Blog 3 Response

Refer to previous post for stimulus article
Response:

With such strong competition amidst our society nowadays and educational system in particular, it is no wonder that there is a sort of hierarchy around us. The streaming system is just one such example with many rising at the top to receive better , higher and quick paced education, yet so many others become the victims of it. Take for example those who may not be so efficient and competent in certain fields of the academics.

Referring to the article, the author is hindered by the language barrier which brings him to a lower tier of the system since English is the main medium for education. His school teachers labeled him as “stupid” and never bothered to help him with his difficulty. Should his tuition teacher had not appeared in his life, such potential would have been buried and undiscovered in such given environment and conditions. What a waste it would be for our society which sustains itself on the bright talents in its people resources.

Not every other student might fall under such identical situations yet many suffer similar problems. Take for example, certain students are slower starters as of compared to others while some just stumble at a certain level or topic of a certain field at a certain period of time. Many of them are written off as the common “stupid” bunch that could not have any hope of excelling in the academic fields and therefore have no future in this society. But who are we to decide their future for them with our remarks and critiques especially at such an early stage? Who are the ones who so easily give up on them?

More often than not, it is not themselves. They try very hard to make a come back amidst all the fierce competition and degrading glances by both their peers, parents and people around them. Some may even receive excessive pressure which does not spur them on but rather act as a hindrance to them in the psychological realms of the students. Discounting the other less direct factors to their education, who else could be the key factor to their attitude and mentality? Who else but the exact ones who teach them in class everyday? Who else but the teachers?

Teachers, as cliché as it might sound, are the constructors of our minds and lives. How they wish to regard such a role in society is entirely up to each individual. In their hands lies so much power to make an impression and influence young minds, and with all that power, comes great responsibility. I believe sometimes, such responsibility is taken for granted. To quote one of my own teachers, “As much as being a teacher could be enjoyable and fulfilling, you could turn out to be a murderer, a destroyer of young lives”.

Having said that, I would like to talk about the 2 contrasting type of teachers and how they regard such a profession and their students.

To start on the uglier side of the coin, we have teachers who are uncaring, unenthusiastic, etc. They may not necessarily come into the job thinking that they just want to treat it as an occupation; they may have had plans to revolutionize the teaching industry, to try different styles of teaching. However, there were just so many obstacles and difficulties that they did not anticipate. And when they had to overcome such seemingly insurmountable obstacles, they ended up slowly losing interest and motivation in what they had originally set out to do. This in turn would result in them losing their passion for their teaching career.

They eventually will turn into a group who are rather surfaced value teachers who just give a light shot at each student. Should it yield no results, they would immediately join the group that label them as “stupid” and brush them aside from the rest of the students. Their flame for teaching has already been splashed out in face of a certain adversity and it is difficult to recover from such a sense of failure and downfall. The longer the carry on with such an attitude, the more irresponsible and destructive they become to the lives of student. They are holding on to the impressionistic powers of teachers meaninglessly, perhaps just for the pay. Yet they do not consider the consequences of such negligence for the students they teach.

I believe those who let their students wear the “stupid” tag would fall under the above mentioned category.

Personally, I have had such unpleasant experiences as I also struggled with the English language when my family first arrived in Singapore. When certain teachers have turned me down with discrimination written all over their faces, I have tried to seek help in other ways, which lead on to my next point, the teachers who are willing to go the extra mile for us, the caring teachers.
They help struggling students, students that desperately require help that cannot be offered to them in class, because teachers have to follow a scheduled timetable. They try to draw the less attentive and distracted students into the lesson, checking regularly to ensure that everyone understands the content and details. Most importantly, they are the few that refuse to accept the “stupid” tag on any of their students.

They provide a beacon of hope, a shining lighthouse, to help the labeled, less able students. They help to bridge the gap in learning opportunities between the ones that are able to follow the teacher and the ones who are not. In their cause, they are determined to get each and every of his student on the move and help them discover their potentials, overcome their barriers.
Although taking special time off to help out the students is not in their job description, they do it anyway, for the passion of teaching or the joy helping out students. They are not like the other types of negative examples who do it only for the pay, to pay the rent. Of their daily life, to meet ends meet.

Despite adversities, frustrations and even unwanted returns, they are able to persevere against such odds and still carry on their duties. Such actions deserves due respect from not just students but everyone in society.

Again, as a student, of course I have personally encountered many such outstanding teachers, with whom I still keep in contact till today. Some have aided me to set foot in foreign environment, others helped to steer me on course when I was wavering in face of temptations. They have left such a deep imprint in my life with their spirit and energy.

Wondered why are they doing all these for? As outsiders we might never be able to truly understand their motivations. But what we can second guess that their vision for every student’s abilities and their stone willed determinations could just be amongst the myriad of spurring factors. No matter what, we always need such a group of fiery individuals to make that difference to look after the minority in our society, those who many others brush off easily as “stupid” who just might eventually realize their potentials given the right stimulations and help. Sometimes, it takes a small group to start the burning revolution of change, in this case, to inspire more to follow.

With the approaching teachers’ day, it would be timely for each of us as students to pay a proper tribute to our teachers. As students, we must have benefited in a unique way from each of them and expressing our own special ways of gratitude could very well be the least that we could do to make up for all the troubles we have caused them with our playfulness and rebellious natures.

After all, with all such strengths embedded in their hearts, they are still not super men/women. Sometimes they lack the inspiration, the encouragement when face with a mighty problem, and it could be our turn to return such a favor in such minute forms of appreciation, and give them a gentle spur in their quest to continuously inspire more lives just like they have done so for ours.

Jin Fu (13) 3B
28/08/2008

Blog 3 article

Article:

I not stupid, thanks to teenage tuition teacher

Section:
Forum

Publication:
The Straits Times 01/09/2007
Page:
H13

No. of words:
411

IT WAS the year 1982 and I was in Primary 2. I was still illiterate after a year of schooling, and none of the teaching staff appeared to notice.The medium of instruction was English and coming from a family which spoke only Teochew, Mandarin and Hakka, I was severely disadvantaged. Except that I did not know I was.

I had been labelled "stupid" by my form teacher the previous year for not being able to understand a single instruction in English. Ironically, to a "stupid" kid who thought that English was a language meant for Caucasians, the one and only word of spoken English that she understood was "stupid".

It was only when my parents engaged a polytechnic student to teach me basic English after school that my fortunes began to change. Suddenly the words were no longer squiggles and actually meant something. My grades soared and the "stupid" label was quickly forgotten.Twenty-five years on, I often wondered what my fate would have been like had it not been for timely intervention by a teenage tuition teacher. Would I have made it to top schools and then gone on to graduate from medical school?

The more likely scenario would be that I failed my PSLE and possibly ended up being written off by society. How many such students do we have every year, written off by everyone, labelled as "dumb" just because they did not have the socioeconomic advantages prior to formal schooling? I have always been struck by the irony of teachers bemoaning the fact that they were given a class with less academically promising students.

Then there are those among my patients and friends who are teachers in charge of disadvantaged students. Many of them burn with passion for teaching, only to feel frustrated at being hampered by the need to perform in non-teaching duties if they aspire to get promoted.My hope is that these passionate teachers do not become disillusioned.It is also my hope that there will be more teachers like my teenage benefactor, and Monfort Primary teacher Mrs Bala who would go the extra mile for the little soul in need.

My deepest respect goes to the humble teachers who toil without a word of thanks most times of the year. And a lifetime of gratitude to the one tuition teacher who opened the door of opportunities for me in 1982.

Dr Hoe Wan Sin