I recall vividly the first few years of teaching and attending retirement events for my colleagues. As a small district of 15 or so schools, they held these events altogether. I remember hearing tributes and watching skits of people I either only knew from that year or other teachers I never worked with or heard of. Seeing them be celebrated and honoured for their work made me proud and excited to be a teacher. To think that one day I might be honoured and caring with me so many memories of times with staff and students seemed to be a nice way to spend a life.

As our district amalgamated and times changed, these large celebrations and gatherings dissipated. Many teachers opted out of being celebrated in this way.

Today I see many of my contemporaries retiring but not many are being honored in this same way. Some choosing not to and in many cases there isn’t a structure for this.

As I think about the future of the profession, encouraging young people and young teachers to see this as a lovely way to spend a life seems to be an important consideration and ritual. I realize that many are … Read the rest