For the past few years, there would be reports once in a while on a certain teacher and her parents harassing their neighbours. Recently, there seem to be reports again, because my colleague’s son just entered the school where that teacher is teaching, and there were reporters interviewing the students.
If the teacher had been creating all these negative publicity to herself, why did her school tolerate it and she can still be retained? There are teachers who have had their services terminated for lesser reasons, as minor as not being able to manage a classroom and letting the students creating trouble all over (as if teachers are supposed to be twenty-four hours baby-sitters).
How shall teachers behave exactly? Parents and the general public still maintain the stand that teachers are supposed to be role models and set good examples for students. As a result, people have the impression that teachers are dowdy and boring.
The Ministry of Education still has a set of dress code for teachers. There cannot be any camisole tops, tank tops, jeans or T-shirts (unless it is Saturday), no slippers (anything without a strap is considered slippers, even for a pair of classy thongs), no colouring of hair.
However, schools nowadays are more relaxed over the dress code. It all depends on the Principal the extent he / she allows. There are teachers who highlight their hair, and wear thongs to school, and even tank tops or spaghetti tops on Saturdays or Sports Days.
But should being a role model includes the type of clothes worn as long as their behaviour is right? Judging from the type of clothes kids wear nowadays and the hairstyle they sport, teachers actually have no control or much influence over them. A teacher can wear the stuffiest and most dowdy clothes, and the students will laugh at her / him for being too “geeky” and “old-fashioned”.
Kids nowadays have a mind of their own. They look up to rock stars and idols, rather than parents or teachers. Still, teachers should try to behave in the best way to show the students what good behaviour is all about. Teachers should inculcate values like respect to elders and peers, courtesy and being considerate to each other. These can be taught in the classroom through various activities and actions.
What constitutes good conduct then? There are teachers who go clubbing, who drink, who smoke, who buy numbers, who gamble, who got involved in extra-marital affairs, who sleep around. I have teaching friends who do all these, and say that teaching is just a job, they are also humans who like to do things other people do.
Teaching may be just a job, but it also happens to be a job where the younger generation look up to you, so if teachers are to smoke or gamble or have affairs or sleep around, what are they teaching their students? That it is good to do all these too?
Then it will be contradictory what the schools are teaching – that it is bad to your health if you smoke, get into trouble if you gamble, and it is wrong to have affairs or sleep around. Clubbing, drinking and buying numbers is still alright provided it is done in moderation and they are of age.
But teachers can only do so much because kids see their parents and peers more. So if the kid comes from a messed-up family and mixes around with messed-up friends, chances are he may get equally messed-up. Which is very sad because to witness a good kid turning delinquent and you feel so helpless about it.
I was always fed up by those parents who dump their kids in school and expect teachers to perform miracles but they themselves do not want to monitor their own kids. If two parents cannot handle one or two kids, how can they expect one teacher to handle forty kids all at once?
But whatever it is, teachers should still uphold themselves in the best behaviour. No matter how little students they influence, it is still a satisfaction that they have influenced a few kids. Thus if the teacher is to go around creating negative publicity, I wonder how her students will feel and behave?
If the teacher had been creating all these negative publicity to herself, why did her school tolerate it and she can still be retained? There are teachers who have had their services terminated for lesser reasons, as minor as not being able to manage a classroom and letting the students creating trouble all over (as if teachers are supposed to be twenty-four hours baby-sitters).
How shall teachers behave exactly? Parents and the general public still maintain the stand that teachers are supposed to be role models and set good examples for students. As a result, people have the impression that teachers are dowdy and boring.
The Ministry of Education still has a set of dress code for teachers. There cannot be any camisole tops, tank tops, jeans or T-shirts (unless it is Saturday), no slippers (anything without a strap is considered slippers, even for a pair of classy thongs), no colouring of hair.
However, schools nowadays are more relaxed over the dress code. It all depends on the Principal the extent he / she allows. There are teachers who highlight their hair, and wear thongs to school, and even tank tops or spaghetti tops on Saturdays or Sports Days.
But should being a role model includes the type of clothes worn as long as their behaviour is right? Judging from the type of clothes kids wear nowadays and the hairstyle they sport, teachers actually have no control or much influence over them. A teacher can wear the stuffiest and most dowdy clothes, and the students will laugh at her / him for being too “geeky” and “old-fashioned”.
Kids nowadays have a mind of their own. They look up to rock stars and idols, rather than parents or teachers. Still, teachers should try to behave in the best way to show the students what good behaviour is all about. Teachers should inculcate values like respect to elders and peers, courtesy and being considerate to each other. These can be taught in the classroom through various activities and actions.
What constitutes good conduct then? There are teachers who go clubbing, who drink, who smoke, who buy numbers, who gamble, who got involved in extra-marital affairs, who sleep around. I have teaching friends who do all these, and say that teaching is just a job, they are also humans who like to do things other people do.
Teaching may be just a job, but it also happens to be a job where the younger generation look up to you, so if teachers are to smoke or gamble or have affairs or sleep around, what are they teaching their students? That it is good to do all these too?
Then it will be contradictory what the schools are teaching – that it is bad to your health if you smoke, get into trouble if you gamble, and it is wrong to have affairs or sleep around. Clubbing, drinking and buying numbers is still alright provided it is done in moderation and they are of age.
But teachers can only do so much because kids see their parents and peers more. So if the kid comes from a messed-up family and mixes around with messed-up friends, chances are he may get equally messed-up. Which is very sad because to witness a good kid turning delinquent and you feel so helpless about it.
I was always fed up by those parents who dump their kids in school and expect teachers to perform miracles but they themselves do not want to monitor their own kids. If two parents cannot handle one or two kids, how can they expect one teacher to handle forty kids all at once?
But whatever it is, teachers should still uphold themselves in the best behaviour. No matter how little students they influence, it is still a satisfaction that they have influenced a few kids. Thus if the teacher is to go around creating negative publicity, I wonder how her students will feel and behave?
4 comments:
I told my students once:
If you expect me to behave like a Teacher, then you should behave like a Student.
Exact words I used to tell my students!
Are students behaving that badly these days? Mine are not that bad though they are listening too attentively in my lesson.
Listening too attentively? Dream students of every teacher. You should treasure the good class and time you have. Once you get students who don't listen and make noise all the time that will be a real headache.
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