teaching as a profession
i had always wondered if i would ever venture into the field of teaching. my mom is a highly respected teacher in secondary school. from what ive heard, shes such a stern but caring type of teacher, but at home shes so cool. 1 thing i respect n i believe most of her other students would appreciate is that she can still recall most of her student’s name and faces so vividly.
can u imagine after 10-15 or maybe 20 years or more, someone still remembers ur name? gosh, i cant even recall my friends in primary school, let alone remember their names or their faces except a select few, whom i still keep in touch with. as the malay saying goes, "ke mana tumpahnya ke kuah kalau tak ke nasi". its impossible for me to follow in my dad’s footsteps and join the army because you know lah, so its only natural if i have an inclination towards teaching.
becoming a teacher or any other form of teaching, be it from a leader guiding his subordinates, a general leading out his team in battle; to the teacher’s in schools/universities is indeed a noble profession. can u imagine how proud u would become if; lets say ur student became the next prime minister or simply put became successful in life albeit becoming a doctor, an engineer or any other person for that matter. as long as wat ur teaching gives them the benefit that they can use for the rest of their lives and for good use can be considered a big achievement already.
well of course, not anyone can become a teacher. it requires a strict discipline to start with, a big passion for the job and the love of people management because in today’s world, the student can be as smart as the teacher itself or maybe even smarter. so with all this ingredients in place, it makes life of becoming a teacher much more easier. well i do have an experience of becoming a teacher as well, even though without any formal training. my students last time, range from all races from the ages of 17 up until 80 years old i guess whereby i gave them a private tutoring.
sometimes, the student is not that interested in the subject, but then the way u present the subject can play a major role in increasing the students interest n participation in learning. it also helps if u read a lot n be aware of the current situation in the world around us. all these small things adds up to the value of the teacher. n it seems, the ability to converse well in english is indeed a big asset in any profession. not just by the way of comprehension but also its grammar and vocabulary. since the advent of the internet, more new words are popping up each day. most of these new words comes from new technology, so if ur unaware of the current news, u would definitely be left behind.
In Malaysia now, the teaching profession is not held in high regards anymore. Everybody seems to opt for a career in something else, and becoming a teacher is the last resort for most. If we truly understand the cause and effect that teachers have in our lives and society, then i bet most of us would become a teacher. its true that u can learn anyting on ur own from the internet nowadays, heck u can even learn how to make a bomb from it, but then without the proper guidance from a good teacher, u could be making mistakes without u realising it. even teachers sometimes learn from other teachers; hence the ‘train the trainer’ concept.
keeping an open mind and adapting to new n proven teaching methods is also important. now its all about interaction. from the words of a child, "i see n i forget, i write n i remember, i do n i understand". plus school teachers or even university teachers have too much holidays, but then who would complaint? the work load may seems heavy, but if u love sumting so much, u wouldnt complaint but rather accepts it as a challenge.
