"Teachers talk about ‘the lightbulb moment’; when they see the light in a student’s eyes as they ‘lean in’ to the learning in the class.  That moment may be followed by a question, it may be followed by a puzzled look as the students integrate the new thought into their prior knowledge, but that moment is one sign when teachers know what they are doing is valuable. 

But success and satisfaction doesn’t come from just that moment because teachers do so much more than that. Teaching is not just a random spark of connection with one student – it is the conscious, constant, deliberate and methodical nurturing of the academic and social development of all the young people under their care. 

And it’s hard! Young people are all “one offs”; they are individual and full of the potential which teachers work to unlock. Each young person comes to the classroom with differing levels of readiness, experience and abilities. The environment of the classroom is complex and dynamic. The teacher is required to bring all their expertise, training, patience and passion to the task – all day, every day. 

Furthermore, their value needs to be seen beyond the family, school, state or national unit. In unleashing the potential of the next generations, in nourishing their creativity and building their problem-solving skills and capacity to work together; the worth of teachers is of global significance.  

There is no sufficient recognition we can offer of the value and worth of our teachers. However, they deserve our immeasurable thanks and respect. I yearn for the ‘lightbulb moment’ in communities near and far, when teachers are recognised and valued for the life-changing work they do."

VIT Chairperson, Lesley Lamb