New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association / Te Wehengarua (PPTA) President Robin Duff reflects on the recent funeral of a wonderful teacher and contemplates the developing audit mentality within education. An audit cannot tell the whole story of a teacher's impact on student lives.

The power of teaching is more than 'data'

A sad event: a funeral for a man who had devoted his life to education – as a teacher, an education unionist and later as a researcher. Towards the end of the service, a man stepped forward and asked to speak. He described his experience in returning to school as a second year fifth former after failing all his school certificate subjects. He was not expecting to be there long.

Teachers change lives

In his first English class, the teacher asked the students to write an essay. The following day, without naming names but looking directly at him, the teacher read out his essay and said it was the best essay he had ever read. He described that experience as being life changing for him because he went from being a near-certain school drop-out to passing all his subjects. It was his teacher he credited with his subsequent career success.

Sometimes it takes courage to say thank you

Some years later he saw his old teacher in an airport lounge. He considered approaching him and expressing thanks for those actions that opened the door to self belief. As often happens, he talked himself out of it. Another time there was a second occasion when he found himself in an airport lounge with his old mentor close by and was again unable to summon up the courage to introduce himself.

So now, he explained, he was at the funeral to say what he had lacked the courage to say on the two previous occasions. Then, addressing the coffin, he expressed his thanks for the start that teacher had given him and his deep regret that he had not been able to find the way to say those things before death intervened.