Mr McCotter’s gown rippled a bit, as he stifled a laugh. My 16 year old self had just told the careers master that ‘teaching was an option’, not my top option, mind, but a possibility nonetheless. His reaction told me that I should not even be considering it. This was the mid-80s. Perhaps morale was low in the profession then; I do vaguely recall industrial action over pay and conditions. Perhaps no self-respecting careers master (and McCotter was certainly that) would allow one of his star pupils (and I was certainly that) to don the gown.
I imagine everyone in teaching today had conversations like that. It was always other teachers seeking to dissuade. No colleague in the staffroom can complain that they weren’t warned about the marking workload, disrespectful teenagers and unsupportive parents. And yet, like the miracle of the sperm that makes it, we swam against the tide…
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The Echo Chamber 