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Celebrating South African Teachers
The little girl knew something was wrong. As she came home from school, the sight of police cars around the house alarmed her. The intense voices of her parents arguing frightened her.
The truth would scar her for life. Her father was a paedophile.
Enter a teacher, who took the hand of this young soul and patiently walked her through the trauma, leading her to healing and wholeness. That girl, now a young woman, found the strength to submit her story, in honour of that teacher-healer, for the Great South African Teachers book.
This is not a book about failing schools, troubled children or bad teachers. It is a collection of stories from current and former school children who celebrate the outstanding South African teachers who transformed their lives. From affluent schools and poor, from former-white schools and still-black schools, from the big cities and the small villages, come powerful stories about great educators.
They are great in different ways. There are the subject artists who dazzle young minds with their teaching craft. There are the life performers who help children make the connection between classroom learning and preparation for life. There are the extended parents who care not only for the minds of children but for their hearts as well – these are the “extra-mile” teachers who take on pastoral duties of care beyond their job descriptions. The courageous activist stories tell of teachers who risked their jobs to teach outside the official curriculum during the years of apartheid education. The words and actions of the inspiring mentors have remained with their students long after they left school.
Great teachers have one thing in common: they leave an indelible imprint on the lives of young people.
The book started with a simple invitation in the Sunday Times: “Submit a story about the teacher who made the greatest impact on your life.” Within days, scores of stories flooded in – it seemed people had been waiting a long time for the chance to share their memories of educators who changed their lives. This was an idea whose time had come. The stories came from every province: about young teachers and older teachers; from the World War2 era to recent months; from children still in school to octogenarians; about tough-love teachers and gentle, gracious teachers; about teachers of subjects inside school and teachers of life outside school. The rich mix of class, colour and creed in the stories entranced the review panel and the editorial team.
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