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Want to sleep well? Become a teacher
"Teachers help other human beings become better — that’s like being
a doctor."
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Teacher's quality is important in education, minister says. (Shutterstock/-)
It’s a curse that’s dogged educators since 1903: ‘He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.’
Just one pithy line from the prolific Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw’s Man and Superman — a drama or comedy now rarely performed.
It was delivered in 1903 so should have been eclipsed by reason long ago. It’s also objectionable for the gender-specific assumption.
Yet it persists as an age-authenticated quote for parents who put status before service, fearing their children might opt for a chalkface career.
Though not Anita Lie. The professor doesn’t pause to reload when targeting the GBS cynicism: “Teaching is the noble profession.
“The image hasn’t always been good. It started deteriorating under [second president] Soeharto when the focus was on economic development, but now it’s getting better.
“People in general still treat teachers and the profession with respect, though we have to attract more entrants from the middle classes and above.
