7 years had I spent my life in Jit Sin, and almost half a year working as a temporary teacher. Like it or now, Jit Sin has become a part of my life, it has become a place where I once belonged, and it'll forever be a place where once my happiness grows.
Secondary school is often a place teenagers shun or despise. There are some elements of truth in it, and I won't deny I hate secondary school to a certain degree. I hate waking up early in the morning, walking shakily and sleepily into the classroom only to sleep again on my desk. I hate struggling so hard to stay awake in class to gain knowledge only to fail and eventually fall asleep again. I hate the continuous hours of lessons with only a few minutes breaks in between. I hate going to cocurricular activities because I found the activities involve incredibly childish games, baffling morale and ridiculous organisation. I hate 1M1S that is only conducted for the purpose of validating a report. I hate the hot and humid ambience in a classroom during the dry season. I hate a lot of things.
But I cannot deny there are favourable elements in every despicable events. I enjoy being around with friends. I like having something to look forward to because it motivates me to do what I want. I like being around the same people for a year and interact with them. I like studying and sharing knowledge with friends. I like staying in school after school hours to study or mingle around. I like the sense of accomplishment when I finally deciphered something I initially thought was incomprehensible. I like being involved in committee because it allowed me to learn to organise and to carry out things effectively while tolerating with stuffs I detest, I found having a desk and a chair of your own is very enjoyable and I always like it when I sit on my spot. I like carrying out experiments and watch what I learn in textbook materialises in reality.
I like a lot of things in school. Just because there are flaws it doesn't mean I should overlook its pros.
Finishing study, I was given an opportunity to be a temporary teacher back in SMJK Jit Sin. Being a teacher is different from being a student, yet in certain occassion you don't feel different. Teachers represent another society in an ordinary school - the other one being the students - and like every society, it has its internal turmoil and problems that need to be dealt with. The internal politics in a secondary school actually is much murkier and dirtier if compared to the students'. Adult world are darker, it is generally acknowledged.
Being a teacher does not always mean you can always get what you want, and I don't mean from the students - I mean from your 'employees'. Teachers are someone who is caught in between two layers of society - employees (government) and students/parents. There are a lot of situations teacher stand along with the students, but due to certain complications the teachers are not allowed to express their stance. To say the truth, teachers are often oppressed more than students, but the students don't see it, simply because they are still young and naive and pumping with excessive adrenaline.
Yet being a teacher is also a bless. It allows me to speak to a class of 44 students with no fear, and to share a knowledge you have with a class of students is indeed a generous act. Often, the students would not show any sign of interest in your teacher - and that poses a challenge. Students are usually uncooperative, and I understand why. You're tired, the weather is hot, you simply can't sit still and listen intently.
And this is where the teaching profession is unique. In every profession, when two parties could not reach an agreement or reach an impasse and could not proceed to the liking of both parties, they would attempt to reach a solution that neither parties would be disadvantaged. Yet in school, one party consists of a member, and the another consists of at least 20 members of which are young, naive, adrenaline-pumped, active, recalcitrant and in certain cases, difficult. Reaching an impasse is a sheer impossibility, and that's why teachers are allowed to give lectures on disciplines, while in any other jobs you don't get to tell how someone should behave. If one behaves badly in a job, we ignore, and we let him stumble upon an obstacle that will make him turn around. In school, teachers lecture to avoid the students meet an obstacle so that they learn things the easier way.
Teachers should try to understand the problem the students are facing, and try to understand a little by tolerating a bit. If they refuse to listen to your class, let him be at the initial stage. Observe. If he doesn't listen and his results are bad, then make him listen. If he refuses to listen and his result is okay, and let him be. Students however should try to be as cooperative as possible, and don't create troubles that'll disrupt lessons. Teachers have people to report to, students don't, so please try understand a teacher's situation. After all, you go school to learn, and now to stir troubles.
