Every year the 16th of January is Thailand's National Teachers Day. It's the day that we'll take some time off ourselves and think about one important role in our lives. The one who teaches you and guides you on the right path through this complicated world. The one that's being called a "teacher".
If you've ever read my post about my work, you might already know that my work revolves around the field of education 90% of the time. (Hmm talking about that, I definitely ought to write more about it). If you're not familiar with me, hello and welcome to my space, where today, I'd like to talk about my job as a teacher on our National Teacher's Day.
Right after graduation, highly motivated me decided to join this fellowship program of a non-governmental organization (NGO) to become a teacher in an underprivileged school, here in Bangkok.
The purpose of the program is to "empower" a leader with a true understanding of Thailand's problematic education system, in the hope of using the knowledge and experience throughout these 2 years to drive a future change in the society.
Having the same goal of improving Thai education and the doubt whether I can really be a "good" leader, I decided to become a teacher in this fellowship program. Since then, I knew I had chosen a teacher path for my life.
I promised myself that I was gonna be that cool teacher with lots of activities and fun classes, of course with the lessons that they needed. And, boy! What fun I had with them.
I only had 2 years in the program, so I tried to live every minute of it. I find various activities we can do together, like taking them to boardgame cafe and the E-sport broadcast studio.
E-Sport Broadcast Studio
Especially, because I was working with underprivileged kids, I tried to give them as much as I could to show them what the world had to offer. Throughout this year, I saw that I put myself in the box of being a stereotypical dutiful teacher. Out of my goodwill, I tried to be the best teacher I could be for them. I've always thinking about how and what I'm gonna give my students.
However, in reality, I've learned that the more important thing than just being a giver (teacher), is to be a person, who truly supports her students. Emotional support is far more crucial and needed than all the fancy activities.
Here's the last pic at the end of my post for today. This is me and my fellow teacher in the school on this 16th January years ago. The students were giving us flowers as a gesture of gratitude and it was one of the most rewarding days as a teacher, that I'm so grateful to be able to experience.
After 2 years, I came to my realization that the most important thing in being a teacher is to always be open-minded to learn from the students and by doing that one needs to be compassionate and non-judgmental.
To this day, I thank my students for opening my eyes and helping me learn the very important lesson of being a better person, which I still keep in my mind as I go down this road, moving forward.
If you're still here with me, Thank you so much for reading my post, and remember to...
Stay open-minded and keep learning, guys!
Khob khun kaa,
Nomnomnoodle 馃崪
