Humanising Language Teaching
Year 2; Issue 4; July 2000

I had a big failure

by Kyozo Suzuki

When I started work as a teacher I used to produce a class newspaper each day. In it I wrote about things that had happened to the students and to me and about our opinions.

The second Sunday in May was Mother's Day. I felt it was important to get the students into a state of mind for thanking their parents. So my headline that day was going to be LET'S EXPRESS OUR GRATITUDE TO OUR PARENTS.

But one thought nagged at my mind. There was a student in the class who had no parents. He lived with relatives. Should I use that headline or not? I havered and hesitated for a long time.
I decided to go ahead but added this comment to the students :

" Not seeing your mother may well be a greater pain than I will ever be able to imagine. But you will have to endure this pain for ever. Be brave. Your friends and I will always stand by you"

In this class the students all wrote personal diaries and so the next day I gathered them in. When I came to his …. He had written nothing. I only found a stain on the sheet…..I realised that these were his tears.

I consulted my head master about the matter.
He told me he thought it was much more serious than I had thought.
I had failed this student.