“We’re preparing you for High School, High School teachers won’t be as lenient as I am.” “We’re preparing you for College, your professors won’t be nearly as lenient as I am, you’re lucky.”

These two statements are probably among the most heard statements any student has heard in their K-12 years. Teachers claiming what they believe is leniency under the guise of that future teachers or professors are less so. Or worse, teachers trying to justify their failings in the classroom by saying the exact same statements as the ones above. Those quotes are a teacher’s get out of jail free card. These quotes are a teacher’s attempt to feel better about themselves for not doing the main part of their job. Teaching students.

A teacher’s job is not to prepare students for the next teacher. Their job is to ensure that students learn and enjoy it. George Lucas said that “Education is the single most important job of the human race.” He is absolutely correct. Teachers are what shape students’ and children’s minds from the moment they can think cohesively. Teachers shape students minds more than their parents do. So why do teachers seem to want to slouch off that responsibility to the next teacher? Why do they do their job as if it is the next teacher’s job to fulfil their duty? Why do they act as if college is the ultimate goal and that everyone must go? The truth is less than 70 percent of people go to college. Teachers should not expect to pass on their burdens to the next teacher or professor and they should not use the claim that they are “preparing” students for more bad teaching by slacking off. Teachers should encourage learning. Teachers should inspire students. Teachers should be proud. Proud of their job. Proud of the difference they have the chance to make in thousands of lives. But above all teachers proud of themselves and what they can do for the world through their students.