Old School Ties

As an acne-ridden little swot in Upper Shell, I remember an afternoon English class with clarity & shame. The teacher (who I revered with something approaching utter worship)* had been ill for some weeks. As he entered the class, someone asked whether he had marked our essays. He made some apology. I, in turn, muttered sotto voce : "excuses". It must have been loud enough for him to hear.

Unsurprisingly, I was shown the door and told to "learn some manners".

I stood outside on the stairwell cringing with embarrassment.

It just so happened that the Headmaster happened to pass by on one of his infrequent rounds. Why was I standing outside the classroom? I explained. He nodded. "See that you do" - and passed on.

The lesson went deep.

I've been thinking about this incident today and wondering how times have changed.

____

* strangely, interviewing in my previous job, I met a candidate who'd been taught by the very same teacher. I heard again that intonation and certain turns of phrase and inflections which she'd absorbed.

What, I shudder to think, will my students take away from our classes? My recurrent tic of "to be honest"? Or a series of unconsciously inherited gestures and prejudices from my generations of teachers? Just how much do we owe?