Well, that’s it for us this week, dear reader. There’s been a lot of talk about education over the last few days. So many questions. Will schools reopen before Easter? Should teachers, along with other frontline workers, receive the vaccine to make sure schools remain open? What impact is lockdown having on my child’s mental health? Why is my child so very hard to teach? Any readers out there trying to balance home-learning with their own work will know what a difficult, demanding task this is. Perhaps this lockdown experience, along with its educational challenges, might make more parents reflect on the importance of school and the valuable work of teachers. It’s difficult with one pupil. Imagine it with thirty. Teachers devote their working lives to improving the life chances of your little darlings, to feeding their aspirations and dreams, to preparing them for the great big world out there. It’s a job that focuses on the future. On a child’s protest sign in this video, we see the words: ‘The future depends on us’. Absolutely. The impact of teachers on the future is immeasurable. So, let’s give the profession a little more respect. Let’s be thankful once in a while. Let’s make sure our children’s futures are properly funded. Let’s lend teachers our support.
‘I Need a Teacher’ is a terrific folky song from Hiss Golden Messenger’s Grammy-nominated 2019 album ‘Terms of Surrender’. The video features children, parents and teachers protesting in North Carolina against cuts to public education. MC Taylor, the singer-songwriter behind Hiss Golden Messenger, said of the video: “I wanted to create a portrait of the people that put their lives on the line for our kids every day. I’ve watched it many times at this point, and it makes me weep every time.” Have a good weekend, folks.
