I wonder who was being taught in this class. Somehow, I think it might have been the teacher. We, too, could learn a thing or two. Different people have different priorities, and think different things are important.
The Teacher and the Taught
A young teacher from an industrial city in the north of England had accepted a temporary job teaching a class of four-year-olds out in one of the most isolated, rural parts of north Wales. One of her first lessons involved teaching the letter “S”; so she held up a big colour photograph of a sheep and said: “Now, who can tell me what this is?”
No answer. Twenty blank and wordless faces looked back at her. “Come on, who can tell me what this is?” she exclaimed, tapping the photograph determinedly, unable to believe that the children were quite so ignorant. The twenty faces became apprehensive and even fearful as she continued to question them with mounting frustration.
Eventually, one brave soul put up a tiny, reluctant hand. “Yes!” she cried, waving the snap aloft. “Tell me what you think this is!” “Please, Miss,” said the boy warily. “Is it a three-year-old Border Leicester?”
About Paul Sibley
Andrew Gosden (now 18) has been missing from his Doncaster home since 14 September 2007. The search continues.
Elizabeth Jackson on 