well. I am attempting to write an article about the education system in Singapore, being inspired by the previous article, '
http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/what-teachers-really-want-to-tell-parents/question-2143853/' I agreed with this article's contents and come to a conclusion that educators worldwide are facing the same issues.
However, I feel that being here in Singapore we have slightly more issues because we are 'educated' intellectually but not morally anymore. We have scholars who break bonds simply because they are unable to take the pressure of the real world and parents who simply shield their children from all evils or repercussions. If money is able to settle the problems, parents will simply use money to solve it. If money is unable to solve, they are educated enough to write to related officals/ media to blow up matters and demand actions.
Why are we giving in to such tyrannical demands? Yes, we are providing a service but we do not owe you a living. You send your children to recieve education and care, but how much do you really know about the spectrum behind the words 'education and care'? If it's really so easy these days to take care of children, why do some parents dread weekends? I had a parent telling me that when I knock off , it's her turn to start work.
Education. What is in this word? It's not only about ABCs and 123, it's about teaching the children social norms. How to be socially acceptable, to share, take turns, manners, toilet-training, problem solve among themselves, be responsible for the own belongings and even lining up. Children are not born with these skills innate in them. Yes, it is our job to teach them all these but remember, you are your children's first teachers before they come to us, if you have not expose them to such social norms, don't expect them to be 'naturally' acceptable to peers and adults. When teachers feedback about children's behaviour being 'disruptive', parents are likely to get defensive and push the blame on the other child that was involve in the conflict.
Trust.When a teacher really decide to brave fire and tell the truth about your child, parents should be grateful. It shows that the teacher is geniunely concern and want to help your child, it's much easier to tell you that your child is an angel and not correct their behaviour then it is to try to gain support from you. Using the logical side of your mind to think, why would anyone want to get into trouble by telling you lies about your child? If you ask your child, of course your child would tell the story to his/her benefit. We also know you would listen to your child more then us, so why would we want to sabotage ourselves?
Discipline. What kind of discipline is allowed now? There are a million 'no's and yet we are handling at least 8 - 25 children daily. We are only human, sometimes we do raise our voices and it's only because we care about the children's education and well-being. In times when the noise levels are high, we need to speak louder, ask the children to keep quiet. Sometimes we need to be stern to reinforce rules in school. I get feedback saying that their child is sensitive and feels hurt/scare to come to school. If even raising voice in appropriate circumstances is not allowed, we can just let the children run amok and then it will lead to another kind of complaint.
Teachers don't care.
Everyone started teaching caring too much, as time pass by and the amount of 'gunshots' we recieved start to make us jaded. People who allowed children to do as they wish gets 'appreciation' whereas teachers who care and voiced out concerns are 'lousy' teachers. Remember, it's always much easier to go with the flow then against.
Why is it the pre-school fault when children are not coping in primary schools? Couldn't it be the other way round that primary schools expectations are too high? Why is it that we are caught trying to keep up with the escalating standards of education? What is the basic that children are expected to know now? Primary One used to be starting with zero knowledge but now, they have to be able to write, read, add, subtract and some even multiply.
Care. It means the physcial and emotional well-being of the children. How many children we have = to how many different backgrounds, cultures, restrictions we have to cater to for every individual child. Especially in these times when family dynamics can be very different, not everyone have 2 parents, some more and some less.
If all accidents are preventable, we would of course. Who would want to deal with explaining the incidents and taking the blows from the parents? If mosqitoes are controllable, we would invite the mosqitoes for a chat and ask them to leave your children alone. But guess what? We ARE living the the tropics and mosqitoes are part of the ecosystem and I think the mosqitoes are smart these days because parents like to say ' from school one'. I didn't know that mosqitoes are able to sign off.
Recognition. Given the pressure we are under from all aspects, we are not given the respect and recognition we deserved. We are constantly being lashed out at by all aspects, with unspeakable amount of workload being thrown upon us and the lack of support from them. It is no surprise that people who do have the passion and qualifications in this line eventually leave the industry and one can only salute those who are staying on despite all odds.
Think about it, from our perspective.
