I commend to you this uplifting post from Jenny of the ‘Characters from the Kitchen’ blog. Our children are the future – how do we help them to shape it?
As we trundle inevitably towards our new school year next week amid threats of redundancy, more cut backs and an ever shrinking national curriculum, here’s a reminder of why we do what we do.
Queuing up in our corner shop the other day, I recognised the young man in front of me as one of our ex students. He bought a couple of cans of coke and a pack of cigarettes.
“Still smoking then Danny, I see,” I said smiling, but trying to force a look of disapproval.
He turned and grinned at me. “Orright, Miss? Hey, do you remember when….?”
We reminisced a little before he left the shop. I watched him drive away in smart little car.
Do I remember? How could I forget? Eight years ago Danny (not his real name) was a student in a class of sixteen listless, under-achieving kids with bad attitude. I supported their English GCSE…
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Back On The Rock 
Roy, thanks very much for reblogging this post. It says so, so much about people.
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I’d really enjoyed this post of Jenny’s – because I’m now a manager and not working frontline, it’s easy to forget the things that make the job rewarding – and why I went into public service (libraries) in the first place.
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Andrea there are too few people now who see even a customer-facing role as serving the public. I’m sure there are still some great, dedicated teachers out there, but when I was at school it was thought a natural thing for teachers to do stuff out of hours, for example. They felt, rightly or wrongly, as if they owed children more than just their contracted hours. In their defence, teachers are now so boxed in with rules, set curricula, paperwork and lack of parental support that it’s no wonder that some do the minimum possible and can’t wait to get out.
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Yep, it seems unreasonably hard now to recruit customer-facing staff who can actually do (or want to do) customer service.
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My husband teaches teenagers like this and is this kind of teacher. He has arranged outings for them when no one else thought he should. I think much of it boils down to respect. He shows them respect and they rise to the challenge.
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Good to know that there are conscientious and well-motivated teachers out there. Julie I think you have it there – respect is a two-way street.
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