My dear boy,
“Practice makes perfect,” but Mr. Uche, my English Language and Literature-in-English teacher, said, “Practice makes perfection.” He questioned the grammatical correctness of that sentence. It was subtle, yet he planted a seed that would bear fruit even before we graduated from secondary school. He created the environment that encouraged us to question age-old statements and beliefs. He was quick to ask whether you believed an idea. Your answer, affirmative or negative, was inconsequential, as he then asked why you held that worldview.
Are your ideas yours, or are they some regurgitated idea that has found comfort rolling off your tongue? This, my dear boy, was our first contact with critical thinking.
One thing we noticed was that my dear friend James would sometimes rewrite novels as he read them to the class. Certain words, he replaced effortlessly with their synonyms, and without close attention, you might not even notice. Unsurprisingly, this only happened with James in Mr. Uche’s Literature class because the environment rewarded intellectual ownership.
See, I understand the influence your teachers have over you. Interactions breed relationships, and words sustain relationships. You spend awfully long hours with them; it’s only a matter of time till certain traits begin to rub off on you.
As a result, attending your school’s PTA meeting is one of my top priorities. I take time to interact with your teachers because they are stakeholders in your formation process. If our values do not align, it is only wise to withdraw you from the school.
I know this because when you run a mentorship program for teenage boys, it’s only a matter of time till you meet their parents.
In discharging my duties, I rely heavily on the support of teachers and parents. Our mentorship program runs successfully on the partnership among these three stakeholders.
Over the years, I have observed that, given the economic landscape of our country, both parents are forced to work, thus leaving the process of pedagogy mostly in the hands of teachers.
What you will nonetheless find is that whoever controls the process decides the outcome. It is on that note that I always charge parents to get to know the teachers of their children. They are not insignificant.
I dare say that teachers are the bigger influences in the lives of our children. For that reason, to play truant with the Parents and Teachers Association meeting is to miss out on the opportunity to assess those teaching our children.
It, therefore, goes without saying that if you do not like the teachers in your child’s school, change schools, or you will watch your child become one of them.
As such, when schools invite me to speak at their PTA meetings, I seek to remind parents of the same. As an observer of the interplay between parents and teachers, I can confidently say that some parents are in for the surprise of their lives.
Ultimately, when I inquire about your school activities or about your teachers, it is far more than routine checks, because I am deeply concerned about the events shaping your worldview. To fail at raising you is to have failed at all things.
Love,
Dad.
