Teaching: a calling or a career?
-
There have been reports in our papers recently that schools in finland have no streaming system, no gifted programme and the teachers are well-repected.
The way the article has been published and its timing would seem to suggest that our own ppl question how a education system without the 'merits' of our own could produce such geniuses? -
different policies, different style, different culture...
cannot compare
_______________________
sgboy2004, the Good Boi
Croco Corner
Croco Movie -
i dunno.
Personally, i agree there's no fair comparison since our culture and political scene is variably different.
Still, from what i've read on asia1 and the papers, i seem to get this intrinsic intuition that the writers who penned the article had that thinking too... -
hmm that lead mi to this........ charity: a calling or a career?
-
watever the education system, teachers should go into the teaching profession only when they truly believe in it and feel passionate about it. education impacts the lives of others. hence the importance.
-
now that economy not doing as well, a lot of fresh grads wanna go into MOE as a sorta "easy way out"...
but get real... if u knew what the work entails, the money is actually not enough...
so i think its definitely a calling. MOE tries to make it an attractive career at the same time, but if u join for the money, u'll just end up really unhappy and screw up a lot of kids under your care along the way. -
thought they were in this for underage sex?Originally posted by CX:now that economy not doing as well, a lot of fresh grads wanna go into MOE as a sorta "easy way out"...
.
-
instead of easy way "out", it becomes an easy way "in" ... to jailOriginally posted by oldbreadstinks:thought they were in this for underage sex? 
-
only a few's been caught so far and only cos they couldn't keep it a secretOriginally posted by CX:instead of easy way "out", it becomes an easy way "in" ... to jail -
I think quite a lot of applicants - fresh graduates in particular, are probably attracted to the profession because of combinative factors such as :
1) The prestige of the vocation as a professional,
2) The relatively high pay,
3) The entitlement of 12 weeks of school holidays (which really is a big deal),
4) A commonly misguided notion that a teacher's work will end exactly at 1pm during morning shift or 6.20pm for those in afternoon shift, and
5) The stable and assured employment concern addressed by the vocation.
While the intakes might seem high in numbers, it is also very common to see young teachers, especially those untrained and hence unbonded, to terminate their initial one-year contract early.
The variety of reasons may range in their forms by the hundredth, but among the most common, it is the inability to adapt and handle well the demanding stress and attention that is required of the work.
A typical classroom teacher begins a day from 7.15.
From this time onwards, he/she will be involved in classroom interaction with the students until the usual 1.00pm, with half an hour to one hour's break in between.
After the official duties, teachers are officially free to go off.
However, tons of work such as preparation of lessons in media, paper, worksheet formats; the marking and correction of assignment matters,; the handling of discipline issues and parental contact; and last but not least the various other classroom / student related school administrative matters will still await them to handle.
And this does not take into account that i) teachers may be mobilized to teach everything from English, Maths, Science, Social Studies, PE, Art, Music for classes in different levels, as well to be reposnsible for CCA clubs or sports team.
In addition, there is also the minimum twice a week remedial classes whereby teachers are expected to revisit their lessons again for students who may be slower in the learning process.
Apart from the above, be expected to be involved in the various subcommittees such as National Day, festivals celebration, sports day events and many other as well.
The pay of course is very attractive to outside eyes who will not see the actual amount of work involved.
But please be reminded that in return for that attractive amount of pay, a potential teacher applicant should also have the appropriate apptitude and expectation to be a hands-on all rounder.
Education and Teaching....
These are not merely isolated cases of calling or career.
They are all intergrated as one. -
The prestige of the vocation as a professional
Hmm...you're sure this vocation is considered prestigious? When I used to teach in Singapore, I always ask this question of my pupils, "How many of you want to be a teacher when you grow up?" I will invariably get one or two hands out of the class of 40. Their reason? "I get to scold children!"
All is not lost, however. Once you get that rapport with the parents, and they can see your love and commitment to your calling, you will quickly gain the respect. BUT that is on a personal basis. I don't think there is a respect for teachers in general.The entitlement of 12 weeks of school holidays (which really is a big deal)
Entitlement? Read your employment terms carefully, my dear. It is not an entitlement. The ministry is at liberty to call you back any time during the vacations for any length of time. It is just that they have not exercised that right.
When you are a P6 teacher, there is a good chance that your Mar and Sep holidays are gone. Two to three weeks of your June holidays are likely to be gone as well (2 for supplementary classes, 1 for meetings and such). And your December holidays? One week for staff meeting, leaving you with 5 weeks. Still pretty fantastic, though, until you realise that the December period is a peak period, and travel and such are very expensive. And wait till you become an HOD...my wife really hated it when I was HOD...and was so happy when I resigned.
Ah...but my heart and passion is still in education (can't escape). My wife understood this, and so here I am, in Shanghai teaching in the international school. And taking up HOD position soon again. Oh well...
But please don't feel down because of what I said. Ours is truly a calling, and not many can take it and do it well. We need to be somewhat sadistic (in doling work) and yet masochistic (in grading work!). We need to be an authorian and yet be a shoulder to cry on. We need to direct and yet to let go to let them discover for themselves. We need to talk to the class and yet (at the same time!) talk to an individual.
How many can do that?!?!?!? If it's not a calling, what is? -
Nice to see a teacher, and of HOD level contributing to this.
Compared to you, I was but an ordinary entry level teacher only. So I guess while HODs get called back, guys like me had been lucky enough to have our holidays intact and undisturbed.
Btw, take care in China. Dun let them call us 'pigswill', ya?.
-
If you people keep thinking like this, then WE will/may always be on top while YOU are a step behind us. I.e 1st world vs the rest...Originally posted by sgboy2004:different policies, different style, different culture...
cannot compare
About education being a career.
Well you have only your education ministers to blame for it. Firstly, the way teaching BSC and BSA degrees are being organised, i am not surprised why people here see teaching as a career rather than a calling.
If you wanna be a teacher, all you need is a pass in O or A level subjects, followed by 4 or 5 years of training. The 4 or 5 years of training at MOE is all PAID FOR, you don't cough up a cent, furthermore, if you do well in your training (i.e. get good marks) the government PAYS YOU a grant every year. Besides this advantage, we also must not forget the added advantage of "Guaranteed Employment after training". ALL teachers are employed, no teacher will be without a job
Thus, with such a system in place, any tom dick or harry without a passion for teaching will be drawn to the profession, turning it into an easy career where a teacher has an iron-rice bowl. If you don't believe me, check it out at the Nanyang Technological University, look at their Teaching Degree Programmes, see how easy it is and flexible it is... and wonder why lousy teachers exist.
Lousy teachers in my days here : Art teacher who never comes to class. Chinese teachers who do nothing more than give us spelling tests and "form your own sentences" tests without explanation what so ever. History teachers who don't finish entire O or A level syllabuses (perhaps also because the ridiculous system doesn't allow enough time for completion of an entire syllabus).
So what you have are conditions which favour a breeding ground for teachers who are not motivated or passionate about their job. Even if the easy training policy DOES get people enrolled in them, you won't have good quality teachers. -
Neo, don't worry. They won't call me that here. I'm an expatriate here . The local Chinese respects 'foreign' teachers a lot. So much so that we do have Caucasian teachers who are not trained in English teaching English (along with the grammatical and spelling mistakes) and yet being looked up to.
Personally, I too wonder what NIE is doing. I have had teachers who can't teach come to us. It was a major headache to us, trying to help the teacher and at the same time make sure the kids are not shortchanged. Shouldn't these be discovered at the Practicum, when they are assessed on classroom teaching?
Oh well...maybe it really is the way the teaching qualification is being administered...