Same Job, Different Outcomes

Today, Coco told me something 'shocking' (I put the word in inverted commas because it is meant to be shocking but I am not shocked),"The Science teacher scolded us 'stupid idiots'."


The Science teacher is a newly graduated NIE-trained teacher.

We all know how zealous and passionate beginning teachers are. They love the children and are prepared to lay down their lives for them. I still remember I often stayed till 8pm or 9pm in school to mark books or prepare lessons or other resources for my students in the first two years of my teaching life.

So I was suspicious when Coco told me that the teacher used such harsh words on them.

'Suspicious' was actually an understatement.

In fact, I immediately redressed the teacher,"Your class must have been really trying for the teacher to say that!" This incident also jolted my memory about what Coco previously told me, that her Science teacher stormed out of the classroom five minutes before the time was up, splurting,"I can't take this anymore!"

Coco admitted that the class was very noisy and most of her classmates were not paying attention to what the teacher was saying or doing.

According to her, the teacher did not allow the children to have hands-on activities. By 'hands-on', we mean to let students try carrying out experiments in groups for a more personable experience.

Instead, the teacher usually carries out 'teacher-demo' activities, meaning the teacher will conduct the experiment while the class watches.

Coco claimed that the students had to crowd around the teacher to watch how the experiments were carried out. That sounded strange to me as it would mean the students would have to jostle for space since the standing space at the teacher's table would not be big enough to accommodate 42 students.

I suppose the teacher is too young to handle that many boys in a class. According to Coco, there are only 15 girls in the class, as opposed to 27 boisterous boys. They are boisterous even at the principal's standard.

I don't blame the teacher. Some people ask,"How does scolding children 'stupid idiots' help in their education?" Of course it does not. We all know too well that such spurts are simply manifestations of the teacher's anger, what education are you talking about? It has nothing to do with education. It has everything to do with the frustration and exasperation of a teacher not able to get the kids to listen to her, that's all.

Being a teacher has helped me to be a better parent in more ways than one. It makes me a very understanding parent towards my child's teachers. But of course, sometimes it does make me psychologically unbalanced, like if such words were ever heard in my neighbourhood school, the teacher concerned would have been asked to go for a kopi session with the first and second bosses. The ministry would receive an email about the matter the second day at its latest.

People have this misconception that parents in 'better' schools are more difficult and are ever ready to shoot emails to the ministry. How wrong they are! Parents in these schools, or at least my child's school, are generally more tolerant and forgiving of teachers' mistakes. The only time I heard parents complaining to the principal was the time when Coco's Chinese teacher said this to a few boys who talked incessantly,"You are stupid! Your parents should never have given birth to you!" Something tells me it was the second statement that broke the camel's back.

The Chinese teacher ended up apologising to the whole class about her use of inappropriate words with the principal looking on.

If it were some ordinary teacher in some neighbourhood school, we probably would have to consider handing in our resignation letter.