What teachers make a review

 

 Recently I read a book titled 'What teachers make' written by Taylor Mali.  It is a very  inspiring book for the teaching community.  Mali, himself a teacher and a poet, is unable to tolerate  criticism against the teachers. People generally believe that the teachers are not paid good salary. He says that it is a false notion that teaching as a profession is a last  alternative for the young men. Mr. Mali  has written about the conditions prevalent  in USA ,but his views are are universally  applicable. 

Mali, himself a teacher, was inspired to write the book, after he heard a sneering comments on the  profession by a rich man in a  party. He refutes them and his sharp intellect pays  a tribute to the joys of teaching. He goes on to write that teachers are so vital to the society. In the very beginning of the book  the author says that children spend more time with the teacher than the parents. His advice to the parents is  'let the child be' and see what wonders the child can  achieve. In class eight, when he speaks of writing a poem, he finds that initially the boys seem lost, but by encouragement and  inspiration the children  create such poems that even he is  surprised to see the  perfection in their work.

He has made another valid point. Some people  look down on the teacher when they take up some part time  jobs. His contention is that the teacher has to support a family. At least the teacher is not cheating the society like  those who indulge in  tactics to earn money through  illegal means. 

All most every chapter starts with an inspiring quote by gems  of society. Take for example a quote by George Bernard Shaw,"I am not a teacher, only a fellow traveler of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead------ ahead  of myself  as well as of you."  Such inspiring quotations are helpful for the students.  He  feels very upset when people call the teachers greedy and lazy. A teacher has to teach in the class, at the same time , he has  to spend  time at home preparing what he has to teach the children the next day.  The teachers must let the whole world  know how important and difficult is their job. He says that he would prefer that his students leave his class with some doubt, so that they  may make an effort to clear their doubt by applying their brain.

Taylor Mali's book is like a treasure which can be shared by all the teachers. It is a valentine to the teachers. It is the right book at the right time in defense of teachers,as to why we need them now and forever.

This prompt is written in response to Write Tribe Festival of Words 3 about a book 'What Teachers Make'.