People often ask me whether I always wanted to be a teacher. We all come across people who make a mark on us.
These individuals can come from various areas of life. Most of us spend at least a large part of our formative years in primary and secondary schools. Here, we depend on our parents to do their research on schools. This decision is of paramount importance to all students entering school.
People who decide to go into teaching must realise that they have the future of young people in their hands. When we all look back on our school years, we realise the role that teachers played in our lives.
I am always interested in what students say about their teachers. A high school teacher left a school because she had to attend to personal matters. The students were very upset because they had lost a very good teacher. In my time as a teacher, I have heard stories like this many times. The role of the principal at a school is of utmost importance when it comes to appointing teachers.
In my years as principal, no matter how difficult it was, it was my duty to ensure that suitably qualified teachers were appointed at the school. I told the students at assembly that if they felt the teacher was not performing, they should report the matter to me. The same applied to me. They had the right to report me to the governing body.
In education, we must be accountable. In the South African context, it seems that people are not held accountable.
The concept of accountability in education will lead to better results.
In the early 2000s, I called a retired maths teacher to ask how I could improve the maths Grade 12 results. He told me that I needed to get rid of those teachers. I did, and replaced them. The results improved. Sometimes tough action is needed.
There is no quick solution to developing excellent schools. I was fortunate that I started teaching at an excellent school in 1977, which was established in 1950. The school continued to improve, and I left in 2016.
The school has continued to develop its excellence.
In South Africa, we all have to work hard in our schools. We must celebrate success when we achieve it. I recently visited my old school, where I taught for 39 years. I saw some students sitting on the steps of the main hall and greeted them as students of excellence.
One student put up his hand and told me: “Not students of excellence, Sir, but students of super-excellence.”
* Brian Isaacs.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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