Where Do All the Teachers Go?

Chapter Summary

Peter Dixon has composed the poem ‘Where Do All the Teachers Go?’ This particular poem is associated with the imagination of a child about their teacher. The poem is written from the child’s point of view regarding the whereabouts of a teacher. The child is curious about the activities of the teacher after school hours.

The thought process of a child is different from a grown-up individual hence the curiosity differs accordingly. The child in this poem is wondering where teachers go to around 4 pm every day. The child questions whether the teachers live in houses and when they reach the house whether they wash their socks or watch TV wearing pyjamas. The thought process of the child is relative to his instances at home, it is pious and joyful.

The young individual wonders whether the teachers live with their parents at home. The young child continues to wonder whether the teachers were once children like them and if they committed the same mistakes as them. The kid wonders whether the teachers were ever scolded for their mistakes in their childhood. Furthermore, the young jovial kid wishes to follow a teacher back to their home and will try to find out about their whereabouts. Thereafter, the kid wishes to put it all down in a poem so that the teachers can read it back to the reader.

These childish questions and the honest thought process of a small child make this poem a jovial read for readers of all ages. It is especially an enjoyable read for the teachers.

Why the poet wants to know where all the teachers go at 4 o’clock?

The poet, from the point of view of a child, does not consider the teachers as ordinary beings. The poet feels like the teachers are supernatural beings who switch some saintly powers.

Hence, the poet wishes to know where the teachers go after 4 o'clock. The teacher is curious about the whereabouts of the teacher after school hours.

Things Normal People Do That the Poet Talks About

The poet states according to the thought process of a child that the normal people reside in houses. They freshen up once they return to their homes, wash their clothes, wear pyjamas and watch TV for relaxation. The grown-ups, in this context, the teachers were also once a child who used to leave out green vegetables and ate chocolates. They also committed mistakes and used to get punished for the same.

The teachers when they were young used to lose their hymn books often, they used to make scribbling on desktops and they used to wear unclean jeans

What does the poet imagine about -

where teachers live?

The poet mentions that the teacher lives in houses with their parents and their families.

what they do at home?

The individuals when they come back home they wash their socks and wear pyjamas, and they watch TV to feel relaxed.

The people with whom they live?

Through the child, the poet imagines that they live with their parents and their family members.

The teachers’ activities when they were children in school?

The poet states that when the teachers were children even they used to make mistakes. They used to scribble writing on top of their desks; even they used to spell words incorrectly. The teachers were also punished for eating chocolates in class. They used to lose their hymn books. When the teachers were young they used to wear unclean jeans. The poet, through the words of a child, wonders that their teachers used to do the same things in the classroom as they do.

The poet wonders if teachers also do things that other people do?

The poet wonders about such things because he believes that they are not normal people. The poet presumes that the teachers are always strict and hence he wonders if they did the same mistakes when they once were children.

What does the poet plan to find out? And how?

The poet has decided to get all the necessary information by himself, through the child in the poem the poet has decided to follow the teachers back to their homes and take note of the things that they do once they reach home. Then he would write down a poem about their teachers which the teachers would read out to their children.

What do these phrases from the poem mean?

punished in the corner

The phrase of being punished in the corner is associated with the aspect of being caught for the mistakes for which the individual is made to stand at the corner of a room. In this context, the child wonders whether the teachers when they used to be children used to commit the same mistakes when they were young ad used to get caught. Thereafter they were punished and were made to stand in the corner of the classroom.

Leave their greens

Often children leave out the green vegetables because they are not as tasty. They throw away the vegetables into a dustbin or leave them uneaten, the phrase in this context is used to note whether the teachers used to the do the same when they were children.

FAQs

Q1.Why did the child wonder about the whereabouts of the teachers once they reach home?

The child wonders about their teacher because he is not a grown-up and is fascinated by the lifestyle of the grown-ups. The poet through the child to wonder what the teacher does once they reach home because to the child the teacher is not a normal person, the teacher is a strict individual who never makes mistakes but punches them for making mistakes.

Q2. What mistakes do children often make?

Ans. The poet in this poem has mentioned the mistakes a child often makes, like living out on vegetables, making spelling mistakes, and wearing unclean jeans. Children also scribble on top of their desks and get punished for the same.

Q3. What do people usually do once they reach home according to the poet?

Ans. Upon reaching home people usually freshen up, wear pyjamas, and watch TV for a while to get relaxed. They live with their families and spend jolly time. People wash their clothes as well. These are all the activities the child in this poem relates to.