With great power comes great responsibility

Some pupils have already experienced more trauma in their young lives than I will ever know.

Some pupils are our future leaders.

Some pupils have been in a wheelchair all their lives.

Some pupils will distrust me as soon as I walk through the door, simply because I’m an adult.

Some pupils make the room light up with one suggestion.

Some pupils don’t know a word of English when they join Secondary School.

Some pupils will blow you away with their contributions.

Some pupils have been badly let down by the very people who are supposed to be their role models.

Some pupils will reform our society.

Most pupils know the importance of learning and education.

Most pupils will respect you if you respect them.

Most pupils will make you laugh.

Most pupils love to learn if you engage them.

Most pupils enjoy school and are happy to be with their peers in a safe environment.

All pupils are full of life and energy.

All pupils are humans, not simply research specimens or pieces of data.

All pupils have opinions and need space to express these opinions.

All pupils need consistency, boundaries and support.

All pupils are precious and worth fighting for.

These are little lives we are dealing with, lives that have already experienced so much by the time they come into our classrooms. As teachers we have been put in an extremely powerful position, a position we can either use or abuse. It is our job to provide young people with an education. Education provides them with knowledge, knowledge provides them with choices, choices provide them with a future. It is a great responsibility and it needs to be taken seriously.

: 11 Oct 2011 20:26 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem