In 1972, I walked into a classroom for the very first time as a teacher, writes Ned Manning in the Sydney Morning Herald. I was doing a Dip Ed at NSW’s Newcastle University and had been given my first prac at Raymond Terrace High School, about 25 kilometres north of Newcastle. I’ll never forget it. The English teacher who was supervising me opened the door to the staff room, pointed down the corridor and said, “Third door on the left. Off you go.” Apparently, I was going to learn “on the job”.
I don’t know whether good teachers are born or made, but I do know that not many of them will stay in the profession if they’re not passionate about what they teach, or dedicated to enriching the lives of their students.
My first full-time posting, six weeks into the 1973 school year, was to Tenterfield High School, the smallest high school in NSW at the time, about 16 kilometres from the Queensland border.
My first class, 2E3 (year 8 English), boasted that they’d already got rid of three teachers and that I’d be the next. They treated me like the wet-behind-the-ears innocent that I was. I had no control over them. Fortunately, the maths master, Doug – about 30, bearded and with a penchant for paisley shirts and red flares (trousers, not the emergency signal) – heard the riot raging inside my weatherboard classroom one morning and came to my rescue. Afterwards, he told me no matter how far the horse had bolted, to never let go of the reins: running out of the room wasn’t an option.
Despite the fact that we taught different subjects, he’d regularly ask me, “How’re you going?” and it meant everything to me. I survived because of him.
Nowadays, most experienced teachers are too weighed down by paperwork to help their younger colleagues. Today’s newcomers are every bit as keen as they were in my day, but they just don’t get the same support. There are thousands of retired teachers who’d make wonderful mentors: why don’t we re-employ them for such a role? It might just stem the tide of teachers who are abandoning the profession.
Coaching the school football team at Tenterfield was also a game-changer. I’d pack the ones who lived out of town into my VW and drive them home after training because it was the only way they could get home. We talked: I got to know them and they got to know me.
I’m still teaching – for the simple reason that I love it. I love seeing the smiles on students’ faces in the corridors as they rush past me. And I love the trust they place in me, which I hope I deserve. It’s a wonderful profession and I’ve loved (nearly) every moment of my 50 years as a teacher.
FULL STORY
‘Students don’t want to be your friend, they want to know where they stand’ (Sydney Morning Herald)
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Author Ned Manning, centre, is still teaching after 50 years. “I love seeing the smiles on students’ faces in the corridors as they rush past me. And I love the trust they place in me, which I hope I deserve,” he says.CREDIT:PAOLO LIM/ILLUSTRATIONROOM.COM.AU
