Amsterdam-based community member Huub Derksen wrote this as a comment in response to the late Rita Pierson’s TED Talk, Every kid needs a champion:
“ ‘And while you won’t like them all, the key is, they can never, ever know it. So teachers become great actors and great actresses, and we come to work when we don’t feel like it, and we’re listening to policy that doesn’t make sense, and we teach anyway. We teach anyway, because that’s what we do.’
Mrs Pierson is enormously inspiring. Her talk shows me (again) how important the acting of the teacher is. … Inherently, she criticizes the education policies which (in the Netherlands) seem to change every four to ten years because politicians want to make a difference. Here, the person of the teacher is more crucial than any educational method that exists.”
— Huub Derksen
[ted id=1728]
We’re always on the lookout for sharp critique, thought-provoking questions or interesting insights in response to TED Talks. Post your thoughts alongside any talk; we read them all and will feature one comment on ideas.TED.com each weekday. (Comments are lightly edited for spelling and grammar.)
