Ask any retired teacher about today’s education scene. She or he will say, “Teaching, curricula, students and society sure aren’t what they used to be! I’m so glad I’m now out.” I am too. One local retired teacher’s licence plate is 330 4EVER. That says it all.
I was involved as an educator for 30 of the years between 1959 and 1994. Back then, there were more students per classroom, audiovisual aids were primitive, the curriculum guidelines were as thin as a copy of today’s Standard-Freeholder, and the number of men in the profession was even lower than the fraction of electric cars on today’s highways.
Things have changed. Was the change from dark to light, or light to dark? Your opinion will depend on your past experiences and present involvement. The following is my severely condensed Reader’s Digest account of a sampling of the ‘light’ periods of my teaching career.
My teaching style was to get my students out of the classroom as much as possible. Starting with local field hikes to nearby Etobicoke Creek in west end Toronto, a tour of a Great Lakes cargo vessel that was over-wintering in Toronto harbour followed, then a visit to the TCA maintenance hangar at Malton Airport. I was proud to hear, “Another group of your kids? If they’re as well behaved as your other one, they can go through that Super Constellation we’ve just readied.”
One of my greatest successes was pulling off a two-class, about 70 grade seven students’ week-long field trip to Expo 67. My preparation started with a scouting visit to the site in early April. Then, a proposal meeting with the parents in mid-April, to get the parents’ approval, support and commitment for parents to come along as chaperones.
After my slide presentation, one of the skeptical parents stood up and asked, “Will this outing in any way interrupt our daughter’s study of history, geography and language?”
A long, tense-filled silence, followed by my softly spoken, “I certainly hope so.” Applause! It was a go! Logistics: arranging for a Montreal school to offer their gymnasium for a place to sleep for the week. A train trip to Montreal. Finding a rental truck at arrival and departure days to take pupils’ baggage to the host school’s gym. Bus and Metro travel to and from the Expo site.
Each evening, every group gave a precise oral report on one assigned pavilion’s plus and minus qualities and deficiencies.
After the trip, the entire group gave an oral presentation and display at a parents’ evening, then to the rest of the school during school hours.
Whew!
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