The Culture of Teachers

June 10, 2014

I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of how I could put a name to the concept in my mind.  The only phrase I can come up with is “the culture of teachers”.  Most teachers I know follow this unwritten code of being the most caring, giving, selfless individuals around.  The more I talk to friends and family members in other professions, the more I appreciate my co-workers and the relationships I have with them.  We make each other amazingly scrumptious breakfasts each month for birthday celebrations, throw over-the-top baby and bridal showers for one another, willingly and without a second thought share materials we spent hours creating without ever begging for credit, and leave cards and flowers on each other’s desks just because it’s been a bit of a stressful week.  We are also loyal to each other, yet keep a very straight and professional face when an outsider whom we may never be rude to says something negative about the teacher down the hall who happens to be one of our best friends (but how should they know that…they’re not part of what we have).   Out of loyalty, grows friendship. Or is it the other way around? I tend to think that loyalty comes first in “the culture of teachers”.  Someone I know had a child in an elementaryclass in my district and one night at a gathering, this person made a comment that hinted that they were slightly dissatisfied with their child’s teacher over something she’d done.  I don’t remember exactly what the comment was but I remember defending that teacher and her probable reason for making the decision she made.  I had never even met that teacher, but I couldn’t stand the thought of her name being disgraced even in the most minor way when I know, deep down, how much heart and soul she must put into her job each and every day. In our culture, we not only give all we can to the children in our classrooms, but to each other as well.