From what I read so far on the threads on education and other
social issues, i believe that theres a certain percentage of
reasonable pple here. wanna just bring up some issues to hear the
views of those who are not within the education service. i guess
insiders like us need some outside perspectives while outsiders
need some inside information in order to come to a balance
understanding of an issue. pardon the casual english, its late at
night.
in my 4 yrs of teaching, it is becoming increasingly troublingto me
to notice that the general trend of education is not to educate but
to please. it starts with a very troubling (to me at least)
assumption: our students and their parents are our customers,
therefore the customer is always rite. implicit is when a child
joins a school, the school 'owes' the child something.
this is advocated by MOE, hence the common complaint that MOE
always side parents over schools. now i wonder, is this good for
the long term good of the country. granted, some schools are run by
psychopaths and they deserved to be complained, but nowadays,
parents complaint but everything even when it is clear as day that
their kid is at fault. for example:
1. kid fails in exam and has to be retained. parents threatened
school with a complaint to MOE/MP. said it was because school did
not teach properly. when shown the kid's wkbook which was empty,
parent say, why teacher never tell parent. my question is:
a. where does personal responsibility play a part in the education
we want to impart? if teacher nvr teach, why only that boy failed
and the whole class passed?
more troubling is,
a. why did the parent even get the idea that he can complain and
get his way,since it is so obvious that his son is at fault?
now although MOE always bounce the issue back to teh school to
resolve, i wonder should they even entertain such parents in the
first place n give them 'clout'. should MPs, who are not even
involved or possibly aware of the matter be given an intervening
voice too?
the fear for the principal to get into trouble with MOE is real. an
incident in my school went as such,
student, over some comflict with a teacher (student caught smoking)
wanted to use a fire extinguisher to assault the teacher. school
tries to cover-up, persuade teacher not to make police report,
gives in to parent's request not to use the word "threaten" and
"assault" in report because the boy is still "young". (Boy is
almost 1.5 times the size of the teacher) principal seemed more
afraid parents would complain to MOE that the teacher involved
scolded the student for smoking than the fact that his teacher was
almost smashed with a fire extinguisher.
this is not the first time an assault on a teacher has been covered
up, either in my school or others.
my question is: why are schools so afraid to do what is right?
isn't discipline a form of education too? what has stripped our
school system of its ability and willingness to act with
dignity?
the emphasis is on pleasing the customer, so our lessons have to be
interesting lest the students fail, of which is the teacher's fault
no matter what the student's attitude was. we cannot shout at them
otherwise it hurts their self-esteem, we cannot answer back at
unreasonable parents, who curse teachers and insult their
professionalism. and of course, we cannot hit them even when they
threaten us, we must walk away and let them 'win', so that when
they cool down, we can 'counsel' them. basically, we can only talk
to them when they are in a good mood. also, a discipline report to
a parent is unpleasant for the 'client', so it must be done in a
way that is 'palatable'. who advocated that schools should look
impressive with the latest programs to impress clients but have no
moral guts to call a spade a spade?
where is the importance of intellectual rigour?
where is the respect for elders and for learning?
where is the sense of personal responsibility?
where is the importance of instiling a healthy fear of consequences
for one's actions?
should education be a service instead of a commodity?
should teachers be trusted by MOE to do the right thing?
should teachers be protected?
should teachers educate or should they please?
when teachers lose their dignity, its not long before society feels
the impact. and where do you think MOE and their policies fit into
all these?
enough rambling....comments if you please, ladies n
gentlemen.