Swensday Stuff

To Love the Unlovable
 Swen Nater 

“I didn’t like you all the same but I tried to love you all the same.” John Wooden to me.

As teachers, we know there are students that are easy to like. They listen, try, and get along with others. They are cooperative and respectful and their parents are the same.

But as classroom and sport teachers, we have all had students that are not very easy to like at all. I had some. What really bugged me was when one tried to show he was smarter than the rest, or tried like the dickens to be my pet. I had several that did things behind my back, although they didn’t know I had eyes in the back of my head. I had one that picked a fight with another player in practice. I broke it up because they were about to kill each other. The next day, he called his parents and complained I was too rough. His parents called my athletic director. That took the attention away from what he did and on me. I didn’t like that player at all.

However, a teacher’s job is to teach all students, not just the ones we like. That’s takes a special kind of love, a love that looks beyond a student’s actions and attitudes and sees a future adult who deserves direction and education as much as anyone else. Teachers that love all students put aside what comes naturally and make the right choice. As difficult as it is, they take the initiative to build relationships with students, based on respect, high expectations, and a commitment to never give up on them.

We love our students whether we like them or not. It’s “love” because we don’t do it for the reward. We do it because that unlovable child has a right to learn and deserves it. We do it because, if the roles were reversed, we would want to be loved too. We may never get to see the results of our love but, then again, we may.  

“You won’t know what kind of teacher you are until twenty years after the fact.” John Wooden