Teaching is a profession many do not want to engage in for obvious reasons. Just one person in ten is likely to choose to teach based on the passion they have for the profession. Many others decide against it even before a mention of the teaching profession. I have to admit that I never developed the passion for teaching early enough. The reasons: teachers didn’t get as much credit as they deserved; their pay was paltry; and they give their all and don’t get as much as they give out. I was right with most of the reasons that I have given and I was wrong for maybe one or two other excuses. Lofty ideas and career plans that surround medicine, law, banking and finance amongst others are what many parents egg their children towards these days. The reasons – more pay and fame. You don’t blame them; society has a hand in this shift too. After all, I didn’t start out wanting to become a teacher.

I grew up in an academic environment along with five other older siblings – three males and two females. The environment I grew in gave me an opportunity to interact with people and to also learn loads of things from the lecturers in the College of Education in Ankpa, Kogi State, Nigeria. Of course I was born in this same place and grew for most parts of my life here; I still feel that some of my later experiences would be influenced by that serene environment I grew up in. 

I was privileged to have been taught by very important persons during my years in the Primary school. Some of the teachers have passed on and some of the teachers are still alive but their immense contributions to how my life panned out cannot be discussed without mentioning how much influence they had on me (and maybe others too). There was Mrs. Ujah, who taught me English Language; Late Mr. Adukwu taught Mathematics; Mr. Odiba taught Science; Mrs. Oparaugo taught me all things from Science to English. 

Mrs. Oparaugo was the one who coached me and others during extra lessons after school for many years. She coached generations, I will say. All my siblings passed through her classes and even the siblings of my friends, especially Ibrahim Ejiga a.k.a Ibro – whose siblings were six at the time – had a fair share of the woman’s teaching. 

One very impressive thing about Mrs. Oparaugo was her passion for the job. She made a few bucks from the lessons but it was nothing compared to what she was doing to make us do well in school and other external exams we were to face much later. She was a jovial woman too but she was a no-nonsense person when it came to instilling discipline. She didn’t budge at that time of dispensing discipline even if your parents were known to her. I am sure our parents would have been very proud to learn that she whipped our stubborn behinds one time or the other.

Teaching is actually one of the toughest jobs there is around the world. This is not because others aren’t as tough as it is but teaching takes over everything that concerns the teacher. You utilize every side of you to make students learn not just things that their books say but also things that support them as they live their lives and also help them to make good decisions all around. Teachers in most cases, become every single thing and become every other profession just to make the learners understand a thing or two. Teachers have improvised as doctors and nurses, as advocates, as administrators, as public speakers, etc.

The job of teaching is mainly one that focuses on “salvation” – there is an attempt to save an ignorant learner, to save an erring learner, to support the little or no efforts of parents and guardians, etc. But, do the teachers get a lot of credit? NO!

I didn’t understand how much went into moulding lives until I delved into teaching for a while. It opened my eyes to the many things those who taught me back in the day did and the sacrifices of blood, sweat, and tears which I have had to appreciate. I had tears and lots of kind words to deal with when I was leaving the last school I taught to focus on other areas of life. It was a dream to have gone through the teaching process firsthand and I knew I had some form of experience to take along with me if I wanted to continue.

There is no real teacher who wouldn’t have stories to tell when he or she has gone through the profession, teaching children and adults alike. There are actually truckloads of stories to tell for every single teacher who is still in the profession or who has left. As a teacher, every single day comes with its own ups and downs, lessons, dramas, etc. 

You learn from the students as much as they learn from you. You learn to be better each year except you want to be a mediocre teacher.

The perks in the teaching profession are fewer than anyone will think (depending on your location). In Nigeria, teachers are not remunerated well enough. Most Private schools cheat teachers a lot and there is this thinking that they are doing the teachers a favour which is a blatant lie. 

One’s passion cannot be questioned when the environment is friendly and gives you access to the learning resources you need for your students but it is not the same in many schools where I come from. There were many times administrative bureaucracy didn’t allow me to get the things I required to help me teach better. I had to use out of my salary which wasn’t a lot too to get the things I needed for my teaching. Some of my colleagues would tell me they won’t do such because it didn’t amount to extra pay for them. I didn’t do it because I had more money than they did – we were earning equally – I was doing it because I wanted to give more than I was given when I was being taught by my teachers growing up.

There were nights I lay down alone and cried because of some of my students who were struggling in class. I had tried my best in class and when assessments were scored, some of them did poorly and I didn’t like it. Some of the time, they were distracted by events in school and also by the things they assumed were taking place at home. I always had to ask not just to show concern alone but to help them overcome the difficulties they were experiencing. Some of them needed listeners and no judging lips; I had to try to be one of such persons. The stories I heard from those teenagers were breaking me; I had to try to soak up the pressure they were experiencing. I broke down a few times but I didn’t want to give up on them. The times I shed tears in private were the times some of them approached me and they would commend my efforts to help them and then they would say “Thank you, Mr. John.” Those words alone mean a lot to teachers because they barely get them from school administrators or from the parents.

The teaching profession is one that comes with its challenges. Most of the time, you don’t have enough money for insurance or to get a good life for yourself. With poor remuneration, how many teachers plan for good vacations by travelling to other places besides their villages? How many teachers have businesses that bring a lot of income to them separate from their salaries? The answers are not far away from the many teachers we have around us. 

I have ideas about what the people in the profession enjoy and what they suffer. The negatives outweigh the positives. I believe the profession demands a lot from individuals. You have to be passionate about the students who you teach and do it for their sake, not even for the sake of the school that employed you because from my own experience, I knew I could possibly cheat the students and teach them based on available textbooks and materials without seeking extra materials to help them but I was doing all I could for their sakes and for their individual futures. I wanted the best for them and I didn’t care what it took whether it was my tears, my blood, or even my paltry salary.

With my little efforts, I can always look back now and think of myself not as the best teacher ever but as the teacher who went beyond how he was taught. I can say that the experiences I have garnered from teaching students, interacting with superiors and colleagues have helped me to become a better human being. I have learnt from the personality of my students who have shown me ways to deal with individuals outside of that environment.

Teachers deserve more than they get and it is the hope of many passionate teachers that they get their due from the Government and from their employers. The teaching profession is there to save the ignorant. The level of passion which many teachers try to put in should be rewarded. The reward of teachers is not in heaven; their reward starts from the earth where they toil daily.

Biography

Ojonugwa John Attah is a Nigerian poet, story writer, phone photographer, tech enthusiast, and a member of the United People Global. He is a 2019 pioneer Ambassador of Teachers’ Naija (a Teachers’ Reality TV Show in Nigeria) and he is also a graduate of the 2011 Fidelity Bank International Creative Writing Workshop. His works have been published in and on: Dreams at Dawn (An Anthology of short stories from the International Creative Writing Workshop series organized by Fidelity Bank Plc), Best “New” African Poets, Tush Stories, The Muse at Nsukka, Drumtide online Magazine (USA), FaithWriters, Saturday Sun newspaper (Nigeria), and Kikwetu online journal. He is @OJohnAttah on X (Formerly Twitter).