When we first did the life story writing piece in class, it got me thinking about my own experience of education, particularly elementary school. However, when we started talking about the feminization of teaching, I thought about all my favourite teachers and I did not consider them maternalistic at all. In first grade, I had a teacher named Mme. LeClerc, and made my best friend cry on a daily basis. I would not consider her mean, but she was stern and expected us to put our potential to use. Even in grade one. Whenever we were working on homework and I had a question, she would not just give me the answer but challenge me to figure out by myself. Of course she was very nice to us as well, but she always challenged us to our best.
My grade two teacher was another one of my favourite teachers. She was an older lady who had moved here from France, and accepted absolutely no disobedience. She was very kind, but also pushed us to do our best. Every month we would have to memorize a new times table and recite it to her. I was always very nervous and I can remember really hating the fact that she made us to this, but today I am forever grateful as I can still recite my times tables by heart. You could say that she was maternalistic in a way, but you could always say that her methods were not your typical “motherly” way.