Article | Published in The TES on 25th March 2011 | By: Catherine Paver
Do teachers ever stop talking? Probably not - even when they are alone,
or asleep. "My mum's a teacher and she still gives orders to an
empty room when she is ironing," one of my pupils told me.
We all become teachers for noble reasons, such as changing the world.
Then we discover the real fun of the job. You can tell other people
to be quiet but you never have to stop talking yourself. You can keep
talking for the rest of your life.
Do we ever stop talking about teaching? You know how it is with a group
of friends in the pub. If some are teachers and others are not, it won't
be long before the teachers start talking about school. Suddenly, one
will shout "No! We're talking about work again!" and they
will try to stop, but it won't last. They can't help themselves.
This is because teaching is fascinating, and can touch on every aspect
of human life. It is hard to stop "talking about work" when
you are a teacher, because you are actually talking about life. In a
bookshop last weekend, I overheard two teachers talking about a trip
to see War Horse. Their fervent whisperings covered everything
from trench warfare to which teachers didn't cry at the end.
Few jobs give you more laughs, too. I knew two English teachers who
would sit in a corner of the staffroom crying with laughter over the
grammatical mistakes on a video box.
Talking to teachers from other schools can be liberating. We often find
it easier to talk to strangers and if they are teachers, too, the conversation
takes off. Moaning is more unbuttoned - whether paired, group or plenary.
You don't have to be perky or edit yourself in case your head of department
is listening. There is no need for long explanations, either. "Bottom
set, Romeo and Juliet, after wet break". Nuff said.
It is good to hear about a different school from your own. You get a
break from the idea that "We've always done it like that here".
Schools are intense worlds that often forget there is another way of
doing things. The grass may be greener on the other side - or it may
just be a refreshingly different green. "There is a world elsewhere,"
as Coriolanus says.
At a recent conference of the National Association for the Teaching
of English I met a young teacher who told me: "I feel guilty if
I let my class read for more than five minutes without giving them an
activity." "I don't," said a third teacher who joined
us. "No matter what, they get a lesson a week to enjoy reading."
The younger teacher's face lit up. You could see her guilt beginning
to melt away.
I watched the teachers pour out of the lecture theatre. Many had paid
their own way; some travelled from the States and Singapore. All of
them were talking.
Whatever else teachers may be, they are explorers.
Getting away from your own patch and talking to others who do this endlessly
fascinating job can make you see it afresh.
As TS Eliot puts it in Little Gidding: "We shall not cease
from exploration/And the end of all our exploring/Will be to arrive
where we started/And know the place for the first time."
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