Secret Teacher: A love of learning is threatened by the Leaving Cert

On this Valentine’s Day, I’d like us to remember that love can exist at the centre of learning.

As a teacher, I watch students fall in love every day. With music. With maths. With circuits. With baking. Instead of nurturing that love, far too often, we threaten it.

I fell in love for the first time when I was thirteen. I’ve been in the relationship ever since and I don’t see it ending anytime soon. Like every romantic, I imagine my love going on forever.

It began on a Tuesday evening in December 1993. My Speech and Drama teacher was at the top of the table, the glow of the lamp casting suitably theatrical shadows across the posters on the wall.