Over half of adults in Norwich wish they'd been nicer to their teachers

It's according to a survey of more than two thousand people carried out by 'Get Into Teaching'

Author: Tom ClabonPublished 10th Apr 2022

Over half of adults in Norwich wish they had told their teachers how grateful there were for their help and support.

While more than a third of adults in Norwich say they are the person they are today, largely thanks to the advice and life lessons they got from those who taught them.

That's according to a national survey of more than two thousand people carried out by 'Get Into Teaching'.

Roger Pope is from the campaign and a former teacher. He told us about when he recently bumped into a former pupil, who spoke fondly of his classes: "A women stopped me in the street and said, 'It's Mr Pope!'

"It turned out that she had been in my A-level English class in the early 90s.

"So, she was now in her early 40s and had two young children with her. She turned to her daughter and said everything that I've been teaching you, I learnt from this man.

"It was just so heart-warming. If I'm being perfectly honest I didn't recognise her but she remembered me and was passing on to her children what I had taught her.

"It was a magic moment for me about the true reward of being a teacher".

He went on to tell us why these feelings often come later and what's catalysed them more recently: "When you're growing up and going to school there's an awful lot going on in your life and in your emotions.

"I think it's only in the later years when you look back at your school days that you begin to see how much your teachers have done for you and about how much you know and progress, largely thanks to their influence.

"I think that lockdown has made people focus on what matters to them in life and I think they see teaching as a really rewarding profession because you making a difference to children lives day in, day out because you can see the way in which those children grow under your influence".

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