The end of the school year is approaching. Giving a gift to one of your teachers to thank them or to your child’s teacher is a widespread tradition. Between plants, chocolates and other assortments, there is plenty to choose from. However, according to three teachers interviewed by Le Figaro Studentone gift in particular comes back very – too – frequently.
These end-of-year gifts are particularly symbolic for teachers. “I won’t be offended if I don’t get a gift, but it always warms my heart to receive one”confides Laetitia Perez, teacher for fifteen years and primary school teacher in Brittany. For Barberine, a teacher for ten years in Paris, these gifts above all testify of “a form of recognition of work” teachers. Moreover, from this perspective, the gift is not a necessity, listen to Marc Gourmelon, school director in Carrière-Sous-Poissy for around ten years: “We like to have a note from a parent to thank us for our work as much as a gift”, he says. These words also allow us to look back on the difficulties encountered by a student and the pedagogy put in place to find a solution. “I keep them all in one box“confides Barberine.
Beyond the little note, the gifts that teachers like the most are those that show special attention. “The year I went to Brittany, a family offered me a voucher for a massage in the town I was moving to, it was very touching”, says Laetitia Perez. Be careful, however, not to take the easy route with a personalized gift.
Each year, teachers receive an impressive quantity of personalized mugs. “The number of mugs with the words ‘best master in the world’ or ‘you are the most beautiful mistress’ that we accumulate is becoming comical, we no longer know what to do with themindicates Marc Gourmelon. At least we have a nice collection of mugs in the staff room. If we break one, we will always have another to replace it!” Even if this gift “always a pleasure”assures Laetitia Perez, the latter also confides being “delighted when the present is more original”.
