09/08/2026
WHEN A TEACHER STARTS TO FADE
A teacher once said to me
“I used to be the kind of teacher that lit up the class…”
Creative. Energetic. Always trying new things.
Parents loved it. Pupils were learning.
Until I got a school head who called it “doing too much.”
My effort became a threat.
My suggestions were seen as pride.
And slowly… I stopped trying.
Not every teacher is lazy.
Some just learned, painfully that their best efforts don’t matter.
So they stopped bringing their best.
And when a good teacher shuts down,
it doesn’t just affect them…
Every child in that classroom loses something.
Some school leaders assume teachers are incompetent.
Or that they only show up to beg for salaries.
But that mindset has broken more good teachers
than poor performance ever did.
It starts small:
– A late salary here.
– A public embarrassment there.
– No materials. No support. No encouragement.
– An expectation to do ten people’s jobs and say thank you for it.
And then, slowly…
The teacher who used to run extra lessons? Stops.
The one who brought in new ideas? Goes quiet.
The one who smiled through stress? Now just walks past you.
Not because they’re lazy.
But because they’re tired. And done.
Tired of being overlooked.
Tired of being talked down to.
Tired of giving so much… and feeling invisible.
And then we say:
“She’s no longer vibrant.”
“He doesn’t engage like before.”
But nobody asks:
What did we do to that teacher?
A teacher isn’t a machine.
You can’t keep pressing for results while ignoring the pressure building inside.
Not every teacher was lazy. Some were just mishandled.
Sometimes, all a teacher needs is grace.
A little, “I see you.”
A little, “Keep going.”
A little coaching and not constant criticism.
Dear school leaders,
You can’t bully brilliance out of a person.
But you can nurture it.
And that’s what real leadership looks like.
Let’s not break the very people
we rely on to build the next generation.
HAPPY SUNDAY
ikejiaku
Chinonso Ikejiaku
