Dear Teachers: You are the real Influencers!

A while ago, I watched a video where the speaker said something that has stayed with me ever since. They said, “The role of a teacher is not so much to teach information but to get people to care.” And honestly, I couldn’t agree more!

We live in a world where information is everywhere. Children can look up the answer to almost anything before you’ve even finished asking the question. Facts are no longer scarce. Knowledge is no longer locked away in libraries or textbooks or the minds of experts. So if that’s the case… what is a teacher’s real job?

Is it to throw more facts at students who already have unlimited access to them? Or is it something deeper, something more human?

I’m convinced it’s the latter. A teacher’s main role (especially for the next generation) is not simply to pass on information, but to spark a sense of care, curiosity and connection. Because information without care is quickly forgotten. Think back to your own school years. Which lessons do you remember? Which teachers shaped you? Was it the detailed content of the science syllabus? Or was it the teacher who made you feel like learning mattered? The teacher who didn’t just explain atoms or poetry or long division, but somehow made you care about them?

Why do certain teachers stay in our memories for decades, while others fade as quickly as the final bell?

Because the influential ones didn’t simply teach the what. They taught the why. They taught the feeling. They showed us that learning wasn’t just an obligation, it was a journey worth taking. This is exactly what our future generation needs. We’re raising children in an age of overstimulation, short attention spans, constant scrolling and limitless entertainment. If all we offer them is information, we’ll lose them in seconds. But if we give them a reason to care - if we show them purpose, belonging, identity, meaning - suddenly the learning becomes alive.

So the real question becomes: how do we get young people to care?

By being more than informers. By being influencers in the purest sense of the word. People who shape not just knowledge, but mindset. People who don’t just deliver content but cultivate character. People who model passion, consistency, interest and integrity. Because children watch who we are more closely than what we say. A teacher who genuinely loves what they teach naturally makes students lean in. A teacher who speaks with conviction creates curiosity. A teacher who expects excellence influences a culture of excellence. You can’t inspire care if you don’t show care yourself. And maybe that’s the uncomfortable truth we don’t talk about enough: teaching is heart work, not just head work. It asks you to show up fully. To bring your humanity into the classroom. To be patient enough to connect and bold enough to challenge. To show your students that there is something worth caring about - whether that’s history, language, science, faith, the world or themselves.

If we want children who are grounded, thoughtful, purposeful and principled, then we need teachers who embody those qualities. Teachers who influence. Teachers who lead. Teachers who recognise that their impact extends far beyond the syllabus. Because isn’t education ultimately about shaping people, not producing test scores? Isn’t the goal to grow minds, not just fill them?

Imagine a world where every child is taught by someone who makes them care about learning, about values, about growth, about who they’re becoming. What would that generation look like? How would society change? These are the questions that keep me thinking, writing and dreaming about the future of education. Our future generation deserves teachers who are more than information sources. They deserve teachers who ignite something inside them. Teachers who influence with love, conviction and purpose. Because when a child cares, learning happens naturally. And when a teacher inspires that care, they’re not just teaching a lesson, they’re shaping a life!