Keeping My Promise

It is one task to stand in front of a classroom and mechanically convey material required by a curriculum, but it is another job entirely to actually engage and connect with pupils of today’s youth. In ‘Keeping My Promise’, 20-year teacher Flynn Wilkinson sets to paper his advice and urges educational staff to not simply teach, preach and demonstrate; he demands a further investment in the classroom, urging teachers to connect with and simply care about their students as humans, not as numbers. With basic rules and directives, Wilkinson explains via a collection of his personal experiences from his career how it is not the class-or even one particular troublesome student-that can make or break a day in school. It is up to the teacher, as the common denominator, to be the one person students must respect and like as another fellow person before true learning can occur.

…you told us a story when I had you in year eight, and it’s one of my favorites. Every time I think about me becoming a teacher, it comes to mind. It’s the story about a teacher that you had-I think year nine maths, if I am correct. I remember you telling us that he was the teacher that helped you decide for sure that you wanted to teach. I want you to know that you are that teacher to me. You are a role model to me and I aspire to one day be a teacher that leaves a mark on kids the way you have on me. (Georgia Tidey-Year 8 student, 2012).