TED Talks Daily - Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson

Episode Date: September 7, 2026

Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, "They don't pay me to like the kids." Her response: "Kids don't learn from people they don't like.'" A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey, y'all, Elise Hugh here. My three daughters just headed back to school with new backpacks, new teachers, and all that first day energy. And back to school season can make me feel like a student again, too. So for this month's TED Talks Daily playlist, we have gathered five of our favorite talks about learning, teaching, and the joy of staying curious. No textbooks required. Happy listening. You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity as, every day. I'm your host, Elise Hugh. This talk from 2013 has a message that rings true across time.

Rita Pearson was an educator for 40 years from a whole family of educators. She believed that learning doesn't really happen without human connection. As she put it, kids don't learn from people they don't like. Rita says that every child deserves a champion, an adult who refuses to give up on them, who understands the power of relationships, and guides them to become the best. they can be. More than a decade later, it remains one of the most beloved TED Talks that we've ever shared. That's coming up right after a short break. And now our TED Talk of the day. I have spent my entire life either at the schoolhouse on the way to the schoolhouse or talking about what happens in the schoolhouse. Both my parents were educators,

my maternal grandparents were educators, and for the past 40 years, I've done the same thing. And so needless to say, over those years, I've had a chance to look at education reform from a lot of perspectives. Some of those reforms have been good, some of them have been not so good, and we know why kids drop out.

We know why kids don't learn. It's either poverty, low attendance, negative peer influences. We know why. But one of the things that we never discuss or we rarely discuss is the value and importance of human connection. Relationships. James Comer says that no significant learning can occur without a significant relationship. George Washington Carver says all learning is understanding relationships.

Everyone in this room has been affected by a teacher or an adult. For years, I have watched people teach. I have looked at the best and I've looked at some of the worst. A colleague said to me one time, they don't pay me to like the kids. They pay me to teach a lesson. The kids should learn it. I should teach a. They should learn it.

Case closed. Well, I said to her, you know, kids don't learn from people they don't like. He said, that's just a bunch of hooey. And I said to her, well, you're geared. is going to be long and arduous, dear. Needless to say it was, some people think that you can either have it in you to build a relationship or you don't.

I think Stephen Covey had the right idea. He said you ought to just throw in a few simple things. Like seeking first to understand as opposed to being understood. Simple things like apologizing. You ever thought about that? Tell a kid you're sorry. They're in shock.

I taught a lesson one. on ratios. I'm not real good with math, but I was working on it. And I got back and looked at that teacher edition. I taught the whole lesson wrong. So I came back to class the next day and I said, look guys, I need to apologize. I taught the whole lesson wrong. I'm so sorry. I said, that's okay, Ms. Pearson. You were so excited. We just let you go. I have had classes that were so low, so academically deficient. that I cried. I wondered, how am I going to take this group in nine months

from where they are to where they need to be? And it was difficult. It was awfully hard. How do I raise the self-esteem of a child and his academic achievement at the same time? One year I came up with a bright idea. I told all my students, you were chosen to be in my class.

Because I am the best teacher and you are the best students. they put us all together so we could show everybody else how to do it. One of the students said, really? I said, really. We have to show the other classes how to do it. So when we walk down the hall, people will notice us so you can't make noise. You just have to strut.

And I gave him a saying to say, I am somebody. I was somebody when I came. I'll be a bet to somebody when I leave. I am powerful and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here. have things to do, people to impress and places to go. And they said, yeah. You say it long enough, it starts to be a part of you.

And so I gave a quiz, 20 questions. Student missed 18. I put a plus two on his paper and a big smiley face. He said, Ms. Pearson, is this an F? I said, yeah. He said, then why'd you put a smile effect? I said, because you're on the road. You got two right.

You didn't miss them all. I said, and when we review this, won't you do better? He said, yes, ma'am, I can do better. You see, minus 18 sucks all the life out of you. Plus two said, I ain't all bad. Four years, I watched my mother. Take the time at recess to review. Go on home visits in the afternoon.

buy combs and brushes and peanut butter and crackers to put in her desk drawer for kids that needed to eat and a washcloth and some soap for the kids who didn't smell so good. See, it's hard to teach kids who stink. And kids can be cruel. And so she kept those things in her desk. And years later, after she retired, I watched some of those same kids come through

and say to her, you know, Ms. Walker, you made a difference in my life. You made it work for me. You made me feel like I was somebody, when I knew at the bottom I wasn't, and I want you to just see what I've become. When my mama died two years ago at 92, there were so many former students at her funeral.

It brought tears to my eyes, not because she was gone, but because she left the legacy of relationships that could never disappear. Can we stand to have more relationships? Absolutely. Will you like all your children? Of course not. And you know your toughest kids are never, accent.

Never. You won't like them all. And the tough ones show up for a reason. It's the connection. It's the relationships. And while you won't like them all, the key is they can never, ever know it. So teachers become great actors and great actresses. And we come to work when we don't feel like it.

And we listen to policy that doesn't make sense. and we teach anyway. We teach anyway because that's what we do. Teaching and learning should bring joy. How powerful would our world be if we had kids who were not afraid to take risk, who were not afraid to think, and who had a champion, every child deserves a champion,

an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can, possibly be. Is this job tough? You bet you. Oh God, you bet you. But it is not impossible. We can do this. We're educators. We're born to make a difference. Thank you so much. That was Rita Pearson at TED Talks Education in 2013. This talk was originally published in June of that year. If you're curious about Ted's curation, visit TED.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today. Ted Talks Daily is a podcast from TED.

This episode was produced and edited by our team. Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Lucy Little, Emma Tobner, and Tonzica, Sungmar Nivon. Additional support from Daniela Ballereseo, Christopher Faisi Bogan, Valentina Bohanini, Ban Ban-Ban-Chang, Brian Green, and Lainey-Lott. Learn more at podcasts.com. I am Elise Hupe. Thanks for listening.