Teacher's Day 2007. I've been in a reflective mood since I "commemorated" my 10th anniversary of being a teacher. Exactly what have I achieved since leaving the noble profession for the truly noble profession?My mind turns to the movie "Mr. Holland's Opus" in which Richard Dreyfuss plays a composer who works as a high school teacher to support his family while writing his masterpiece. Despite spending 30 years at John F. Kennedy High School, Mr. Holland never succeeds in writing his magnum opus. When he retires, he wonders exactly what he has achieved with his life. At his farewell, past and present band members, including all the misfits and "difficult" students he taught, perform a musical tribute to him. That is when he realises that his greatest work was not his feeble attempts at composing music, but the many lives he has touched as a teacher.
With the raising of the retirement age, I could possibly have taught 25 years (presuming I don't run out of steam) by the time I too, like Mr. Holland, look back on my life and wonder what exactly I have achieved. But why wait that long? Thanks to Facebook, I have recently reconnected with students I have taught 10 years ago. Many have gone on to further their education, many have started their own families. Everyone has a successful career, including many who have entered the profession which I fled. Many will go on to surpass me, and all the other lecturers and tutors who taught them, in the ladder of success.
Every year, about 120 young people enter my sphere of influence. Every year, I hope to impact a dozen or so of them in a deeper way than that allowed by the superficiality of the typical teacher-pupil relationship. I am beginning to realise that the influence that a teacher has on his pupils goes beyond the classroom, beyond even the years of formal schooling. Technology such as Facebook has made it easier to keep in touch with students that have graduated a decade ago. It facilitates regular emails, the occasional lunch outing and the much rarer class reunion.
I hope that when my turn comes to retire, like Mr. Holland, I will be able to say to the students I have taught "You are my magnum opus".
