Comments on: Wanted: Good teachers

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:48:13 +0000

I wonder if school teachers know they are talked about as “flunkers” and the government only picks them for a lack of good geng-geng? (longan) I once met a cikgu on the bus to Penang and asked why she became a teacher. To which she replied, “In other jobs it’s hard to keep taking maternity leave, sick leave, get school holidays,etc. What happens when the kids are sick or we get tired? Teaching is the best option to get a good income and be able to raise a family (with lots of flexibility?).”

It sounds legitimate to me. (Is it?)

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:37:46 +0000

I agree very much with Sh. The teachers in our society today are only teachers because that’s their last resort.

A college lecturer once told me, she said, “Those days, parents would say to their kids, “If you don’t study hard and do well in school, you will end up becoming a rubbish man.” But times have changed. Today, parents say, “If you don’t study hard and do well in school, you will end up becoming a teacher.” ‘ “

By: Sh

Sh — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:23:27 +0000

Take a look at the kind of candidates who enroll into teacher training colleges in Malaysia. Most of the candidates chose teaching as a profession because they flunked their exams or couldn’t get other jobs. The teaching profession doesn’t pay well, unlike the situation in Singapore. Things were different back then in the past when people actually chose to be teachers because they wanted to teach. I think that makes THE difference in the quality of teachers today and in the past.

I do recall teachers who inspired us , challenged us and gave us more than words to be memorized and exams to ace in the mission school my friends and I attended. They had papers to grade, extra-curricular activities to run, record books to write, families to care for and classes to teach , yet they managed to impart something extraordinary: It think it was a sense of vision of what we could be.

There are good teachers left in our schools, few though they may be. But they’re up against a whole lot of stuff : pengetuas who want to impress the jabatan, meaningless paperwork, discrimination when it comes to promotion.

As an ex-teacher I feel for those struggling to do a good job in the classes they teach. As a homeschooling parent, I am relieved that my child doesn’t have to go through the tiresome system , fighting battles not of their own making.

(Sorry this is kind of long! but this is one issue close to my heart !)

By: Luke Holzmann

Luke Holzmann — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:13:42 +0000

I’ve heard that a lack of disciplinary options has also hampered teachers.

I’ve heard from several ed majors who have told me that many of their classes were on classroom management and not how to teach or even learning material themselves. What’s more, several of the students I was in class with who received rather low marks have gone on to be teachers. …which I find both odd and encouraging: You could be a D student and still teach in today’s schools, which means any mom can be at least as qualified [smile].

~Luke