MOE just announce a revamp package to attract the bright into the teaching profession as well as retaining the good teachers..
MM Lee also hopes to get the top 1% of chinese-competent students to become chinese teachers..
got a few questions on my mind aft reading the above news..
1. Does the MOE believe that 重赏之下必有勇夫？actually it holds for most situation.. who can resist the tempation of money?? but in my opinion, i think it only works to a certain extent. teaching is basically a 百年树人 job, the teachers are entrusted with the responsibility of educating the next generation who will become the pillars of the country in years to come.. this certainly calls for an attractive package to compensate the teachers.
moreover, teaching also requires lots of patience and passion in order to carry on.. i being a pt time tutor, fully understand how important patience and passion is.. i must admit that i am coaching one student for the sake of money and tutoring her becomes sort of a chore.. there are times when i jus like to throw in e towel or contemplating of going to lessons without preparation.. but since 拿人家钱就矮人家三分，i decide to fulfill my responsibility. the situation has turn for the better now, but im still counting down on e no of sessions left =D (but its bcos of my current heavy sch work) n i certainly hope tt her interest in e subject will not diminish bcos of me..
my example shows how real is the problem of using money to get teachers.. some newcomers might become teachers simply bcos of the lure of the monetary factor. will they become dedicated and passionate teachers that will teach the students the beauty of languages, natural sciences etc?? will they hence kill whatever interest the students have for the subject?? im not here to make negative remarks about teachers.. in fact, i am realli fortunate to have GREAT teachers throughout my academic years...
Pri sch - 马老师，林老师，蔡老师，Mrs Leow, Mrs Tay
Sec sch - 梁老师，Ms Vivian Thoo, Mr Alan Heah, Mr Tong, Mrs Emily Cheng, Ms M Wong, Ms Jessica Ho, Mr Yeo CK, Mrs Vijay, Mrs Thersa Lim, Mr Ang CS, Mr Yian CS
JC - Mr Alvin Bek, Mr Low KP, Ms Ratna, Ms Chew, Mr Menon, Mr Chan YF
NUS - Prof Albert Lau, Mr Lim CH, Dr Wong Wei Kang, Dr Ho Kong Weng, Mr Randy Tan, Prof Xing Xiaolin.
without them, i will not be who i am today. super grateful to each of them. taking this chance to thank them.
however i also encounter a few who nearly killed or totally destory my interest in some subjects. i shall not mention names here, but im sure some frens will definitely know e ones im referring to.. especially the unforgettable one, whoever cant rem tell me hor.. =P
古人说“学好三年，学坏三天”，i will like to repharse it to “（兴趣）三年建立，三天摧毁” it jus take a teacher to affect the students, be it good or bad.. however, the negative impact far outlast the positive one. i wonder how many of the students out there lost interest in a sub or totally hate it to e core bcos of one teacher.. nonetheless, the consequences ought not to be ignored cos we may be losing students who are talented in tt particular area. so MOE shd not think tt by attractive package will solve the problem of hiring quality teachers. anyway, it is not e first time this happens. if my meomory serves me well, MOE has a similar plan carried out in 2001. within 5 yrs, there is yet another such package, does it say something about the success of such package??
Besides that, one of the hurdle for potential teachers-to-be is the heavy workload, be it academic or admin, as well as the stress level, esp those teaching in top schools & JC.. aft being thro the high pressure cooker environment in JC n seeing wat my teachers went thro, i kinda swear tt i will never become a JC teacher... n i personally think tt shd be MOE's priority instead..
2. good students = good teachers??
this seems to be a hotly debated topic.. my sec 4 teacher has also mentioned this before, i rem she said the coaches of world-class atheletics are not ex world class players. the William sisters are being coahed by their father who knew nothing about tennis. Tiger Woods coach seems to be a nobody in golf as well.. (still rem e joke about the coach of Tiger Woods, nearly fell off my chair when my beloved classmate gave e 'ans', lol) n i seem hard pressed to come out with cases of good teachers whose students are top rate, are top students themselves, at least not in e sports arena.
by hoping to get the top students to become teachers seems to assume tt good students will have what it takes to be a good teacher.. personally i think it is not necessarily true, a good student may not become a good teacher.. bcos a good teacher will requires more than good knowledge of the subject. being articulate & affable, having the passion and patience etc are several but essential elements of a good teacher. i have come across teachers who scored distinction in F Maths S paper but could not iterate the concepts well n thus leading to confusion among students. this may be a standalone case but nevertheless kinda violates the above assertion. and i oso feel that good students also lack in another component, lack of connection to e avg students. they may not understand why some students find it hard to comprehend some basic stuff cos it most probably has always been smooth sailing for them, thus forming a gap btw teachers n students. IMO, those who struggled and succeed have e highest chance of becoming a good teacher cos they have been in the shoes of avg student b4 n hence can teach in a more appropriate way to suit the needs of avg students.
now, lets talk abt babies. =D
Princess Kiko of Japan gave birth to a prince yesterday morning and the Japanese are so happy.. i must say it is one of the big irony in modern society. in the era where women have prove that they are as capable as men and is able to hold up half e sky, one must be a guy in order to ascend the throne in Japan.. outright gender discrimination!!!
i believe the future wife of this prince will face immense pressure of producing a male heir, shd there be no more male offspring born into the palace.. pity her..
on the other hand, Japan has always been, and is still now, a largely conservative society.. up till now, women are still expected to become housewives after marriage, as well as shouldering most of the responsibility of looking aft e kids.. perhaps this is also the reason why Japanese women are delaying marriage and/or giving birth such tt Japan is facing a baby crisis..
actually the situation is not unique in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Spore is facing similar situations although e extent is not as severe as Japan. what can i say?? the men ought to change their mindset, currently i feel that the thinking of men is “又要马儿好，又要马儿不吃草”， they like women to work n supplement household income but also do not like to shoulder more responsibility of managing the household/ looking aft kids.. 会不会是大男人主义在作祟？毕竟他们也呼风唤雨了千多年， 通常在位越久的人越舍不得下放权力/地位。。 所以一时间要改变他们的观念也不容易， 但也不能一直拿这来当借口。。
