Original subtitles

'ALDO;

Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults

Cinema and Theater Department

The Teacher: Images and memories 8 October 1977

The teachers are meeting, before going

to their classes, in front of their blackboards

and our children and youngsters,

to address them,

talk to them about life and the world.

We entrust these women and men

with our dear ones.

We, caring parents,

so sensitive to our children's wellbeing,

leave, in all confidence,

their future in these people's hands.

What I can state, in general,

is that for a person capable of reasoning,

happiness depends on just one thing:

understanding that his body and soul were granted to him to rule,

according to the law of the Koran.

They asked Imam Mahdi what function he would have accepted.

He replied he would choose any government role

that allowed him to act in favor of the people.

No profession is more sacred, more respectable, more honorable

than teaching.

To my mind, teaching is a profession

for which you have to be trained

from the earliest years.

It's a serious mistake to think

anybody can teach.

Teaching isn't a job. For me, it's an art.

Where you involve your conscience.

It can only be done by people who are extremely conscientious.

It's a sacred function.

A function that is...

positive.

It's a satisfying function.

On condition that you're a real teacher.

As for me, I'd say it's an ideal profession.

I've been doing it with passion since I was 14.

And I still love my job.

I don't know about the others.

It must be said,

the teaching function, a sacred function,

is the one that assures a society's cultural evolution.

The progress of any society

depends on the quality of its teachers.

I find it's an honorable profession.

I chose it to better serve the society I live in.

I'm a mother, I love children.

That explains my teaching vocation.

Teaching is the finest profession,

morally and spiritually speaking.

It guides the country's youth

towards elevation, fulfillment,

and the mastery of all the sciences.

Teachers haven't chosen an easy job.

But what rewards do they get for all their efforts?

What job satisfaction is there?

Do you want an honest answer?

None.

Let me explain:

when you've finished with a student

who completes their schooling

and leaves high school,

if it's a girl who gets married, she no longer greets you.

That's how it goes in this country.

If it's a boy...

and he had the slightest problem with you,

when he sees you, he crosses the street.

If by chance he has a position and you need a favor,

he reckons all the merit is his,

that he got to where he is by himself and owes you nothing.

I think any social action should be disinterested.

Expecting a reward devalues it.

That said,

depending on the education the students received

and their capacity to reflect and analyze,

that the teachers passed on,

they can show their gratitude.

I think any teacher's satisfaction

comes from seeing the result of his efforts.

Seeing his students progress and attain important positions,

it's an honor for the teachers.

Our pleasure is bound up with that of the country's youth.

This pleasure is irreplaceable.

That's why we remain in the service of this youth,

during a 40-year career.

A teacher's greatest moral reward

is his student's progress.

I taught for 28 years.

Each year, seeing none of my students failing the exams

was my greatest reward.

I never felt tired.

The greatest reward I can receive

is to deliver good people to society,

that society can benefit from my students.

You intend to make a film

that pays tribute to teachers.

That's very good.

Everybody needs encouraging.

Teachers are no exception.

But the real problem is our purchasing power.

The other day I called a plumber.

He worked two hours.

He took 600 tomans. He didn't do any studies.

While a teacher, for all his diplomas,

will never earn more than 100 tomans for two hours' work.

The gap is huge.

How can we rectify this discrepancy?

It's a job you do out of love, by vocation.

If a teacher doesn't like his job,

the harm is done to the 40 young girls or boys

whose education he's in charge of.

As a result, only those who feel driven by this passion

should enter the teaching profession.

The teacher is responsible for the education of the country's population.

He'd be well-advised to understand the importance of his task.

It's not for the miserable salary that doesn't even pay the rent.

But to satisfy his clean conscience

and obey divine will.

For God, no act is nobler than serving your neighbor

and no service more valuable than the education of society.

In short, a teacher's reward

can have two aspects.

Financial reward, that is often unsatisfactory.

The feeling of frustration and privation is widespread.

Especially if you start comparing jobs.

Teachers can feel hard done by.

But the fact is,

there is a moral reward

that makes the job attractive.

It's the relationship between student and teacher.

Like considerate gardeners,

teachers watch over the constant growth of these plants

that will sprout, grow, flourish,

and spread their branches across the future horizon.

The teacher seeks his reward

in the growth of these seeds.

The students are sitting the final exam.

Once they graduate, some of them will go to university.

Others will get married or find a job.

Whatever the case, we hope

they succeed in everything they undertake.

We don't know if we'll ever get the chance

to see them again one day.

I've kept in touch with former students

who now live abroad.

When they come back, we visit each other.

I'm invited to their weddings and their children's birthdays.

When they invite me, they receive me more warmly

than a member of their family.

They embrace me and show their affection.

We have lots of memories like this.

Our former students live all over Iran.

Wherever we go, we find them, they welcome us.

The only relationship that isn't spoiled by power relations

is with the teacher.

My old teachers are very friendly to me.

But I still have a great respect for them

that maintains a distance between us.

They went to a lot of trouble for me.

I still feel like a student when I meet them.

When I was 6, I moved up a level.

I got the best grade and got a pencil

from the teacher, who was called Sabeteh.

I forget her family name.

I never saw her again.

But I still had the pencil until recently.

For me...

it was a sacred object, a kind of talisman.

One day, in the street,

I saw my old 4th grade teacher,

by chance.

I was very moved to see her.

I didn't know if I should greet her or not.

I didn't dare show myself.

Then she saw me.

I went over and greeted her.

She didn't recognize me at first.

I was like a child again.

I was intimidated, I didn't know how I should address her.

She was delighted to hear I'd gone into teaching.

She asked me why.

I replied that she had inspired me.

So, teachers can overcome the pitfalls and bitterness

to reach a certain degree of human understanding,

giving them access to the lush garden of their memory,

where they gather the only buds

that, in all seasons,

perfume their hearts and minds.

For someone who has dedicated his life to it, teaching isn't a job,

but the actual meaning of life.

Today, I had to retire.

But if I didn't have any problems,

if my health allowed me,

I'd still spend years talking to students,

educating them, making progress with them.

If I have the strength,

I intend to do voluntary work

anywhere, as long as my teaching is useful.

That's all.

Retired teachers keep on teaching.

It's a passion.

Even if they retire, they still pass on knowledge.

It's still too early for me to think about it.

I must say, I've never thought about it.

But it seems to me...

that after teaching for 20 years,

I would have to stop.

I wouldn't have the same energy for teaching.

These are school grounds.

The oldest of schools.

The garden of memories of the old gardener.

A space imbued with the being of the teacher

who inhabited it and marked it.

This is his true domain,

where the nobleness of his stature

is spread before our eyes.

This film is dedicated to the memory of our dear teachers.

N. Ansari to M. Sohani A. Jafari to S. Abdali

M. Haghighi to M. Mehran R. Davari to H. Mehrabani

A. Ranjbar to M. Nosrati A. Kiarostami to E. Nuriala

Produced by the Ministry of Education