Madam, - John Banville's review (December 6th) of George Steiner's Lessons of the Masters was uplifting, salutary and timely. He rightly says that it is a book which should act "as a tonic for teachers in these grey times". These last few years have seen teaching at all levels assaulted by parents, excoriated by education correspondents, sneered at by other professionals, undermined by educationalists, devalued by government, and sometimes ill-served by the unions.
The review rings with words such as "awe", "fascination", "passion", "grace", "hope", "vocation", "enthusiasm", "devotion", words which will never be found in an educational manual, pedagogical guidebook or departmental report. While Steiner is equally hard on the dullards or "amiable gravediggers" who exist in teaching as in every other profession, he affirms that at its best teaching is an art that aims to be inspirational and transforming, a calling "more vital to society's health" than any other.
We have not heard this kind of ringing affirmation for a long time, and it is good to hear it from one of the planet's finest thinkers. It is also an unapologetic endorsement of the interpersonal dynamic that takes place in all good teaching. Educational planners who think that this can be replaced by the bright bauble of a computer impoverish us all. - Yours, etc.,
ALAN TITLEY, Roinn na Gaeilge, Coláiste Phádraig, Baile Átha Cliath 9.