Teachers and Respect

By Naomi Wilson

It’s interesting when you come back from being out of the country and then  faced with all of the things that are different.  Coming back from Ghana, I was analyzing so many things differently especially as it relates to our education system.  Ghana is predominantly low cost private schools and definitely has a public school space but it is not respected. Most families believe it is not necessary to send their students to the public schools because students would be more useful helping out at home when the schooling system is so bad. Personally, I did not experience this myself but Ghanaians around me told me the same story consistently. What’s interesting about Ghana’s case is the reverence for the teacher. Having lived in America my whole life and being immersed in our educational systems, we see regularly the lack of the respect for the teacher. This can be seen in the policies that are made without their input, the pay of teachers, and even how they are regarded as a profession. In Ghana, this is completely opposite as it relates to families and how they view teachers.

Teachers are seen as professionals who can directly impact the future of a child. Ghanaian parents see this and understand this, and therefore look to the teachers for guidance before they look to the principal. For an example, if low cost private schools are doing an enrollment drive the best way to get families to become interested is to have the teachers recruiting. In America, parents may look to the teacher when it comes to student conferences but, by and large, we see the principal as the know all and often do not defer to the teacher. In some cases, it is understandable why a family would not listen to a teacher if the teacher themselves are not interested in the child, but in Ghana it does not matter. Now, there are pros and cons to this but it was inspiring to see the regard to them.

Schooling systems, in general, are place based and culturally specific. To determine how a teacher should be treated globally is hard to say but we can all acknowledge that the work of a great teacher is immeasurable. Students spend more time in school than they do at home in most places and the teachers get a lot of time with their students. This is all to say that teachers have the opportunity to be impactful in so many ways. A part of this impact is respecting teachers as a nation and investing in the profession. Both Ghana and America do not do this enough and it would drastically affect the quality of teachers we receive and how they are treated. Unfortunately, we live in a society where the amount one makes is determinant of their worth to people and the respect they deserve. We must change this and it was inspiring to see that, at least a small level, teachers were revered in Ghana and were seen in the professional light that they deserve.