No substitute for education
meet parents and look at heaps of appeals for academic progression.
Teachers have to educate children from different backgrounds. It’s a long process. The seeds of knowledge planted in the children take years to germinate and mature before they are ready for harvest.
Most teachers are more willing to put in more efforts, resources and time to teaching “good classes.” The schools also set timetables for the best teachers to teach in these good classes because the students are more sharp, obedient, hardworking and will hand in their assignments on time.
It’s easy for teachers to feel a sense of accomplishment from teaching such classes -- without having to worry about the students creating unnecessary trouble.
By comparison, “bad” classes are looked upon as having a low willingness to learn, a high rate of disobedience, an unreformed habit to copy homework and an incorrigibility for causing mischief.
Such rebellious behaviour reflects a complex family background. Delinquent students make most teachers feel powerless. They usually have poor upbringing and each has a different story to tell to justify his or her sullen conduct.
Once, I taught Bahasa Malaysia in a Primary Three class. One boy had weak absorptive capacity – he couldn’t seem to ‘retain’ anything he had learned in class.
His parents were divorced -and he had less than six months to prepare for the year-end exam. He was lost and had no clue what to do. It was only through constant encouragement and special concern that I had been able to help him up.
Some of the “bad class” students come from poor families and do not understand education can help them escape poverty and illiteracy to a better future. They face a variety of problems and need the support and encouragement of the teachers for a brighter tomorrow.
With such help, they can learn to treat people with courtesy, civility and respect and even when faced with life’s challenges and vicissitudes after their graduation, they can still find solace in reminiscing fondly about the warmth and kindness of their teachers during their school days.
Education can open our eyes to the growth of students as well as to the abilities of teachers to impart wholesome knowledge.
In fact, the teacher-student relationship is more heart to heart. When students who have graduated and made a successful life for themselves, take the initiative to visit their alma mater during say, the new year, it will be enough to bring great joy and happiness to their teachers. (Translated from Oriental Daily).