The essence of teaching

Tshwarelo Hosia | Monday August 11, 2025 12:36

These words aptly and succinctly capture the essence of teaching. If God is love, then teaching is perhaps the only profession that can claim to be a divinely inspired profession, because teaching is love. Essentially, teaching was synonymous with love. If, for some reason, a teacher did not love his or her country enough due to disaffection with the government of the day, the expectation was that at least the love for the children and the job would prevail.

It was unheard of or very rare for the teachers to punish their students on account of the government’s actions or omissions. This does not mean a justified strike action could not be embarked upon. It simply meant strike actions were the very last resort when all else had failed. The reason is simple. The students assumed centre stage whenever decisions were made.

The teaching job meant doing every task one was required to do for the love of students. It was not about having any technical prowess but having adaptive skills in stupendous proportions. There was work in the classroom for which teachers were trained, and work outside the classroom for which teachers were not trained to perform. But no outsider, uninitiated in the way schools were run, would make any distinction between the work teachers were trained to do inside the classroom and the work they performed outside the classroom for which they received no prior training.

The love for the job was beyond question, totally unmatched. In addition to the core business, there were numerous co-curricular activities calling for the attention of both teaching and non-teaching staff volunteers. It did not matter whether one had training in the field where his or her assistance was required.

The spirit of volunteerism was alive and well. Because of the willingness of the ever-ready army of volunteers to work with students on any school assignments, there were instances where teachers scrambled for the same particular sporting code.

Remuneration was the last thing on the teachers’ minds. There was no remuneration at all for extracurricular activities. The children were the epicentre of every school activity, and not what could benefit staff. I still remember my own experience regarding the participation of teachers in co-curricular activities, first as a novice and later as an experienced teacher.

No official appointments for staff participation in co-curricular activities were orchestrated from the school principal’s desk, as one would expect. If no one volunteered to work with a particular club, the students themselves identified and lured teachers to patronise their respective clubs. I remember being headhunted and approached by students to serve as a patron for the School Boxing club, a sport code I was particularly not keen to serve. I thought it was a risky undertaking. But I could not allow my prejudices against the club to punish the students.

When approached, I could have also declined the offer because I had already committed myself to the scout movement and the drama club. But the students -my bosses - pleaded for my services, and I just could not afford to disappoint them. I reluctantly accepted to serve the sporting code, but later threw my whole weight behind it.

We built an everlasting and enduring relationship. This is what servant leadership means. Committing oneself to the student clubs meant not only accompanying the clubs during occasional external trips but also serving as an ambassador for the clubs, pleading their case for funding among other things. External trips were less appealing as there was no special treatment for the patron. No special transport, accommodation or meals were arranged for the teacher. One was subjected to the same treatment that students received. The Scouting movement trips, in particular, entailed camping in the bundus for a couple of weeks. Working with students for the development of their various God given talents was not encouraging. There were no incentives or performance bonuses one could receive or earn. It was work that had to be done. Whatever one had to endure came with territory.

Of course, with hindsight, one can say the teachers got a raw deal and something better could have been arranged to recognise their selfless dedication. It was not without justification that the union movement fought hard for its members to receive incentives for involvement in out-of-classroom activities. Money came as a result of the toils and labours of the union movement, and many more staff members were encouraged to serve students in various capacities. With money in the picture, the spirit of volunteerism slowly waned to a point of extinction.

Right now, things have come to a standstill. Sporting activities have long ceased and efforts are being made to resuscitate sports in schools. The negotiations are ongoing and there is no certainty as to the outcomes. Given the deteriorating fiscal environment, one cannot speak with some degree of certainty that co-curricular activities would enjoy the same funding they had during the past days of economic prosperity and bliss. Under the circumstances, one can only hope that an external Messiah in the form of the private sector could rise and play a prominent role in the resuscitation of school sports. Time will tell.