Where Do All the Teachers Go? (Poem) by Peter Dixon

For a little child a teacher is special. It is difficult for a small child to think of his/her teacher as an ordinary person.

Where do all the teachers go
When it’s four o’clock?
Do they live in houses
And do they wash their socks?

Do they wear pyjamas
And do they watch TV?
And do they pick their noses
The same as you and me?

Do they live with other people
Have they mums and dads?
And were they ever children
And were they ever bad?

Did they ever, never spell right
Did they ever make mistakes?
Were they punished in the corner
If they pinched the chocolate flakes?

Did they ever lose their hymn books
Did they ever leave their greens?
Did they scribble on the desk tops
Did they wear old dirty jeans?

I’ll follow one back home today
I’ll find out what they do
Then I’ll put it in a poem
That they can read to you.

Summary of the Poem

For a little child, his or her teacher is special, not an ordinary person. So he wonders where the teachers go after the school hours.

He wants to know if they live in houses and also wash their clothes. He wonders if they feel relaxed at home, wear pyjamas and watch TV. He is also eager to know if the teachers have their parents at home, and if they too were naughty at school, spelt the words wrongly, ate chocolates in the class, and were told to stand in the corner as punishment.

The child compares his own habits with those of the teachers in their childhood. They too must have lost their prayer book, wore dirty jeans and scribbled on the desk tops.

The child plans to follow his teacher to find out what he or she does at home. He will then record that in a poem. The teacher will read that poem to other children as a fun.

Questions

1. Why does the poet want to know where the teachers go at four o'clock?

The poet thinks that his teachers are not ordinary persons. He looks upon them as super or special human beings. So he wants to know where they go and what they do after the school hours.

2. What are the things normal people do that the poet talks about?

Normal people return to their home, change their clothes, wash their faces and become fresh. They also rest for a while. Some of them go for shopping or help the children with their homework.

3. What does he imagine about (a) where teachers live? (b) what they do at home? (c) the people with whom they live? (d) their activities when they were children in school?

(a) The boy imagines that teachers live in joint families.

(b) They wash their socks, change into pyjamas and then watch TV.

(c) They live with their parents.

(d) When they were at school going age, they too spelt the words incorrectly, chewed chocolates in the class and were punished.

4. Why does the poet wonder if teachers also do things that other people do?

The boy regards his teachers as special persons. They are his ideals, perfect in every respect. So he wonders if they also do things that other people do.

5. How does the poet plan to find out? What will he do once he finds out?

The poet plans to get first hand information about his teacher. He plans to follow one of his teachers and find out what he or she does. Then he will record his findings in a poem for the benefit of other children.

6. What do you think these phrases from the poem mean?

(i) punished in the corner.
(ii) leave their greens.

(i) The teacher keeps an eye on all the students. In case he notices a boy eating chocolates in the classroom or making spelling mistakes, he asks the boy to stand in the corner as punishment.

(ii) Some of the children don't eat their lunch in full. They leave cooked green vegetables here and there or throw them into the dustbin.