I write this as a form of add on or a different point of view towards the article by @leemeili who spoke of the need for the negative perception towards teachers to stop. As we will be both speaking from the same context but Steemit being an international platform, I think I should offer some background with regards to the teaching profession from where I am from.
Teaching for many years in my country has been known as a 'last resort profession'. That means that if you are not able to pursue your dream career, you should pursue teaching. It is a very secure profession whereby the likelihood of being terminated is rather low. Thus, many would abuse the privilege of being a teacher and this has led to a rather negative perception towards teachers. There are many who see teachers as lazy, incompetent and are irrelevant in this current day and age.
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However, I have a different point of view on the situation and would like to relate a few personal experiences on this:
We do not get paid overtime
No, I am not complaining. However, technically my job ends at 4.30 pm. That being said, there are times when I do get a phone call at 10 pm and your student needs your help sending them to a clinic. The things is, this student has no relatives nearby and so as the teacher, I drive the student to the hospital and wait.
There was also the time when I was training my team for a inter-school tournament and we practiced till 12 am. No one would do it, so it had to be done. The only pay that I have received at the end is a thank you from my students. But you see, the thank you does mean a lot. We as teachers do spend a lot of time with our students and at the end of the day, if we can model how we should treat one another and the student learns from it, applies it and impacts another person positively, I dare say that the extra hours was well worth it.
We have to smile even if we do not feel like it
Imagine this with me. I wake up in the morning, I find that my car would not start because a drunk driver decided that his car and my car were lovers and kissed my car with his a little too hard. So, with a car that was damaged and being late for class, naturally it would be right to call in sick.
There's just the issue of replacing the class and so I tough it out, go to school and start my class with a smile. That is because how you act dictates the atmosphere of the class. So I will be happy in class, worried in the office, sad to see the bill for the repairs and exhausted at the end of the day. This did happen, but my point is before anyone does blame a teacher for not doing a good job, do consider the stress and pressure a teacher is under. However, we are not perfect and we do have our flaws.
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Staying relevant
I have tried explaining from the textbooks many times and I find it puts many of my students to sleep. I explained what recycling is and none of them understood it. As such, I divided my class by gender I addressed the boys first. I asked do you play DOTA?Most of them said yes and I said recycling is when you take an item bought in DOTA and break it down to its individual components to build other items. The boys immediately understood the concept and I turned to the girls.
Twilight was the hottest thing around at that time and I said, Edward was with Bella and later dumped Bella. When Bella was dumped, Jacob became her new boyfriend. Bella was recycled. It was as if a light bulb turned on in their minds and that was how I explained recycling by staying relevant. I know, to my DOTA and Twilight fans, those were poor explanations, but it got the message across.
Unfortunately, it is an aspect that some teachers I know do not pursue and thus they find it difficult to relate to their students.
Conclusion
I write this for the teachers of my country and those out there who think that you do not matter. You do very much matter, stay strong and fight on. As my 7th year of teaching winds to a close, it has been a fun seven years teaching students from the age of 5 to 45 years old. It has been an awesome ride and I hope my stories will inspire those who are teaching to continue on doing their best.
I hope you enjoyed the stories, do let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Also, if you have an inspiring story to share about your teaching experiences or a teacher, do let me know!
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Teaching is a very noble profession. But in Malaysia, people think highly of other professionals like doctor, lawyer, engineer or accountant.
That's right, hope that changes, we have been taking on high achievers as teacher trainees. I got a group from Sarawak and I think they are going to be great future teachers
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I don't think I could be a teacher. I don't have the patience. That makes me respect what a teacher does even more. I definitely think that they are underpaid. Teachers should be making about what some athletes do. After all, they are working and not just playing a game.
Interestingly, key and peele did a skit on that, was super funny. But I agree, maybe paid in a way that they feel appreciated, just to keep them going
Growing up, I wanted to become a teacher. Until I was in 6th grade and became a student teacher for a week. I realized it was so hard since you always have to study for the lesson you have to present and it's challenging to keep the student's attention to you. After that, I did not wish to become a teacher anymore. 😅 (Apart from a few instances in high school when I was chosen to be a student teacher again.)
SALUTE to teachers!
To keep their attention, I just tell a story or a lame joke/Dad joke. Although they cringe at the joke, it resets their attention span. Example:
How many legs does an octopus have?
TEN-tacles.
Ok.. I'm losing my touch.
LOL. my gosh I'm so poor at jokes too. But yeah, the teachers that I do not forget are those funny ones.
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Teachers are the founder of firm base of our knowledge. Respect for all the teachers!
They are, thanks! We need more people like that.
It is a very difficult job but in the same time it is a great message :)
Thanks, so is a photographer, love your photo posts by the way, what equipment do you use?
Teaching is a great profession. I am from Nigeria and i understand to a great extent what it means to undervalue the input of teachers to the society. But that will not change the fact that teaching
How are teachers in Nigeria? Are they held in high regard?
Teachers are disregarded in this part of the world. They are underpaid and unmotivated. Some states in Nigeria still owe 8 months of teachers' salaries and thats rumpling educational standards. Sorry i replied late.
No problem at all. Yeah, that's the case for many places in the world.
What's your nationality?
Yees ! being a teacher is something really beautiful. you can impact in a lot of people's life!!!
That's right, one of the perks of the job, I reckon.
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sure it is indeed a privilege @alvinah
@alvinauh this was such a good and important post. Sadly, teaching in Pakistan is viewed as the last resort profession too and many teachers don't even take it seriously. They don't work hard to give the best knowledge to kids; they don't work on their temperament around kids; they don't encourage kids and they can even go to the point of hitting a kid. However, there are many teachers like you who go the extra mile for their students and make sure to do whatever's right and important for them. Such teachers need to be appreciated more. They are those who make getting education fun and enjoyable for students and parents need to respect and acknowledge such teachers more. I was quite worried when I had to put my son in school mainly because of the faulty school system generally. However, I did find one school that suit my son's needs well and both the principal and his class teacher are really good. Ever since I saw them going through so much with kids- bearing their tantrums and getting slaps from them, I started respecting them more.
Wow.. the kids slap the teachers? Are teachers in Pakistan allowed to discipline / punish the students?
Lol not slap as in slap hard but you know when 3/4 year old throw tantrums and don't care how they are reacting so a push or a slap can sometime come in between. Well, the mode of disciplining varies from school to school. There is honestly no limit on how a teacher can discipline a child in government/ public schools- they have the worst system. Private schools are a bit better and there, teachers cannot hit a child and not even punish him harshly.
Ahh, we used to have that, now hitting is banned in private or public schools. Maybe one day it will change in your system?
I hope so too :)