First Senior Assistant

My Reflections As A Teacher

Life is a journey- You pass by that moment in your life only once. Then that moment becomes part of your history and the next moment in there- for you to use it. The words of a poem have inspired me throughout my teaching career. (I’m not sure who the poet is)
                        ‘I pass by this way only once,

                         Whatever good that  I can do,

                         Let me do it now,

                        For I will not pass by this way again.

 Having taught in several schools (8 schools as a trained teacher, and before that in several more schools in Malaysia and New Zealand as a relief teacher) this poem is especially meaningful to me.

I may have been teaching the same subject over the years, but the students each year are different. In fact, the young person facing me in school is a living being with a possibility. Each student has his or her own history. I cannot change the world. But i can leave my imprint on just one person a day. It could be a verbal positive comment, a reprimand with the intention to build the character, a shared joke with a student.

I’ve taught countless students. Assuming that an average class has 45 students (in one year I may have taught around 6 classes) that means I teach around 300 students a year. Over a span of 26 years, I would have taught 7800 students. This does not include other students with whom I would have interacted with during co-curricular activities. Such a large number! Through our hands pass the leaders of tomorrow, citizens from all walks of life and perhaps the criminals of the future!

A teacher teaches students on a two-pronged level. One is the academic or co-curricular content such as English Grammar, Chess Club and so on. But the one that lasts in the students’ memories is the content from the hidden curriculum- whether the teacher was kind, caring, hardworking, lazy and so on.

I did some relief teaching in several schools in New Zealand. I was called in to take over a class for a few weeks while the teacher was recovering from an operation. This class had a set of disruptive teenage students. (Now, not all students in New Zealand are disruptive) Its was only a small class- about 22 in number. But they were taller than I, outspoken and difficult to control. I found out that all of them in that class came from broken homes. It was difficult at first but they enjoyed the sing-along sessions of ‘Burung Kakaktua’ and ‘Rasa Sayang Eh’ and the stories about Malaysian culture.

Finally, after winning the co-operation of the last defiant student, I asked this students a question “ In your opinion, what qualities should a good teacher have?” out of the mouths of this once-disruptive class came this answer “ FIRM AND KIND”. I was taken aback. Firmness! These students actually valued firmness! But they added another quality : Kindness.

It is this balance that we teachers need to find. I have tried to make this my motto throughout my teaching career. I have learned from my students that day. Students like kindness but they do not respect weakness. They may appear to like a weak teacher but deep in their hearts, respect goes to the one who cares for them and sets boundaries for the students. My regret is the increasing amount of paper work eats into time that could be spent on more positive interaction between students and teachers.

The future of Malaysia, that is the young people, is first of all, in the hands of the parents. My sincere hope is parents should spend more meaningful time with their children and be courageous to be firm and kind with the children. The teachers only spend a portion of the day dealing with a sea of faces in school. While we cannot work great miracles instantly, we, teachers, with the co-operation of parents and other caregivers, can help to plant the seed for a more positive change in our young people. We, as teachers, can aim for at least one person a day. Over the years, this means, a minimum of 190 students a year. Over 25 years, that would be nearly 3000 people.

Lets all work together to make positive changes in the youth of today- the leaders of tomorrow.

 

Puan Annie Elizabeth a/p A.M. Mariadass