
To learn
Also to have some fun.
Have you noticed
How they gaze into your face,
Look forward to happy days
Day after day…?

I find that
Each child may be different
In his ability and talent,
Yet each has a basic need
You the teacher can meet,
If you choose to be
An educator who cares
Beyond the domain of academic welfare.

Yet, I also find that
You can’t help but say:

I have lesson plans to do
With teaching aids in tow,
Records, registers and reports to update,
All in a row.
And there’s more…
Classwork to set,
Homework to check,
Tests and exams to formulate,
Soon after the same to grade,
After that report cards to be made.
There are always worksheets to be done,
Additional practice for all,
Or remedial for one,
Extra classes to run…

And you want me to make learning fun?

To children’s problems I see no cease,
I’m also expected to act in loco parentis,
With parents and children I have to keep peace,
Then there’s my principal to appease,
And oh … did I mention the authorities?
I have meetings, briefings and courses to attend,
Sigh! Oh, please… this list will see no end…
I cannot begin to make you understand!

Yes… I understand.
A teacher’s ‘to do’ list never ends.
But just for a bit…,
Draw yourself apart,
And truly tell from your heart
Have you tried to make a difference?
For the children to recall learning with fond remembrance?

The cues you send out
Relay your attitude
Towards your teaching
And the children in your care,
And since you act in loco parentis
Remember, you are a mentor
And the children your mentees.

Lest you forget
Most important of all
The call to educate
Extends beyond the intellectual,
To create wholesome individuals.
It’s not enough just to teach
(And I don’t mean to preach),
But this I’ve found…
The children’s heart you need to reach
To sow the seed,
Their spirit to feed.

Build rapport
If you would be a life support.
The less you restrict and confine,
The further the leap of their imaginative mind.
Then to make them learn you’ll no longer perspire
If diligence and excitement in them you inspire.
Through teaching them not just what to think
But in guiding them how to think
You help sculpture their mind
In readiness for the challenges of a lifetime.

To educate,
Lest you forget,
Is to propagate
The desire to learn,
To light the spark
They’ll carry forever in their heart.
If this you fail to do,
You’ve surely missed the mark.

And so to school
They will continue their slow walk…
But if perchance some enthusiasm you add
To make learning fun,
You bet they’ll be only too glad
To break into a run!

To be an educator
Is to combine humility with power,
And teach in the present
With an eye on the future.
Because your influence
In students lives forever…
And aren’t our children always our future?

– Written by Lucille Dass

 
See also: What Teachers Make By Taylor Mali (Poem)