To my non-teaching friends, you’re welcome

To my non teaching friends who think that teaching is ‘babysitting’: I think as teachers, as educators, as professionals we in general find this a bit unnerving. But then I think yeah maybe there is some baby sitting elements involved. We watch over your offspring, keep them safe and secure.  But wait.. there’s more:

As educators we are:

Pastoral Custodians. Yes we take care of your kids. Often all day, and in some countries like Australia and Canada before and after school while you work. In some cases we spend more waking hours with your kids than you do.They have a problem, a scraped knee, a cut finger a bruised ego, we take care of your child. Often and fortunately it is all minor, some caring, kind words some empathy and a bandaid is all that is required but we do this. It is what we do. 

Pseudo- Psychologists. Educators are always learning. Learning about ourselves to help us understand your child. We try our best to help your child and we act in the best interest for your child. We try to figure out whats wrong, we ask questions, we listen. We are therapists and mediators to disputes.

Organisers. Yes, educators need to be organised. This is a good thing because we want to give the best learning experience we can to your child. We plan and change plans as we see fit often in short notice to suit the needs of different learners. This is not easy. It’s not like a business plan where you stick with it. We need to be highly organised and ready for changes because we serve our clients (yes..the kids).

Developers. We develop learning engagements to suit individual needs (This is called differentiation to you non-teaching folk). I once had a doctor friend years ago comment on how challenging teaching must be to be an educator. He said ‘I see 1 patient at a time but you see 23- all day!’. Great analogy. We often need to ‘prescribe’ different ways to reach the same goal.

Creators. Educators create new ways or at least promote new ways of thinking. Questioning, inquiring. Appreciating perspectives…..

Problem Solvers. Educators are problem solvers. We work alongside our clients as a team to find answers, to learn together. We are not always right but we try our best.

Yes….you’re welcome.