With a degree of trepidation, the
Educator walked back into school for the first time in six weeks. The children
would return the following day and for now the prospect of meeting after
meeting loomed large.
He paused for a moment whilst he
mentally peeled off his real persona – the gentle family man who’d enjoyed
spending time with his family, playing golf and sparking up the BBQ at any
given opportunity – and put on his alter ego; The Educator!
Despite a propensity to perhaps
over indulge during his time off, he didn’t mind what he became once through
the school gates. He knew that it was a calling, a vocation of sorts to rid the
Education system of the drivel and petty bureaucracy that exists. It protected
him from the drudgery and any small victories were hugely satisfying.
The electronic gates clanged shut
behind him shielding him from the outside world and slowly he could feel his
powers beginning to return. He spied a colleague who gave him a cheery
greeting. The Educator waved back, but noticed that the aforementioned
colleague sported a new, slightly less grey, hairstyle than the previous term.
With a mischievous grin he sent out his hair ray (designed to put paid to
flicked fringes and Mohicans) and turned a patch on the back of his colleagues head
back to the grey it had been before.
As he walked he felt all his
powers returning and it was invigorating. The holiday had done him the world of
good and he felt rejuvenated. He felt positive, ready to educate and to
‘facilitate learning’. He stopped for a moment and then nearly laughed out
loud. Facilitate learning? What was he turning into? You’re a teacher he
mentally chided to himself. Never forget that. You teach. Kids learn.
He looked around smiling at the
joke he told himself and opened the door to the main hall. The room was buzzing
with conversation and walking around he shook hands with many of his teaching
brethren and shared the right amount of pleasantries before boredom set in.
Excusing himself from a fascinating conversation on allotment vegetables, he
found himself a quiet corner and sat down to watch the room without drawing too
much attention to himself.
He smiled as the PE department
bundled through the door, full of bravado, suntans and good humour. He admired
their back slapping enthusiasm and enjoyed those moments he took a team or was
involved in some sporting endeavour or other. The modern languages department
followed close behind, relieved to be able to come in quietly behind the
whirlwind of testosterone before them and timidly made their way as far away
from them as possible to do.
And then Educator spied him.
The big boss man.
The headmaster.
Swimming through his staff like a
shark, he firmly shook a hand here, shared a thought there and looked the
epitome of good health. He caught the Educator’s eye and nodded a greeting
across the room which he returned. And it was then that he caught it. That look
in his eye. It seemed to reveal the Headmaster’s thoughts for a fleeting moment
and too quickly he looked away. The Educator smiled to himself. The headmaster didn’t
have a very good poker face.
The Educator caught his thoughts:
wholsesale changes in the curriculum, development plans, philosophy for
children, practice inspection lessons, staff meetings on Fridays after school
and having to pay for school dinners. It didn’t bode well.
Tut, tut thought the
Educator as he watched the Headmaster bring the room to order. He avoided
looking in the Educator’s direction and coughed before he began. The Educator
sat up in his seat and with a gentle wave of the fingers of his left hand sent
out his patented reality ray. That should do it he thought, sitting back and
watching with interest.
The Headmaster paused for a
moment as if thinking of what he should say. He looked momentarily confused before
he began. What came out seemed to catch him by surprise but he couldn’t stop
himself.
“Welcome back to everybody. I do so hope you’ve had a fantastic
holiday. I for one think it will be a superb year. You are a highly talented
staff and there’s nothing that I could possibly initiate that would make us, as
a school any better. Keep up the good work and enjoy the pay rise that was
promised you three years ago. School lunches for all staff will be free. I have
also decided to cancel all meetings today. Get your classrooms ready and have a
good term.”
For a moment the room was stunned
into a stupefied silence. Was this really happening? The Educator started to
clap and in an instant the room was standing and applauding the headmaster. The
felt they ought to in case he came to his senses. Slightly embarrassed, the
headmaster took the applause with good grace and as he left the room shot an
angry glance at the Educator who smiled serenely, halo intact.