We've been talking about why society undervalues teachers--who were once the custodians of truth. This is a discussion that has been grabbing headlines lately as teachers complain that no one loves them anymore and everyone is out to get them. Is this really the issue however?
Firstly, I think teachers are undervalued mainly because children are undervalued. Perhaps you're thinking children have never been so highly valued in history, after all, there's even a United Nations charter on the rights of the child (which the US has yet to ratify). Nevertheless, I think the IDEAL of the child is highly cherished--their innocence, their need for support and guidance, their almost pet-like unconditional love. However, the REALITY of the child is not--let's face it, they're noisy, messy, mischievous and at times downright inconvenient! Teachers have to deal with both aspects of childhood. While they spend much of their time with the reality of children, society sees them spending all of their time with the ideal of children.
Added to this society sees any small privilege that teachers appear to have with suspicion and resentment. If teachers have, say, an afternoon off, it's some kind of unwarranted break. Never mind, that they may have loads of papers to mark, lessons to plan and map out, or they may even need that respite from dealing with the reality of children multiplied exponentially by such factors as peer pressure and group think! After all, what other profession deals with 20 - 30 clients/customers/patients at a time, day after day, hour after hour, year after year? Each one with different needs, hopes, fears, problems, etc., etc.
I may be way off base in my statement, but let's face it, if we, as a society, truly valued children--the REALITY of children, then surely we'd value teachers. Besides parents, they are the ones who deal most directly with our children. They are the ones who, after parents, mold them most. In so doing they mold the future.
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