Back to: CBSE Class 6 English Summary & Notes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Where Do All the Teachers Go is a 6 stanza poem in which a little child is wondering whether a teacher is a different type of species or similar to him. He wonders whether he lives like them or do all activities as he (the child) do.
However this poem seems to be a satire on teachers because of their rude behaviour towards young children and too strictness. Let us go through the poem
Poem
Video
Stanza 1
Where do all the teachers go When it’s four o’clock? Do they live in houses And do they wash their socks?
The child wonders where doe all the teachers go after 4 O’Clock i.e. after the school is closed. Further he thinks whether they live in houses and wash their socks or not. In other words, the child is trying to figure out whether the teachers live like them or differently.
Stanza 2
Do they wear pyjamas And do they watch TV? And do they pick their noses The same as you and me?
The child wonders whether the teachers wear pyjamas, watch TV and pick their noses like everybody else or not.
Stanza 3
Do they live with other people Have they mums and dads? And were they ever children And were they ever bad?
He again thinks whether the teachers live like others and have parents, whether they were children and bad (as the child himself is in the eyes of the teacher)
In this stanza for the first time the child brings our attention towards the behaviour of teachers towards their young students. It appears that the child has been considered as bad by the teacher. This makes him (the child) to wonder whether the teachers were also young and made mistakes or not.
Stanza 4
Did they ever, never spell right Did they ever make mistakes? Were they punished in the corner If they pinched the chocolate flakes?
The child further thinks if his teachers has never made a mistake (unlike him) and whether they were punished in the corner when they pinched (ate) the chocolate flakes.
These lines reveal more Information about the behaviour of teachers towards the young child. He is probably published for making spelling mistakes and even for eating chocolates in the class. This makes the child to wonder if the teacher was perfect and never made a mistake in his childhood or not.
Stanza 5
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?
The child again wonders whether the teachers also lost their hymn (prayer) books, refused to eat vegetables (which are not tasty), wrote on desk tops and wore old dirty jeans.
Here, we find that the child has been punished for losing his prayer book, for refusing to eat vegetables, for writing on the desks and also for wearing dirty clothes. Hence the child wonders whether the teachers also did the same during their childhood days or not.
Stanza 6
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.
The child finally decides to spy on one of his teachers. According to him, he will follow him back to home and try to find out what does he do. Then he will compose a poem on that and read it to the readers.
