It’s Epiphany and I have been re-reading Matthew 2. In this chapter, the author contrasts the paranoia of the puppet monarch Herod to the dignified authority of the Magi. This made me reflect on the differences between the figure of the wise teacher and teachers like me whose status has been systematically weakened by the Imperial power of Ofsted and the DfE.
The Wise and the Weakened
The wise teacher follows the light of truth
The weakened teacher can no longer see it
The wise teacher exercises judgement
The weakened teacher thinks only of being judged
The wise teacher makes a gift of that which she teaches
The weakened teacher uses it to bolster her status
The wise teacher asks questions
The weakened teacher is only concerned with pre-determined answers
The wise teacher is her own person
The weakened teacher is the puppet of an alien empire
The wise teacher is open to Revelation
The weakened teacher hears only the voices in her head
The wise teacher performs real magic
The weakened teacher merely deceives
The wise teacher knows who her students are
The weakened teacher knows them only as numbers
The wise teacher is not afraid to travel an unfamiliar route
The weakened teacher finds herself stuck in a rut of cruel monotony
The wise teacher honours those she teaches
The weakened teacher fears them
Increasing numbers of wise teachers do not tarry long in the promised land of 21st century English education. They journey to countries afar where they know their gifts will be treasured. Or, they renounce their calling to teach and return to their former jobs as – innkeepers or shepherds or carpenters or full-time mothers, relieved to have escaped the slaughter of innocence and idealism
