Bad Teachers

[janet88]

duriz:

starlight1968sg:

Teaching is an occupation.

Disagree.

For some, teaching is a passion.

Teaching can be a passion, esp those who are singles.
How can one expect a married teacher with young kids be equally dedicated to both family and students ?
After several years, the compassion slowly wanes...but as parents, we should still show our appreciation to teachers teaching our kids bcos we know how difficult it is to teach a class of 40.

[jedamum]

MummyThreeStreams:

janet_lee88:

Yup...after a few years, teachers will just teach for the salary. People may join teaching line bcos they are not able to find jobs...so there is no compassion at all.

In an ideal world, we would only have teachers that are high in EQ, patient, full of passion for their jobs etc.. But we don't live in an ideal world. How many of us fulfill those criteria ourselves? Don't we also chase our next promotions? Why should our teacher friends be expected to act any differently from us? I am not excusing unethical behaviour or questionable standards. And I certainly hope my children's teachers will fulfill those ideals, but I'm a realist and I won't be surprised if their teachers are as human as I am.

The system will need to take that into account and make sure that even if the teachers are less than ideal, that the children will still have a good education. Or that somehow, we can inspire (or incentivise) teachers to behave according to certain ideals.

And here, I think as parents we can play a tiny part. We all know how sometimes, when our bosses are inspiring, or if we have \"good\" clients, we are also inspired to do our best, even if we think our job is crap; and vice-versa, passion can be killed by lousy bosses/clients. It's the same for teachers.

So, maybe as parents, we should remember to tell our kids' teachers how we appreciate what they do for our little ones - especially those who are doing a really good job, and even if we think they are simply doing their job (and make sure that we keep their principals informed of our positive feedback). By celebrating positive examples, hopefully we can encourage more of such behaviour. At the same time, we should not hesitate to point out instances of suspect behaviour.

i don't ask for high EQ teachers; just those not irresponsible or racist as stated by TS. even if just teaching for the salary, there is no need to scar the students with such acts or remarks.
as for appreciation to teachers, i make it a point at the end of the year to write complimentary emails (both enrichment and sch) to the management for teachers that had made positive influence in my boys' learning journey, and hope that such notes can help them in their internal appraisal and to keep their passion in teaching alive (i used to receive such external reaffirmation at work too, so it helps to keep the passion in work alive despite the measly salary).

[cherrygal]

HI jedamum


Good point. I will also make an effort to write something for my kids' teachers next time. (then they will be paiseh to mark them down...) hahahaha :evil:

[jedamum]

cherrygal:

HI jedamum


Good point. I will also make an effort to write something for my kids' teachers next time. (then they will be paiseh to mark them down...) hahahaha :evil:

hahha...but usually after the end of the year, the next year they'll have different teachers.

[cherrygal]

jedamum:

cherrygal:

HI jedamum


Good point. I will also make an effort to write something for my kids' teachers next time. (then they will be paiseh to mark them down...) hahahaha :evil:

hahha...but usually after the end of the year, the next year they'll have different teachers.

So I better write something middle of the year...

[janet88]

cherrygal:

jedamum:

[quote=\"cherrygal\"]HI jedamum


Good point. I will also make an effort to write something for my kids' teachers next time. (then they will be paiseh to mark them down...) hahahaha :evil:

hahha...but usually after the end of the year, the next year they'll have different teachers.

So I better write something middle of the year... [/quote]Son's teachers usually give us parents their email address every year. I look forward to work closely with his teachers so as to know his strengths and weaknesses...this way I will revise those areas which require more attention...thank them for their concern and effort put in as a form of appreciation.

[klumsy]

can’t blame them tbh, not many r willing 2 gif heart n soul tis industry, and 2 most it’s a form of livelihood, so its not tuf 2 c where r dey coming frm

[mrswongtuition]

cherrygal:

Today, too many teachers and principals are chasing after promotions that they forget their initial passion for teaching.

Do you know that teachers who choose PASSION over PROMOTION are subjected to very serious 'consequences'?

I am one teacher who chose passion over promotion.
Who cares if my boss is unhappy with me, as long as I know what I'm doing is best for my students (and not against the law or MOE policies)?

However, the fact remains that you will be consistently MARKED and shot with thousands of arrows, not just by your immediate superior but by all who are of higher rank.

Also, do you know that teachers with a poor grading do not get ANY bonus AT ALL? Not talking about performance bonus but the civil service bonus the govt always annouces, they will not be entitled to those too!

I chose to leave teaching with MOE because of all the nonsense thrown to teachers. However, I really love teaching and still teach from home. The satisfaction from interaction with students is something that no other job can give.

At least now I feel better appreciated although I do get parents who are demanding. They learn to take a step back after seeing what I'm doing for their children.

And we don't have to worry too much about finances now. MOE's pay is really really really little and the work hours leave very little time for my family. Teaching from home now gives me more time with my boy and though the pay isn't very regular (if students go on holidays, etc), it still beats working for MOE.


All I can say is, there are teachers who teach just for the salary which is credited into our bank accounts on the 12th of every month.
There are teachers who really love the kids and joined teaching for the passion, only to found out that teaching (referring the to extra work that has no benefits to the students) isn't what they signed up for and leave.
There are also teachers who are so passionate (and usually have rich husbands) that they stick to teaching for veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery long. Imagine, some of my ex-colleagues were my teachers!

Whatever their reasons for joining teaching, students and parents will know who has the real passion.
Cut some slack from the really passionate teachers, else you extinguish that flame and your child gets assigned another teacher who is worse, you'll regret.

[autolycus]

^ You said it all! ^

[janet88]

Hi mrswongtuition,

I heard from a friend about the pathetic pay as a teacher…she is serving her bond. Most teachers try to give tuition to supplement the low pay…but the school pumps the poor teachers with so much additional stuff after school hours that it’s almost impossible to give tuition…unless the teacher is willing to give up her weekends.