Among the most important roles for an adult is to educate, inspire, and guide the young.
The generations who’ve seen more and know more should be there to gently but firmly lead those whose minds and lives are still developing, towards maturity.
And high on the list of those charged with this mission are our teachers.
Great teachers can make an incalculable difference to the development of young minds, and set them on the path to becoming good citizens.
I was reminded of this last week when I stumbled upon an old YouTube clip of the football player turned pundit, Ian Wright.
The genial Wright, a regular on BBC Match of the Day, is an engaging bloke and it takes a hard heart not to like him.
It would take an even harder heart not to shed a tear watching the beautiful and poignant clip of Wright in a surprise meeting with the man who played a huge part in his eventual success, but more importantly in helping him to become an upstanding human being.
Ian Wright and the teacher who changed everything
Back in 2005 Wright, by then 42 years of age and retired from playing, was filming at Highbury stadium.
Unbeknown to him, his TV colleagues from ITV 4’s Real Lives programme had hatched a cunning plan.
The Arsenal legend, scorer of 185 goals in 288 games for the club, was in the middle of filming when he became aware of a presence behind him.
And within seconds the scene becomes one which would moisten the eyes of even the most flint-hearted viewer.
There behind Ian Wright was Mr Sydney Pigden, the teacher from his primary school who had a profound effect on him as a youngster.
As a boy from a very deprived background, Wright had suffered the misfortune of inheriting an abusive stepfather after his own father deserted the family when he was a toddler.
Mr Pigden had taught him how to read, write, kick a ball, and made him register and milk monitor to give him a sense of duty.
The pundit hadn’t seen him for around 24 years and was under the impression that his old mentor, who had been one of the youngest fighter pilots in WW2, had long since died.
The emotion of the moment is raw as the stunned and teary former footballer is overcome at meeting the teacher who had a huge impact on him.
In an instinctive show of respect he snaps to attention, whips off his cap and ends up sobbing into the chest of his old teacher.
It tugs at the heart strings and invokes memories for those of us who were also inspired by those teachers who helped shape us into the men and women we’ve become.
Mrs Gudmunsen steered me on to the right road
Speaking in an interview later, Wright said of Mr Pigden: “He was so supportive all the time.
“Now I realise how important he was in my life, the first main imposing male figure in my life. He was trying to guide me on the right road”.
I know that at St Columba’s primary I had such a teacher in the late Mrs Maureen Gudmunsen.
Constantly encouraging and firm but fair, she was a source of inspiration for many of us as children.
Good teaching isn’t just about preparing kids for the working and material world.
It’s also about kindness, decency, and giving them a sense of self worth.
Wright didn’t sign as a professional player until the late age of 22. That was after a brush with the law, aged 19, when he was jailed for non payment of parking fines.
That early guidance and tutoring may often be a slow burner, but it will leave an indelible mark on the development of the mind and character.
Wright dedicated his autobiography A Life in Football to Mr Pigden, who died aged 95 in 2018.
'Teachers should know how deeply appreciated they are' https://t.co/h2BgNtwZzh @TesScotland @tes
— Henry Hepburn (@Henry_Hepburn) January 5, 2022
“He was a guiding light all the way through my career,” he wrote.
“I dedicated my book to him and I think that was the least I could do for somebody that literally turned my life around, in respect to teaching me how to be a decent human being.”
A good teachers can change a life
Teachers daily face a multitude of challenges which would test most of us to our limits.
In school, kids from well adjusted homes sit side by side with those from broken homes where drugs, alcohol, poverty, and lack of affection and love, blight their young lives.
Sometimes the man or woman standing in front of the class is the only real role model or figure of authority in their lives.
Good teachers go the extra mile to instil good habits and a sense of value into their young charges
They face challenges from some parents damaged by their own upbringing who see little value in school.
The good teachers graft hard, take work home, and constantly seek fresh ways to inspire young inquisitive minds.
They’re among the most important resource we have in society and we should recognise that.
Ian Wright is living proof that the right teacher can make a life changing difference.
