On this World Teachers’ Day, let us celebrate young teachers, the future of the profession.

Life makes its way through the shadows of the inert. Like a row advancing on the abyss’ edge, the torches lighting the way have always been held by teachers. They are the ones who share their own learning and share what is useful to illuminate the world. That is why, by definition, the work of teachers is always young, it should always be, because their mission is to find fresh answers to the problems that we have unnecessarily complicated.

For this reason, teacher’s vocation germinates easily in young people’s hearts and usually multiplies as they grow, doubt, suffer or smile. Torches pass from hand to hand when hope multiplies. That is why it is important to encourage youth leadership, whose most effective form of achievement is teaching, because this work has the potential to build the necessary capacities to dignify the world and consolidate the conditions of equality, inclusion, justice and democracy. Facilitating teacher profession from youth is a guarantee of development.

No one learns by exhortation; nobody teaches by ostentation. As Paulo Freire said, we learn together, with the example alive, acting and respectful, in which diversity and plural readings of the world are shown. That is why education is called to be a true exercise of freedom and teachers turn on the lights that allow us to feed it.

Collective learning is the true educational source and constitutes a true exercise of freedom. Like that row advancing on the abyss’ edge, education is a vital process built on the interactive language of people with the world. Everything we learn casts a light on a complex universe that remained hidden or, as Ungaretti says, every lighthouse that goes on releases the sea from fog.

We celebrate young teachers because education is an act of love and without them, we would not find the words to recognise it.

Author: Vernor Muñoz

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The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) is a civil society movement that aims to end exclusion in education. Education is a basic human right, and our mission is to make sure that governments act now to deliver the right of everyone to a free, quality, public education.