Top Pope Francis’ Quotes on Teachers

TOP POPE FRANCIS QUOTES ON TEACHERS

1. The beauty of the teaching profession

“Teaching is a beautiful profession, it’s a pity teachers are poorly paid because it is not just about the time they spend in school, then the time they spend preparing, the time they spend on each individual student: how to help them move forward…  Teaching is a poorly paid job, but it’s beautiful because it allows us to see the people who are entrusted to our care grow day after day. It is a little like being parents, at least spiritually. It is a great responsibility! Teaching is a serious commitment that only a mature and well-balanced person can undertake. Such a commitment can be intimidating, but remember that no teacher is ever alone: they always share their work with other colleagues and the entire educational community to which they belong.”
Pope Francis, Address, 2015

2. Accept students as they are

“They(teachers) must aim to build an educational relationship with each student, who must feel accepted and loved for who he or she is, with all of his or her limitations and potential.”
Pope Francis, Address, 2015

3. The duty of a good teacher

“The duty of a good teacher , all the more for a Christian teacher , is to love his or her more difficult, weaker, more disadvantaged students with greater intensity. Jesus would say, if you love only those who study, who are well educated, what merit do you have? And there are some who make us lose our patience, but we must love them even more! Any teacher can do well with such students. I ask you to love the “difficult students more… those who do not want to study, those who find themselves in difficult situations, the disabled and foreigners, who today pose a great challenge for schools.”
Pope Francis, Address, 2015

4. Computers teach content, Teachers teach values

“You must not only teach content, but the values and customs of life. There are three things that you must pass on. A computer can teach content, but to understand how to love, to understand values and customs which create harmony in society, it takes a good teacher.”
Pope Francis, Address, 2015

5. Teach young people to grow in culture

“Teach young people, help young people to grow in culture and in encounter, to be capable of encountering different people, differences, and to grow with differences: this is how we grow, with comparison, with good comparison.
Pope Francis, Dialogue With Students, Teachers and Parents, 2019

6. Educating involves loving

“One cannot educate without love. You cannot teach words without gestures, and the first gesture is the caress: to caress hearts, caress souls. And what is the language of the caress? Persuasion. One teaches with the patience of persuasion. Witness, loving kindness, caresses, persuasion.”
Pope Francis, Dialogue With Students, Teachers and Parents, 2019

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