During my summer vacations, I worked as a teacher. Yes, I would like to call it a work. Although, teaching is such a favorite hobby of mine; but still, we live in a capitalist society. And, unfortunately, I too have to earn to survive. Otherwise, in this world I will be a mere scrap. So, in order to feed myself - physcially and mentally - I opted for a middle school. When I joined, my thoughts were like this: teach them syllabus, teach them world affairs. For the first part, it was all okay and briliant. For the second one, well I had to meet parents every other day, just because they did not like that I was teaching outside the box.
Still, somehow, I managed. I learnt to stay calm and present my ideology to the parents as well. Some days, I would just focus on the syllabus. Then, I would sneak a little into the world affairs. Sometimes, I opted for classrooms game, which I mostly took from Youtube videos. My basic motive was to keep the learning fun and real.
There is a commonly attributed quote to Voltaire: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
Luckily or unluckily, I am a strong believer of this stuff. And because of this reasnoning I say, what I want to say. Of course, I do keep in mind the social norms. But, as the days passed, things kept getting worse. The parents started to consider me more of a revolutionary than a teacher.
All I wanted was to get rid of this "cramming culture."
For this cramming culture, I have a very beautiful example. Since my childhood, they have taught us this vowel thing: "a,e,i,o,u." We use an with these symbols, and there are few exceptions like honest. It was later on, during my undegraduation, I found out that it was never about the alphabet, it was the sound. Yes, I get it. Kids are kids, so they need to learn this or that way. But come on, is it really worth it? Same is the case with our history. They have made the villains look like heroes, and heroes look like villains. And for that, there is an old African proverb, "Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter."
Children are strange creatures.
Just let them ask infinite questions, and see them do the magic. Give them the same textbook, and you will se them escaping it. Give them a real-life example, and suddenly everyone has an opinion. And believe me, they surprise me. Their thought process is something I envy personally. They always come up with this strangest ideology; and they also have an answer for it. The thing is: they are interested in learning, but they just do not like the way we adults have choosen.
And then comes another strange thing about teaching: the people who are supposed to make kings are often paid like they are barely surviving in the world.
During my time there, I also got a glimpse of what teachers actually earn, particulalry in private schools. Because government schools are somewhat better in this aspect. In majority of the private schools, the salary starts from Rs.6,500 to 30,000 a month - roughly $23 to $108. Can you imagine? A person who goes to school almost everyday, just to earn this little money? And that too in this inflation. The person teaching your child is earning less than what some families spend on just fastfood in a week.
Teachers are epected to be everything but teachers
Yes, you read it right. At least this is what I observed. Teach the syllabus, maintain discipline, entertain the children, check homeworks, satisfy parents, produce good results, and most importantly, always keep a smile on your face. At some stages, I felt like working as a custtomer service officer rather than a teacher.
And the funniest thing? Everyone has a different approach towards a good teacher. But the very common one is - the good marks. If a child is getting marks, parents are happy with it. Let us just forget about learning because cramming is enough to satisfy.
But despite all of this, was the experience worth it? Absolutely.
Yes I have some complains about the salary, the so-rigged syllabus approach, the cramming culture and almost everthing else. But I cannot deny that I enjoyed being a teacher. There is something inexpresible about it, but that thing is so satisfying. Then there is this jealousy from these kids, like they are learning, making their ways in this chaotically beautiful world. And they have many things yet to construct.
And of course, I am not giving up on my passion. But next time, I might aim for bigger classes. Perhaps university students, where I can discuss things without someone labelling me as a red flag. But before that, there is this one little proble. I need to upgrade my degree.
Because apparently, passion alone does not come with a teaching permit. So, after earning some good money, I will be going for Masters.
Unil then, good luck to the study circles, with my constant yapping program.
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Peace 🕊️
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