The Unique Brilliance of Teaching

The Unique Brilliance of Teaching, combined with the witnessing the worst lesson EVER!

Teaching is undoubtedly a challenging profession. Nevertheless, a chance meeting in the streets of Newcastle has acted as a reminder of why it is also uniquely brilliant.

I was walking with friends along the, unusually warm, streets of Newcastle, when I heard shouts of ‘Mrs Thomas’, there was a group of extremely glamorous young women clearly on a big night out. One said, ‘You don’t recognise me do you?’ Luckily I did, it was Sarah, although she looked significantly more sophisticated than when I taught her AS Literature. I asked what she was up to and she stated the magic words that all teachers strive to hear, ‘Miss, you inspired me, I have just finished my degree in English Literature’.
So big alert to teachers at the end of a very long academic year, you do make a difference, and students do appreciate your contribution, and sometimes it is only many years later that you fully appreciate the influence you have had. In this instance. I only discovered this by a chance meeting, on a July evening on a Newcastle street.

I have two distinct memories of Sarah. One was when she expressed an intense dislike of the novel ‘Frankenstein’ having studied it at GCSE; this led to my explanation of why it is such a clever novel. At the end of this conversation she said, that after I explained it, she finally got it! In hindsight, this was all part of the process of her appreciation of literature.

It was also with Sarah, and this particular class, that I witnessed THE WORST LESSON ever in the history of teaching. If I am ever feeling down, I remind myself of this lesson and cheer myself up. We had a supply teacher who was desperate to teach A level Literature. After weeks of badgering, I finally relented but on the condition that I stayed with the students. He was (seemed) articulate, and he had a particular interest in drama. Luckily, this wasn’t a formal observation, so no feedback was required! We were studying ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ – a play so rich in themes and drama it is harder to get it wrong than get it right, in fact one of my fellow English teacher friends says ‘You have to be dead not to enjoy streetcar.’
THE STARTER
He put the opening of the musical ‘Stagecoach’ (I am still struggling to see the link) He then SANG along, a booming, well pitched recital that literally blew us all away. The students were brilliant – open mouthed, but respectful, while I was biting my arm so that I didn’t laugh.
MAIN BODY
I was waiting for some student teacher interaction, but on this occasion he decided that he would play all of the parts. He was Blanche, Stella and Stanley, he cleverly recreated different speaking voices for each character. This went on for a good 20 minutes – where the students continued to be respectful, while I sat increasingly open mouthed trying to think of a way of getting us out of the situation.
MAKE HIM STOP
The lowest point came when I saw the girls frantically making notes, I was wondering what they could possibly find to be writing about, until they held their banners aloft with MAKE HIM STOP in large capitals. He was so wrapped up in his performance, he didn’t notice.
At the end of the scene, I was thinking, at last, some interaction with the students. But, oh no, he then went on to lecture on the Oedipus complex. As the students developed an awareness that he was totally oblivious, they resigned themselves and managed to slump respectfully until he drew breath long enough for me to thank him, and get him out of the room as quickly as possible. I did have to go through the professional charade of saying how much the students had learnt from the experience – but they knew, and I knew, that it had been a bizarre blip, in what had been an excellent year.