To my fellow teachers everywhere:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
Theodore Roosevelt
American 26th US president (1901-09), 1858-1919
As proud public school teachers, you have placed yourself into the arena. You subject yourself to critique. You know that you pursue a worthy cause and you are willing to dare greatly in order to lead your students beyond what they thought was possible. You are motivated by more than high achievement and recognition. For you, it is about a life with purpose; simply, to live a life that counts. And so to the critics, to those with cold and timid souls, who would try to diminish your choice to be a teacher - let us all stand together, as one strong united voice, and let them know that our students are more than numbers or potential profit and that our work cannot be chartered away or virtualized.
Thank you for always being willing to ask why. To ask if there is a better way. To give voice to those who dare not speak. To inspire those who are lost. To be awake while others sleep. To celebrate. To hope. Thank you for all that you do and for all that you are.
1 comment:
I'm a temporary teacher in secondary state education in Madrid, Spain.
The political-administrative education authorities are ill-treating students and temporary and fixed teachers here and, as a result, we are focused on that our future society doesn't suffer but quite the opposite gets cleverer.
I must say that reading your post has greatly moved my insights.
Thank you for sharing your encouraging spirit. It's good to know that very similar endeavours are being made elsewhere on Earth. I'll have your feelings present along every class I take part in and during the 4th competitive exam I'm forced to do in the last 6 years. This time I'm determined to get the 9'5 out of 10 I need in order to continue teaching. This is the best profession possible, even though it is tough to overcome the many hurdles they place in our way. It's a great pity that a lot of hard-student-and-enthusiastic-teachers are being massively fired in public education in so many countries.
Let's not only enjoy what we do but also keep making up ways to lead the efforts they want to put aside to immediate and future Life's sake!
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