Last wednesday 4th Dec 2008, I was reading the papers and an article on Ministry of Education (MOE) recruitment drives caught my attention.
It is good to hear that MOE is going to recruit 2,200 more teachers to gear up their teaching arsenals. It is also good news for those professionals that is going to lose their jobs in this economic downturn.
But have we ever asked: Is this good news for the students? and their parent?
No No. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying these professionals becoming a teacher is a bad thing.
I personally came into Chemistry Coaching after spending long period of time walking in and out of research labs, and serving the Chemical Research community as a Technical Product Specialists (and key chemistry account manager) for some time.
And i believe to be an effective teacher / coach, you need to have industrial experience in order to communicate experiences and life examples on what student learned is schools are actually been used in our surroundings.
But, lets zoom into the above newspaper article. I felt somehow uncomfortable at terms used by some of these professionals when interviewed by MOE personnel, and might be coaching your child?
Someone said: ” Teaching, looks like a very wise and evergreen industry”
Another added: “You don’t expect someone who has 16, 18 years experience to come in to be a teacher at S$4,000. Some unbalance in terms of compensation and scope of work”
To be able to communicate and transfer all our knowledge and skills to the students, besides the industrial experience, there is a more important requirements that come before that - PASSION!
Have you heard of your child saying that they don’t understand what a certain teacher is teaching, because he/she is so boring and his/her lesson is so “dead”?
Get my point? From the above recruitment drive, if those professional becomes MOE teacher, i wonder how much their students will learn from them. Everything they said is about monetary stuff, evergreen industry, etc…Passion in coaching students seems to be one of the last reason they are joining MOE teaching.
I am glad Mrs Gladys Chew, Recruitment Marketing Manager MOW has mentioned that “You Have to Prove Yourself First!” =)
But, i am wondering what she means by “Successful Applicants will get to try out teaching in Schools for 4 weeks!” Does it mean that they will become the relief teacher for students in school?
This may be the reason why many of students came, always complaining that teachers keep changing and they all teach differently with different style. Some are lost which is their permanent chemistry teacher, and lost their interest in Chemistry.
I really wish what i have said earlier is all wrong.
PS: Drop me a comment on how you feel about this article and recruitment drive. I would love to hear from you.
I do agree with what u mentioned in the article. I am current an undergraduate and a part time maths tutor. During my hols, i’d relief teach in pri or sec schs and i’ve noticed that in the staff rooms, quite a number of teachers would complain abt their job scope or the students that they’re teaching. i cld also hardly see any passion as they deliver their syllabus. it’s mostly teaching for the sake of it and trying to deliver results at the end of the year. then again, i understand that it is difficult trying to control so many kids while teaching. i guess it drains the motivation the teacher has, as well as the passion. personally, i’d prefer tutoring/coaching as u get more focus on each individual n as it’s a specialised form of teaching, students tend to benefit more. it’d be great if education in s’pore can be moulded to be like that mentioned in a novel “Toto-chan”. students get exposed to more real life studies and applications of what they learn in sch, instead of memorising the boring equations and not knowing what it is used for.
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sean Reply:
January 14th, 2009 at 12:47 am
Hi Jezica,
Hope you are doing fine and enjoying your undergraduate studies, as well as making differences to students through your part time Maths Tutoring.
From my knowledge (thru friends in MOE government schools), all if not most of the teachers are conducting themselves like “corporate execs” just like in the private MNC sectors. Besides working on their main roles of teaching and making differences to the students knowledge, many of them are embroiled into the “score-point” attitudes with their HODs and direct superiors. I am not sure if this is the trend all this while, but i do feel sorry for the students, parents as well as the teachers themselves.
A good teacher should shows commitment and dedication in his/her teaching and is willing to go the extra mile to help the students realise their manimum potential and improve in their studies.
The teachers should also adopt a Communicative Approach in order to meet the learning needs of his/her students. This allows them to work out strategies to help them improve in their subjects.
I do pity those teachers that joined teaching as a career with the aim to really help and guide students towards reaching their potentials…but lost their way and directions, when they are consumed by the realistic thoughts of promotion and “band”/”level” adjustments. Many of my friends are teachers are i am sad to see their serving their role in a non-motivational way.
I wish you the best in your studies and imparting knowledge to students in whatever ways that prove legally, ethically effective.
PS: There are really good teachers in MOE schools, but are being shamed by many black sheeps around.
Cheers
Sean
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