As I continue on my quest to find the perfect teaching method (and failing, I might add) I have spent many years pondering over which teachers in my own life I considered influential and why. I have known for some time that different teachers were special to me for different reasons but it is not a bad idea to reflect over just why they were special. Sometimes, it was the circumstances that made them special, a case of being the ‘right person at the right time’. Other times, they were just an amazing teacher and influenced many as a result.
As the expression goes “One man’s meat is another man’s poison” so it is probably true that some I will list were probably hated by others. Again though, there were a few who just seemed to be universally loved by all they taught. I would love to have been one of those kind of teachers and still aspire to get there one day. I am proud that over the years I have won over the hearts of some tough kids who found other teachers unpalatable but I know there were some I never reached and am sure I saw pure hatred in their eyes sometimes. Those children I feel I failed.
Still, you never know. I was recently very surprised and please when one young man I taught many years ago got in touch with me through Facebook. At school he had been a terror and I regularly had to tell him off or even give him detentions. He did not do well at school and was eventually expelled. But in chatting with him on Facebook he had clearly changed. He knew he had been a bit of an idiot at school and regretted it. He also had nothing but praise for my teaching and the times we spent together and was quite apologetic for his behaviour.
That really touched my heart and gives me hope that the few who got away and whom I just could not get through to maybe, at least, don’t hate me.
That’s my worst fear. That there may be young men and women around today who look back and think ‘eugh, Mr FP? He was horrible. He made my life miserable.’ If there are some like that and they happen to be reading this, then I hope they will forgive me.
But, I think it is always best to look at what has been positive in your life rather than focus on the bad and with this in mind over the next few blogs I will list my own top few best teachers ever. Maybe it will inspire you to think about your own choices. Feel free to comment about them here and add in to the discussion. You will notice that often I give criticism of teaching or teachers in general but this is not to knock my fellow teachers. Instead it is to give the background to why these chosen ones of mine were special and maybe give a context for yourself and your own teachers about why they were good or bad. My aim here is to show my favourite ones up in a good light and explain just what it is about them that I hope I have tried to pick up in my own life.
I will look at each teacher in chronological order and consider them as follows:
- As they meant to me as a student
- As they mean to me now as a teacher
- What I have learned about people as a result of their input in my life
I hope you find this, at least, interesting and maybe useful. If you grew up with me you may know some of these people and might like to comment about them yourself. If you are a student or ex-student of mine you might be interested in a different perspective on teachers. If you are neither of these you will, I hope, be interested in my thoughts on life stemming from these experiences. Feel free to comment on any of these things and I will endeavour to make sure your comment gets posted quickly.
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