5 retired teachers share the biggest lessons students have taught them

Getty Images / Robert Benson

Kids may spend the better part of 12 years inside a classroom as students, but teachers can spend three times as long in those classrooms over their careers.

It shouldn't be a surprise that a great deal of learning takes place at the head of the class.

Business Insider spoke with a handful of retired teachers from across the country to better understand what lessons students have passed on to them over the years.

Here are their responses.

Franklin Schargel, 70, taught for 33 years

Schargel taught at New York City high schools. He said he spent eight of those years teaching in high-poverty, high-minority schools.

One of the biggest lessons he learned was that kids could persevere in spite of some pretty overwhelming circumstances.

"They are survivors," Schargel told Business Insider, "surviving obstacles like drugs, violence, alcoholic parents that I could not. They are adaptable. They are creative. They are flexible learning how to go around barriers rather than crashing into them."

Sandra Wozniak, 62, taught for 33 years

Growing up, Wozniak said her approach to learning new things was to read the directions and follow orders. But her middle schoolers in Flanders, New Jersey often reminded her that exploration can work just as well.

"I did not grow up with technology," Wozniak told Business Insider. "The kids taught me that you will learn faster and it is more enjoyable to just dig in with curiosity and experimentation. There is nothing to fear!"

She said the kids' natural drive to ask questions was a trait all educators should stoke in their students.

Jim Baumann, 62, taught for nine years

As a history teacher in Westport, Connecticut, Baumann said he learned the importance of collaborating with students instead of being an authoritarian. The lesson came from watching students interact with one another, which he said helped him become better at teaching and interacting with colleagues.

"[The students] underscored the power and significance of human connections and how critical positive and productive professional relationships are for learning to thrive," he told Business Insider.

He also said the variety of aptitudes and skillsets among his students taught him that intelligence isn't a black-or-white issue; certain kids are merely better suited to certain kinds of instruction.