No one expects an encyclopedia

Teacher, who was the first president of Israel? Teacher, what is the Green Line? Teacher, what does "righteous among the nations" mean? Teacher, what happened on Nov. 29, 1947? And teacher, what year did Likud first win the elections?

Teacher: "I don't know, not sure, no clue, and ... well, I can't really say. About the Likud winning the elections for the first time, that happened a long time ago."

It may sound like a comedy skit, but this is the gloomy reality today in Israeli schools, as shown by a new poll conducted by Israel Hayom. We knew there was widespread and disconcerting ignorance among students. We could not have imagined, however, that their teachers would display such solidarity, and so rapidly.

Fatigue is not an excuse

One can take solace in the fact that it could be worse. Imagine for a moment one of your children's teachers not knowing who hosts "Master Chef." You would be shocked. You might even consider changing schools, perhaps cities, maybe even countries.

But the fact that your child's teacher doesn't know the first four lines of the national anthem is all right, actually. It's not as if the kid will try making it on "A Star is Born" with Naftali Herz Imber's lyrics anyway.

Some professions have an aura about them, regardless of salary or how many others also do it. Teaching is one of these professions. Students used to gaze at a teacher with admiration, parents with hope. Teachers were living, breathing encyclopedias. At least that's how they were seen. Often, this was really the case. In the meantime, a certain fatigue has settled over the profession, and it's not because of the salaries or the number of students in a classroom. These have always been just an excuse. They are certainly not the reason.

In 2002, French author Jacques Ranciere wrote a wonderful book called "The Ignorant Schoolmaster." It is about a teacher, Joseph Jacotot, who in 1818 discovered an unconventional teaching method based on intelligence equality. The innovation caused panic among the elite and educated class in France and Holland. Jacotot concluded that ignorant students can learn without teachers, while "ignorant schoolmasters" can teach students things that they themselves know nothing about.

There are also excellent teachers

In other words, we didn't invent this erosion of general knowledge among teachers. But this isn't satisfactory, and it comes as little comfort.

We truly don't expect our teachers to have a full grasp of quantum mechanics. We can forgive them for not knowing the capital of Bangladesh. But an Israeli teacher, who lives in Israel and educates Israeli students, should know who the first president of Israel was, even if he or she doesn't teach civics. It would also be nice if the geography teachers weren't the only ones who can tell us off the tops of their heads which countries share our borders. We also don't expect religious teachers to be the only ones able to name the five books of the Torah.

Because my daughter is going to school today, and because her teacher really does know all these answers, this is perhaps the time to clarify that we have many excellent teachers in Israel, who can easily tell us the name of the presiding Supreme Court chief justice if need be.

To those who believe that a good teacher doesn't need to be a trivia master, let's just say we aren't demanding medals from our teachers, only the pedagogic minimum.

Incidentally, seven years ago high school students in California discovered that their beloved and admired teacher didn't know how to read or write. He would come to class with an assistant who would write on the chalkboard for him. Because we have such esteem for our teachers in Israel, we expect them to come to class alone, without assistants to prevent them from telling our children that the Green Line is a marker for environmental quality. Between us, such an answer is mostly a testament to the quality of the teacher.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו