Too cool for school: beware ‘trendy’ teachers

I didn’t know Chris Todd had died until I saw his photo in the newspaper. I hadn’t seen his face for nearly 40 years but he still looked much the same. It was a kind face, decent and dutiful — everything you want from a teacher. I wish I’d known as a schoolboy what I know now — that the Chris Todds of this world are the teachers we recall with real affection, while the teachers we thought were so much cooler we merely remember with contempt.

Chris Todd was my form master for several years at my state grammar school. He wasn’t all that strict but he had no trouble keeping order. We all liked him but none of us revered him. We thought he was rather square. He taught chemistry (a subject I hated) and hockey (a sport I loathed). He was an officer in the CCF, which the cooler kids dismissed as playing soldiers. He conducted the school orchestra. He came to visit me when I was in hospital. Yet in all these years I never thought about him until I saw his obituary in the paper. And the reason I never thought about him is because he left his ego at the school gate, unlike the cooler teachers, who treated their pupils like a captive audience. As a teenager, I thought those teachers were wonderful — but they were taking their pupils for a ride.

Whatever sort of school you went to, you’ll have encountered a few cool teachers. You know the type I mean. They’re usually younger than most of the other teachers. They’re usually unmarried. Whatever you and your classmates are into — music, films, football — they know all about it, and they never miss a chance to demonstrate their expertise.