At an English B workshop many years ago now, someone in the group cheerfully circulated this graphic. It caused much amusement, as well as wry recognition, and I recently came across it in my files (which I'm toiling through as part of moving house). Unfortunately, it has no record of exactly who shared it, nor of where it came from in the first place, so I can't provide any credits at all.

Anyway, see what you think...

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Well, we can all relate to much of that! But does this fit precisely to an IB teacher, let alone an English B teacher? Is it part of our job to be a nose-wiper? Depends if you're in the PYP, I suppose ... but on the other hand, do we take the term as literal or metaphorical? I imagine we've all come across 17 year olds who do need their metaphorical noses wiped from time to time. And as to coat finder ... perhaps that may apply at all student ages, quite literally, as well as in the metaphorical sense of helping disorganised (even if clever) students carry out the most basic everyday tasks. I don't remember ever having to be a petty cash clerk, but then in my school students didn't have to have the bus-fare home.

And to be good professional English B teachers, how do we apply the conceptual understandings of Context, Audience and Purpose to this text?

Context ... The precise context, in the sense of where it was published, is not known, as I have said, but I would not be surprised if it was in some educational magazine ... even IB World. It certainly assumes that readers already have knowledge, and opinions, about the life of a teacher.

Audience ... So we can assume that this is aimed at teachers, and particularly teachers who reflect wryly on the burdens of their job - but also with humour. Most teachers I've met have a capacity to laugh at the difficulties of the profession ... well, at least smile (before growling irritably!)

Purpose ... Underlying the basic aim of joking about all the things teachers have to do, there is a certain pride, is there not? We think "look at all the fantastically different things I can do!" - and that we do on a daily basis, even if they are not given the slightly pompous titles and labels used at points in the text. And beneath even that, I wonder if there isn't a desire to express a bit of resentment - that teachers do all of this, and yet are still not paid as they ought to be, nor even given the respect the deserve.

But in the end, we carry on doing the job because we love it, it fascinates us, and we think it's important ... yes?