We owe so much to the teachers who nurture a child’s potential

Here’s to all those teachers of generosity who make pupils believe they can actually do it; who give them the gift of confidence.

Teacher and her aspiring pupils

“Without Philip Burton there would never have been a Richard Burton,” Elizabeth Taylor once wrote. “That great rolling voice that cracked like wild Atlantic waves would never have been heard outside the valley.” Philip was not Richard’s father but his teacher, and this is a column in honour of those teachers of heart-cracking generosity who inspire their young students, who give their charges the greatest gift of all – confidence. A belief in themselves and in what they can do with their lives.

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor on their honeymoon at Casa Kimberly, Mexico.

I’ve known a few in my lifetime and am seeing it right now with my own children, gifted here and there in their various schooling lives with teachers who have their back; who want them to fly as they navigate the headwinds of growing up. It gives them a firming. I’m talking about the teachers of vision who see beyond the child to the adult, to what they could become. I’ve also witnessed the opposite – the destructive teacher who aims to break or stop a student. To crack their confidence. Reduce. But for those of such fragile ego, well, this column isn’t for them; they’ll be forgotten in time or remembered for all the wrong reasons; whereas those who’ve inspired and transformed are held in the heart, for life. This column is for the Mr Burtons of the world. Richard’s English teacher and mentor who has just been immortalised in the film, Mr Burton. The older man spotted young Richard’s potential, fostered the talent and became his legal guardian amid his chaotic family life. He was rewarded when Richard adopted his surname.

Virginia Trioli recently wrote of the gift of great teachers in the creative person’s life, as she embarked on the second series of her ABC TV show, Creative Types. She compiled a “Doctrine of Inventiveness” which looked at common traits her artists shared; crossover moments in all their creative experiences. One was the rocket fuel of the inspiring teacher.

“That almost universal experience of the importance of that one teacher in your life seems definitive for so many of the artists I spoke to. The teacher you loved and respected, who truly saw you and your potential and who opened the doors and windows to other worlds seemingly beyond your reach.”

She continued: “Almost all the artists to whom I spoke had that special teacher top of mind still. For the violinist Richard Tognetti it happened at the age of seven; for filmmaker George Miller, it was in high school.”

“There are two kinds of teachers,” Robert Frost wrote. “The kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can’t move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies.”

If a student enters their chosen field in spite of, not because of, a teacher, that teacher shouldn’t be teaching. The teacher who doesn’t want to be there, who takes pleasure in killing the dreams of the student – why are they teaching? Those rare, cruel, insecure ones who try to break the child should remember that anger can be a fuel to achievement. It’s the courageous impetus of “I’ll show you!”.

Mr Burton’s producer, Ed Talfan, believes the teacher/student dynamic will resonate with so many. “It’s almost a cliche that everybody remembers a great teacher, but it’s cliche for a reason because you only need one in your life, and it’s transformative,” he said.

I hope you had a transformative teacher. I did. Mr Rice in year 5, and in high school Mrs Fox, an English teacher. Both are held in the fist of my heart because they made me believe I could do a job that dwells within the glorious delight of words; that I could be a writer.

I wish all students a transformative teacher. Here’s to all those teachers of generosity who make pupils believe they can actually do it; who give them the gift of confidence.