Tragedy, Truth, Triumph: Part II

Bisson, Diane, The World and I

This is the second of a three-part series focusing on the inner struggle and triumph of one teacher's recovery from a tragic accident. Written as a journal, this true story is an excerpt from her book Tragedy, Truth, Triumph: A Woman's Personal Battle With Loss (PublishAmerica, 2005). Though her journey is personally spiritual, the message of transcending pain and hardship is universal.

Chapter Two: The Encounter

The dream of teaching in Australia and experiencing a different culture, enjoying new friends and discovering a new country hardly had a chance to unfold. My first day at St. Charles school was February 2, 1987. I met the school personnel who seemed friendly enough. The following day was much better because I was introduced to my twenty-eight fourth-graders, a super group of kids. I loved them from the minute I met them. After my twenty-four years in the teaching profession, and being comfortable with the Canadian educational system, I found it a bit unnerving getting accustomed to theirs. Nevertheless, I was looking forward to exchanging teaching strategies. Somehow my dedication and efforts became fruitless. I felt insecure many times; I was rapidly losing my self-confidence, something I had never experienced throughout my career before this time. I prayed and asked the Good Lord to give me the strength and the encouragement I needed to go on. My prayer was answered. I was able to persevere. As I'm reading my diary, most of my entries following that plea with God begin with the phrase, "Another good day!"

Unfortunately, that positive feeling did not last too long. The school climate was becoming a bit too regimented. Being more of a liberal and free-spirited teacher, and one who believes in guiding the student to experiment and to make discoveries on his own, I thought I would introduce some of my own teaching strategies that had proven to be successful back home in Ontario. Paul, the school principal, was very uncomfortable with my teaching philosophy, and …

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Publication information: Article title: Tragedy, Truth, Triumph: Part II. Contributors: Bisson, Diane - Author. Magazine title: The World and I. Volume: 21. Issue: 10 Publication date: October 2006. Page number: Not available. © 1999 News World Communications, Inc. COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group.

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