Memories...
Thursday, March 08, 2007
I have a lot of respect for friends who teach, or those who intend to pursue a career in teaching.. Friends such as Wendy, Alvin, Boo Boo, CLement Black, Xinyu, REuben (teaching or not? heh) and even those who are indirectly teaching, such as Eunice and Ridz.
While there are critics who say that being a teacher is a path becoz there is "no other choice", i strongly beg to differ. Many of my friends could have found other jobs instead of teaching, but they deliberately and consciously made the choice to teach. And not just becoz of the MOE scholarships. Many of my friends do have real passion in teaching and nurturing the young, and i think they deserve every bit of respect for that.
How many of us can really dare to say that we will make good teachers if we choose a career in teaching? I dun think many would, most certainly not me. I feel teaching requires a lot of patience, and a very good temper, qualities which i do not possess.
And i feel sad that in Singapore todae, the rat race among children has plummeted to such great heights that teachers are responsible and accountable for everything. The expectations of parents on teachers is so high, and so many parents assume that a good teacher is equvalient to one who can deliver good grades. I beg to differ on this though. Of coz teachers are responsible to a certain degree for the results of their students, but in a class, there can only be 1 teacher to 30/35 students?
Rather, i feel that a good teacher is one who imparts values, lessons in life, and encourages and inspires his/her students to believe in themselves, and to dare to pursue their dreams.
So many parents expect teachers to bear the brunt of responsibility shud their child do badly in results, without 1st questioning whether they themselves are at fault as well. Without 1st questioning whether they have helped to push or supervise their kids in doing homework or revision.
And i just feel really sad that so many parents are overly protective of their children, to the extent that they even shield their kids from mistakes that these children made. When something happens, it is always the fault of the teacher 1st, or the tutor, and lastly the kid themselves.
Teachers in this age are not allowed to hit their students, when the kids make mistakes. I m fine with that, coz i do believe that there are better ways than capital punishment. But surely when kids make severe mistakes, one has to reprimand and even scold them if need to. I m always of the firm belief that if parents are overly protective of their children when they are young, these children ll grow up with bad habits or traits which is far far harder to eradicate when they are teenagers or adults.
My tuiton kid lied just now. A very very heavy lie. I only gave him a little maths exercise 5 days ago. Yet he told me he lost the worksheet, and that he had asked his parents but his parents were also unsure of where they put it. Then he lied that he had called his mum to check, who in turn told him over the phone not to call her anymore. And when i asked what time his mum was coming home, he lied again saying that his mum was doing OT work, and that she wont be home so early. I then helped him search his bag, and discovered in a file the worksheet which he had supposedly "lost".
I shouted and scolded him. He had just failed his recent tests. How could he still continue to behave like this?
In came the parents, who charged into the room. And guess what, i received a reprimand myself for shouting at their kid. Somewhere somehow among the explanations and what not, they forgot that their kid had lied. I noe all kids lie, but surely, if u dun reprimand them from young, what happens then when they grow up?
I had to apologize for shouting at their boy in the end. Repeated apologies. The kid broke into massive tears and apologized to me profusely in front of his parents as well. And the dad told me that what i just did would hurt his pride. Excuse me? Pride for a primary 6 boy? I would think that at this age, learning to discern what is right and what is wrong is more important than pride.
And i was blamed for the poor results he got for his test, when his parents conveniently forgotten that they were the ones who cut weekday sessions to an hour coz they were worried that he ll be too tired at night. Forgotten that he had repeatedly handed up his homework late, or dun do. Forgotten that i had repeatedly warned them again and again that the kid had not been working hard. And they have been making excuses over and over again for him.
A caterpillar can never become a butterfly and spread its wings if it remains in its cocoon.
I had enough. I am not the kind of person who takes your $300 every month and shut my mouth up. If our perceptions and ways of teaching yr kid is different, then i think its time we part ways. And i ll make my feelings known to you this Sat. If you think that u can recruit another better tutor, so be it.
