From the Memory Box 

Issue No 22

One way or the other, most of us are susceptible to the power of quotes and sayings. Like a great cartoon some can evoke a range of emotions and stay with us forever. It’s interesting to reflect on those, and why they stay. 

If you are keen to reassure yourself about our profession, teaching, just google inspirational quotes for teachers. There’s plenty there. Some might say that all you are really getting is a sugar hit, but that, I believe, would be unfair. I did question a colleague about that – their view was that we might feel good about the inspirational quotes, but more than a few of his friends, not in the teaching profession, were more familiar with the George Bernard Shaw quote – the one that has dogged our profession for over a hundred years now. It would be more reassuring my colleague told me if more people, those not in the teaching profession, could recite the inspirational quotes as readily as the George Bernard Shaw quote.

I found that to be an interesting perspective – one which I could not dismiss as sheer cynicism, as readily as I would have liked. For the record, in his 1903 play, Man and Superman, George Bernard Shaw gave us that infamous saying, “Those who can, do, those who can’t teach.” It is worth noting that Shaw hated his schooling – a schooling which began with his uncle tutoring him followed by a succession of schools he attended in 1880s in Ireland. What does it say that over 150 years later, with schools of today so different in so many ways, that it can be argued, that like a bad smell, Shaw’s quote still lingers.  At the least it doesn’t inspire anyone to take up a teaching career. For that they would have to look elsewhere.

Let’s start with some quotes focusing on the teaching profession that are designed to be inspirational. One which is often quoted, is that which is attributed to Turkish statesman Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Italian poet Giovanni Ruffini:

 “A teacher is like a candle that consumes itself to light the way for others.”

There’s a couple of ways that this quote can be interpreted. On the one hand, it emphasises the fulfilling nature of teaching whilst simultaneously being exhausting. On the other – that teachers sacrifice their own wellbeing in the interests of their students learning. Given that the quote was coined in the nineteenth century, it could be argued that the former interpretation was the intention of the writers of those times – that teaching was a “calling” and self-sacrifice a “noble expression” of that era. 

Fast forward to the year 2024 and work-life balance, easier said than done as many could attest, is much touted as an antidote to burnout and unremitting stress. That’s not to mention that describing teaching as a “calling”, rather than as a professional career has less purchase nowadays; what with accountability requirements of the highest order. Let’s try some others:

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” – William Butler Yeats (Irish poet).

“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” – Margaret Mead (American anthropologist).

William Butler Yeats wrote his quote at about the time Margaret Mead was born, over 100 years ago. It is hard to argue with the timeless relevance of those words so many years ago by eminent people of great wisdom. They, do however, beg the question of to what degree are they hampered by what is considered to be an overfocus on the value of standardised national tests these days. I’m sure many school leaders have mulled over that question more than once. 

I do like to feel good about myself as an educator, so here’s a few quotes that do the trick for me:

‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou (American poet, author and civil rights activist).

“The more you know, the less you need.” – Australian Aboriginal saying, as is:

“Traveler, there are no paths. Paths are made by walking.”

A productive quote evokes a discernible emotional response. For example, how does the following, anonymous quote on the role of school principals make you feel? 

“Education is the foundation upon which students build their future; as a principal, you are the architect.”

At the least it creates some space for worthwhile reflection and discussion – fundamental components of learning. 

In my research on quotes for this piece, I came across one that was particularly sobering, that by French born American historian and cultural critic, Jacques Barzun, who in the late 1960s wrote the following:

“Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition.”

It saddened me in many ways and left me with more questions than answers – answers that we need to find in order to restore public pride in our profession. That would be a step forward in more ways than one.