The saying is, “Children are our future.” The meaning is obvious. The children are the next generation that will carry on the human species. Our hope as parents and as a specie is that the next generation will better, have it better, increase the humanities knowledge , among many other things.
Children do not grow to functioning positive members of a society without some guidance. Parents provide (hopefully) a large part of this guidance. Other significant guiding forces in young lives are teachers. Without teachers, formal and informal, where would any of us be as people? I can just about guarantee that everyone reading this can relate a story about someone who has taught them something or modeled behavior. Frequently the impact of this is carried with the person the rest of their life.
We seem to be in a period of vilifying teachers within our education system. We seem intent in denying them retirement, fair pay and decent working conditions. We are asking them to do more and more with less and less. We expect results this year that are stellar and next year are stellar plus. Many teaching jobs have turned from teaching to paper work and preparing for standardize tests. The burn out rate is high, and we seem to prefer it that way as it keeps young people coming into the system at the bottom of the pay scale. Add to that the not so subtle process of privatizing education in this country. At one level I am clueless why anyone would want to work in this mess. But I am very glad there are, and that many of those feel called and dedicated to guiding the next generation.
Below is a link to an article praising those who teach. In the article was a wonderful little Rudyard Kipling snippet.
“No printed word, nor spoken plea can teach young minds what they should be.
Not all the books on all the shelves – but what the teachers are themselves. ”
Teaching: The Greatest Responsibility and Opportunity