LEGACIES LEFT BY TEACHERS

COPYRIGHT NELLIE JACOBS, 2005

Nellie Jacobs
Author. Speaker. Consultant.
www.gradingtheteacher.com
www.nelliejacobs.com

"As a teacher, I possess tremendous power … I can humiliate or humour, hurt or heal...." Haim Ginott, teacher, pyschotherapist, writer. Nellie Jacobs, Grading the Teacher

Darr Maqbool submitted several wonderful stories about his best and worst teachers. Through another source, we discovered that Darr is a “mini-celebrity” in Calgary, Alberta: A-Channel weatherman, he was voted “most beloved Calgarian” and “sexiest man.” Interestingly, Darr has fond memories of a childhood teacher who didn’t hesitate to apply corporal punishment to students.

Darr was born in Nairobi, Kenya and schooled under the "British System" where, he says, there wasn’t much room for independent thinking but instead a propensity for cramming and memorizing methodology. Four teachers stand out miles apart from the rest in his high school years. In Nairobi, a math teacher called "Master Hashmee" ("To this day I don't know what his full name is!! - like Hulk Hogan; what's his name??!!"), and Joey D'Souza, an English teacher who now resides in Toronto. Upon moving to Toronto as a student, he had to undertake grade 13 for university preparation and at George S. Henry High School he recalls Ms Killpatrick, a math teacher and Miss Bird, another English teacher:

Master Hashmee
"Master Hashmee": the "scariest" of all teachers.... since corporal punishment was/(still is?) the norm in a colonial school, it wasn't surprising to receive a lightening speed slap from Hashmee during his class if you didn't do his homework or were being mischievous. During his reign over me I was the recipient of one such slap right in front of everybody in the class.

“Once I saw his loafer fly by me and find its target a few desks behind me!! Chalk dusters were common projectiles in his classes. That’s the way it was and it produced results: Hashmee would take labelled "dumb" students and make them shine with distinctions at the end of the year.

“Students lived in "guarded" fear of him and the ONLY way to skip the wrath of Hashmee was to work diligently in his class and do his homework. The homework had to be done and, if you copied someone else's - it didn't take him long to ascertain that - then he would uncoil and you were dead meat!! At least, that was the thought and feeling. Essentially Hashmee was a concerned teacher; wanted the best of you.

"I think he believed and proved that if you acquired good study habits you could do anything especially math. He was a kind man and a religious man. When he gave you a sly smile when he was pleased with what you did, that mere tiny curl of his smile made you think the world of yourself.

"In short, you have just proven to Hashmee that you are in tune with his material and life's going to be okay. I attained that level of "nirvana" with Hashmee about a third of the way of the total time that I had him as a teacher (about 3 yrs) and thereafter life was beautiful. I came out of high school with a distinction in math. From the parents’ side: they all wanted their kids to have Hashmee as a teacher!! He had the ability to put the kids on the right tracks....."

Joey d'Souza
"Joey d'Souza in short has hip!!! He wore Ray Ben shades (with the case strung on his belt) and smoked a pipe; he was/is cool!! His approach was to talk to you if you were off the tracks regarding work/studies, etc. He was also a Scout leader and heavily involved with the East African car rallies He was well versed with his English material and taught you ways to express yourself using the English language. He would talk to you as if you were equal to him, always showed concern if you were troubled and always was there to dish out advice. I’m still in contact with him and his wife Dianne: we hook up in Toronto or Calgary during visits."

Ms Kilpatrick
"Ms Kilpatrick was a prettier and gentler version of Hashmee except the slaps and flying high heels. [She was] an expert in math, so my liking towards her was a continuation of Hashmee's set foundation. She was very good at conveying her material to the class. The other thing I liked about her was the way she carried herself: always dressed well and looking fresh with a smile."

Miss Bird
"The first time I sat in her very, very informal class (post-hippie era in Toronto), I was at a loss: she would take a sentence out of a book (Milton’s Paradise [frkn] Lost!! or Leonard Cohen’s Beautiful Losers), then throw it to the students to discuss, dissect and elaborate. My mind that had been trained in the colonial schools was never asked to do that and I sat in a few of these classes feeling like a dimwit, unable to utter a word. The other students would come up with or hold a discussion of her request and I'd sit back and say to myself, 'How are they able to think that?'

"During this time, Miss Bird would prod me for an answer or explanation and I'd fumble my way through it. After a few weeks of this prodding and fumbling, something happened - like a dam giving way. Thereafter and to this day, you would be hard pressed to shut me up with independent thought and speech!!

"All of these teachers (except Miss Bird) were "cut'n'dry" regarding the material they taught - and damn good at it. Miss Bird appeared "wishy-washy" re her material but I think that was the nature/style of her course and she was instrumental in making me think - and think independently - which was/is extremely rewarding."

DARR
And then, Darr became an instructor himself…

“Oh yes, from the other side ... For some 3 years, I taught aviation meteorology at Mount Royal College (Calgary) to commercial pilots. [My] attitude, as a soccer coach of many years and perhaps [through] Hashmee's influence, was/is that if you don't put out, then get out. [It] was a tough course and taught extremely well as indicated by Transport Canada examiners; [I] was asked by the course chairman once to soften my stance on the failure rate. [I] told him to go fly a kite and have a nice day!! [My] thinking was and still is that if “Joe” goes and plasters himself against the mountains because he didn't want to learn meteorology then I'd say "poor Joe died in an air crash accident," but if Joe was carrying 250 passengers with him and slammed into the mountains, then I'd say "What a shmuck - should have done better in class!"

Let’s hear your stories about best/worst teachers. Click on the "Post a Comment" button below or contact me directly at nellie@nelliejacobs.com.

-Nellie