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.