Dear Editor,
One of the outcomes of treating teachers with disrespect (the syllable spec, means to really see, as for example, in inspect) both by way of remuneration and how they are treated, is that we are discouraging future generations from entering the teaching profession — even before learning whether they have a calling for teaching.
I speak from experience. As the eldest daughter with five other siblings, I watched my mother, and my father. They both began teaching in Berbice, in the 1930s, at age 15. Teaching is 24×7 work! All adults teach those with whom they have contact, and beyond, consciously and unconsciously. Well aware of the challenges of joining the teaching profession, we are speaking volumes to those who choose to enter and stay – instead of ‘tire and retire,’ become ‘defeated’ and seek ‘greener pastures’ abroad as Mosa Telford said aptly (SN, March 2, 2024, Think on That).
Olga Bone (my mother) taught me, and other teachers: “Always teach as though you are raising future teachers.” As a single mother in the late 1960s when my father did migrate, she had to have a side-hustle, buying and selling property to maintain the family. Fortunately, it was an income-generational activity that took more initiative than time or energy, but I witnessed her unremitting dedication to preparing and assessing students’ work, and using the results of evaluations to facilitate additional strengthening work. Teaching is not just 24/7 work. Teaching is sacred work.
So, when I returned home as a graduate in History at the end of the 1960s, that profession was definitely not on my mind. My brief sojourn in the Public Service, where I naively thought I could still serve the public, drove me to try teaching; first at North Georgetown and then Queen’s College. It was at NGSS that I discovered I had a vocation for education. Although driven out of the formal education sector in the late 1970s by the authorities of that time, I found ways of contributing to Guyana’s development through education in the non-governmental sector.
When, I once asked my mother why she did not nudge me in the direction of teaching at the beginning of my work life, she said, “I didn’t want to run the risk that you might disgrace the family or disgrace Guyana’s education. Teaching is too important to play with, or play at!”
Let us all show grace and respect to our teachers, and the generation of teachers to come.
Sincerely,
Bonita Harris
