A Letter to My 25-year-old Self as a Young Teacher
Who better to offer words of wisdom for a new teacher than the experienced educator he will eventually become?
- by Fergal Roche
Dear Fergal,
You’re not far into your teaching career, and, despite all the hours you spend preparing for every lesson, all your hopes to be the best English teacher that ever existed, I know you already feel like you’re falling short.
Your own time in school wasn’t too long ago, and you would do anything to feel as inspiring as Mr Hardwick, as challenging as Monsieur Baling, and as rigorous as Mr Brooks.
Of course it’s important to aim as high as you can, and also to have role models. After all, the more time you spend observing the way others teach their own pupils the better – how else will you learn what does and doesn’t work?
There’s something else you need to learn, too, however: there is no ideal teacher. So stop trying to fit into a mould that doesn’t exist. The worst thing you can do is burn out in pursuit of that ever-elusive state called perfection.
Which isn’t to say that you shouldn’t keep trying to improve. Just do it in a way that nurtures your talents, rather than wearing them down.
Teaching is a journey of discovery, and mastering it can take decades of practice. Along the way, remember always to be yourself. As Hardwick, Baling and Brooks have shown you, those little quirks and idiosyncrasies are what makes any brilliant teacher stand out from the rest.
You don’t have to throw out your own eccentricities to be a consummate professional. Quite the contrary. This is a career that thrives off strong and individual personalities – and thank goodness it does.
All pupils are just as surprising and diverse as those who teach them, of course. So when thinking about either them or yourself, be flexible. One day that flexibility will become your second nature. And then you’ll really know that you’re on the right track.
In the meantime your aim in class should be simple: destroy all negativity. Effective teaching builds on positivity and belief. Your job exists to show pupils that they can perform, achieve and succeed, however they might feel about it at first.
Treat the classroom as your kingdom, and make sure your rule is one of relentless encouragement.
There’s no doubt that running a classroom is tough. Children are complex. But helping a young person to believe in their own abilities is one of the greatest gifts you can offer – not only to them and society, but also to yourself.
The rewards of getting through to them, of getting it right, will be way up there among the best and most satisfying experiences of your life.
Think of it this way: your pupils’ minds are goldmines, each one of them, and while mining for gold can be one of the world’s most difficult jobs, what an extraordinary privilege it is to be the one who brings that precious material out of the darkness and into the light for what you hope will be a lifetime.
Don’t forget to collect these sparkling nuggets, and keep your own record of when you’ve made an impact. One of the hard truths of teaching is that your peers and superiors won’t ever be able to tell you enough about the impact your lessons have had.
Follow your students’ progress after they leave. If you’re ever in doubt it’ll spur you on to keep striving.
Later in your career, in your work as a head, and then as an advisor to schools and teachers, you’ll look back at the start of this wonderful journey and just feel hugely grateful you went on it. There’s no other job as exciting and significant as teaching. So relax, Fergal Roche, and enjoy.
Yours, Fergal
Fergal Roche is now Chief Executive of The Key, which provides impartial leadership and management support to just under half the schools in England. He is the author of Mining for Gold: Stories of Effective Teachers (John Catt Publishing)
