I was on the train on my way to my friend's place this afternoon when I saw a group of students chattering among themselves. They were discussing school work, teachers and classmates in general. I felt a sense of familiarity wash over me as I observed these kids. This scenario really brought me back to those days when I was still a young convent girl.
Being in the best class since primary school, I was always taught by the best teachers. I never really liked my primary school teachers (ironic, as that was what I ultimately became) as they always seemed to draw a line between teachers and students. I do not see anything wrong with being close to your students. I was close to my students too, would talk and chatter to them like a friend, bring them out sometimes when they stayed back to help me out after school then bringing all of them home, treating them to goodies during Children's Day or special occasions, giving them candy and stationery whenever they do well for their tests and exams. My secondary school teachers were better. Although they were still strict with us whenever we got out of hand, but they treated us as friends and equals, and that was what I liked.
There was this teacher whom I particularly remember. She used to be the Head of Department (HOD) for Mathematics when I was there, but last I heard, she had since been promoted to the Discipline Mistress. A very good choice in my opinion. I still remember her name - Mrs Sng Wan Ying. She was my Elementary and Additional Mathematics teacher from Secondary Three to Secondary Four.
She was really dedicated to her work, giving her students extra guidance whenever she feared they would fail. I was on the verge of failing and dropping Additional Mathematics for my GCE 'O' Level examinations, but she was the one who pulled me through. She explained her concepts in ways which others could never explain. She was the one who actually made me appreciate Mathematics, when in the past I used to hate the subject.
It was entirely her effort that I managed to score As for both my Mathematics subjects for my 'O' Levels. I felt like I let her down when I chose not to take any Mathematics when I entered junior college, but my love for Humanities is just too strong. I could only choose a maximum of four subjects, so needless to say I chose all Humanities subjects, leaving no more space to take up more subjects even if I wanted to.
I have such a deep respect to her that I yearned to be like her in the future. That was what made me want to enter teaching. I wanted to be like the teacher I love and respect the most - do my utmost for my students, giving all my dedication to them and making a difference in their lives. I hope that through the years my students would remember me like how I remember some of my best teachers.
Years back when I was still in NIE, I used to volunteer for the orientation program and asked the new trainees : "Why do you want to come here?" Honestly if you want to teach because of money or long holidays, then I will ask you to seriously consider. One does not teach because of money, as honestly speaking, the amount of money teachers are being paid is nothing much compared to the work they have to do. It is practically a seven day job, so if you break down the salary with the hours put in, it is essentially an average of only $2.50 or less per hour. Really pathetic.
Secondly, teachers do not have that many holidays in the first place as the holidays are spent doing and catching up on stuff which they have no time to do during normal school days. In the end, if you average it out, the number of real holidays probably amount to just two to three weeks or so. I used to tell the new trainees that if you really want to teach, it must be due to a passion and willingness to dedicate your life nurturing the future generation. It is a real thankless and unrewarding job sometimes, but what is important is the love of moulding young minds. The satisfaction you gain is far greater than any monetary reward.
Being in the best class since primary school, I was always taught by the best teachers. I never really liked my primary school teachers (ironic, as that was what I ultimately became) as they always seemed to draw a line between teachers and students. I do not see anything wrong with being close to your students. I was close to my students too, would talk and chatter to them like a friend, bring them out sometimes when they stayed back to help me out after school then bringing all of them home, treating them to goodies during Children's Day or special occasions, giving them candy and stationery whenever they do well for their tests and exams. My secondary school teachers were better. Although they were still strict with us whenever we got out of hand, but they treated us as friends and equals, and that was what I liked.
There was this teacher whom I particularly remember. She used to be the Head of Department (HOD) for Mathematics when I was there, but last I heard, she had since been promoted to the Discipline Mistress. A very good choice in my opinion. I still remember her name - Mrs Sng Wan Ying. She was my Elementary and Additional Mathematics teacher from Secondary Three to Secondary Four.
She was really dedicated to her work, giving her students extra guidance whenever she feared they would fail. I was on the verge of failing and dropping Additional Mathematics for my GCE 'O' Level examinations, but she was the one who pulled me through. She explained her concepts in ways which others could never explain. She was the one who actually made me appreciate Mathematics, when in the past I used to hate the subject.
It was entirely her effort that I managed to score As for both my Mathematics subjects for my 'O' Levels. I felt like I let her down when I chose not to take any Mathematics when I entered junior college, but my love for Humanities is just too strong. I could only choose a maximum of four subjects, so needless to say I chose all Humanities subjects, leaving no more space to take up more subjects even if I wanted to.
I have such a deep respect to her that I yearned to be like her in the future. That was what made me want to enter teaching. I wanted to be like the teacher I love and respect the most - do my utmost for my students, giving all my dedication to them and making a difference in their lives. I hope that through the years my students would remember me like how I remember some of my best teachers.
Years back when I was still in NIE, I used to volunteer for the orientation program and asked the new trainees : "Why do you want to come here?" Honestly if you want to teach because of money or long holidays, then I will ask you to seriously consider. One does not teach because of money, as honestly speaking, the amount of money teachers are being paid is nothing much compared to the work they have to do. It is practically a seven day job, so if you break down the salary with the hours put in, it is essentially an average of only $2.50 or less per hour. Really pathetic.
Secondly, teachers do not have that many holidays in the first place as the holidays are spent doing and catching up on stuff which they have no time to do during normal school days. In the end, if you average it out, the number of real holidays probably amount to just two to three weeks or so. I used to tell the new trainees that if you really want to teach, it must be due to a passion and willingness to dedicate your life nurturing the future generation. It is a real thankless and unrewarding job sometimes, but what is important is the love of moulding young minds. The satisfaction you gain is far greater than any monetary reward.
2 comments:
Most students usually do not appreciate their Teachers until they have gone further down their paths in life.
I would have loved to go back on Teacher's day to my school, but sadly none of my Teachers are still there. (I know of the location of 2, and both are HOD's now. The rest seems to have retired) I think it might be nice too to go down to the school I used to work for. (If the principal has changed....)
When I was in NTU, one of my friends said: "I think I figured out why in University, we have lecturers instead of Teachers." They are not the same thing.
Lecturers are essentially teachers as well, but because they teach a different group, ie higher-level group, they do get more recognition in a way. They are so-called lecturers probably because of their qualifications and title. I never remember getting along that well with any of my university lecturers (except for a couple of them), because they gave me the impression that they are only around to share their knowledge with us, and do not talk to us after lessons. Whereas for my secondary school teachers, some of them really treat me as a friend and I could be very chummy with them. I guess it all boils down to how close the teacher / lecturer is willing to get with the student.
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