If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 

Luke 15: 1-7

While many of us as teachers might have taught the above parable – the ‘Lost Sheep’ to our students, or indeed been taught it ourselves in school, how many of us manage to live out that parable in our own classrooms, or in our day-to-day lives? Where we go in search of that lost sheep, or the ones who might need us most?

It might sound easy, obvious even – to teach the ones who need us most. Of course, as teachers, this is something that most of us aspire to. But 16 years into my teaching career, I still don’t find it easy. And I still need a gentle reminder now and again.

Mostly I need the reminder at the end of term, or during busy periods when stress levels are high, and it feels like there are not enough hours in the day. It is during those times of overwhelm that the temptation to blame a student who is seeking additional support, or who is asking too many questions, is high. ‘They are asking too much’ . ‘They should know that’. ‘I already covered that in class’.

Or the adult learner who appears disengaged. Disinterested. Difficult. They are the problem, not me. I can’t please everyone. I can only do what I can do. The temptation is always there – to teach to the ones who make us feel good. Who feed us. Who nod and who smile and who give us that much sought after positive feedback. The ones who need us least. The ones who most likely, will learn in spite of us.

During my time teaching in school, it was those children who did not learn in the way that I was taught to ‘teach’, that challenged me most. It was those children who tempted me to go after the other ninety-nine sheep. To give up on them, and to instead blame the constraints of the environment, the home environment or the lack of services and resources available to me. To reassure myself that it wasn’t fair on the ‘others’ to use my time and resources, to change my practice and my classroom routine for only one.

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Going after that one sheep is hard, while the prospect of ‘successfully’ teaching the other ninety-nine is all too appealing. It was how I imagined teaching to be. It is how many of us imagine teaching would be. Standing at the front of my classroom, me teaching and them learning. Success all round.

I might go after that one sheep however, and I might fail. I probably will fail. And I have failed. But at the beginning of this new year, it is a helpful reminder to me, that as a teacher it is my job to go in search of the one that went astray. And I remain hopeful that as the parable says, if I find it, I will rejoice over it more than the ninety-nine that never went astray.