25 July 2018

Are you up to the challenge?

I think comparing jobs is not fair because every job is important and has its own challenges. I once wished I could be a gardener because I thought their job was easier than mine and had less things to worry about. 

But one day, I sat with one of our school gardeners and exchanged thoughts. She proved me wrong. All that wonderful thoughts I had about being a gardener wasn't true. She had her own worries and mostly related to financial difficulties. According to her, it's hard to send her children to further studies or buy a car because banks won't let her borrow money. And when it comes to healthcare, she couldn't afford to pay private doctors for instant treatments. She's also worried about her contract which was coming to an end...and the list went on and on and on...
But again, even though teachers are paid better than the gardeners, their problems doubled. They  have to fix their own problems and the students'. The two places in this world that require extra care and attention are The School (entry) and The Hospital (exit). Children are educated and brought up in the school for 12 years before they can enter the real world.
Teachers do not have the benefit of choosing who they want to teach. They accept students as who they are and this pose a big challenge to them. They could be dealing with 101 different personalities and attitudes at a time in a class. Without patient and wisdom, a teacher may breakdown due to mental challenge. 
The multitasking is wider than the ocean till some work had to be done at home thus affecting quality time with families. Burdening teaching hours, implementing extra academic and non-academic programmes in schools, completing paper work, doing presentation, entertaining audits, and meeting deadlines are all the tasks that make working from 8 to 5 pm impossible. 
Teachers need to meet the society's expectations where failures are unacceptable and deemed incompetent. Every time a student fail, grades dropping, dropouts increasing and disciplinary issues arising, teachers do not only report but have to assess and solve the problems. With limited knowledge and authority, some problems remained unresolved. 
I would conclude that in teaching profession, one needs to be strong, patient and adaptive to any situation. Without these three important elements, it's better not to jump into this profession yet but consider building your characters first. 

Logging off
8.45 PM
Wednesday

4 Messages:

Unknown said...

Nice one teacher! 💪

lina said...

Respect all teachers out there.

Willie a.k.a Reptoz said...

Thank you mdm

mun said...

I agree that it is not easy being a teacher in a school with so many children to look after. You have great patience!