career

These are the things you'll never ever hear teachers say.

Through school, I went to the same pool for squad training every week.

There was smell of chlorine, the noise of whistles, the feel of dampness underneath the toes.

And, at the front desk, a little sign next to the eftpos machine that read: “He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches“.

I hated that sign but my reaction was more defensive than anything else – my dad is a teacher and every time I saw it, I wanted to scream: “My dad can do a lot of things”.

Watch the video playing above to see the things teachers never say. 

Only now, almost a decade out of school (wait, what?), do I realise just how wrong that little cardboard quote – and the original line from Bernard Shaw’s play Man and Superman – actually is.

Is NAPLAN stressful or should kids harden up? Post continues below.

Some of the most influential people in my life have been my teachers.

There was the English teacher who pushed me when I needed it.

The maths teacher who would drag me back down to earth with a detention whenever my head got too big.

There was the history teacher who I hated and who taught me: sometimes you have to do the job anyway.

And there was, still is, my dad who was also my biology teacher and thought a good way to quash any rumours of favouritism was to embarrass me relentlessly. He taught me to keep it real.

These are the people who are still doing their job, despite our best efforts to derail them.

Appreciate them for a minute, and think about: all the things they never say.