Wind In My Head: Growing up
Wind In My Head
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Growing up
When I was young, during birthdays and Chinese New Year, the wishes I would get from adults would be "study hard, grow up and get a good job". Yup, I roll my eyes now as much as I did then.So apparently, I didn't study hard enough because I have grown up and I have a job but it pays peanuts. And apparently, my job, like many others in the civil service was due for a pay raise. Cool I thought although I had a sneaking suspicion it wouldn't be much since my job doesn't have a "private sector" to compete with. I, however, did not expect that the pay raise would be a 3- 5% increment especially when other sectors of the government service get 15% or even 33%. Yup, that's really going to keep teachers from quitting or moving on to greener pastures.
But I guess it is my lot in life, because I did not study hard enough to become clever enough to be a minister, much less Prime Minister or President of the country, because then my pay raise would be a whole lot more and I would be earning in the millions. So on with the life of drudgery, I say and embrace it.
As a matter of fact, I embraced it a great deal this morning. Students who gave me angst this morning, my mantra was "I'm not paid enough to be that nice to them" so I proceeded to lock them out of class. Students who looked at me for direct answers to questions they were supposed to wrack their brain about, I adjusted the mantra to "I don't get paid enough to do your homework for you". In fact, I think I'm angsty enough to start chanting "pay me peanuts, you get peanuts" and actually toss peanuts at them but I shan't. I don't want to be known as that crazy, hormonal teacher.
But the truth behind all the angst is this, teachers put up with a lot of crap, from every one of their, for the want of a Singaporean bureaucratic term, stakeholders and on days like this, one is reminded what a thankless job it is and how true it is to say "I'm not paid enough for all this crap". It's one of those days when, if someone tells comes up and tells me teaching is about the passion and the changing the lives of the students and the satisfaction from being able to make a difference, I will tell them to "shove it where the sun don't shine".
Technorati Tags: Singapore, Civil Service Pay Rise, teaching
Ondine tossed this thought in at 13:01
3 thoughts...
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At 11:27 am
Wei Shi said... You must have had a bad day...=) I believe it is true that teachers do make a difference in their students' lives, and it was during the draining 'A' level period last year that I really understood and came to appreciate greatly what my teachers have done for me... and as cliched as it sounds, they are still people whom I admire and look up to...=)
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At 7:32 pm
Jean said...
heya - well I don't know who you are but I thought I'd just leave sth encouraging. Just sent off a package with postcards and a bite-size King Lear complete with hand-signed Sir McKellen autograph to one of my lit teachers in JC, thanking him for teaching the first Shakespeare play I'd ever read and for all the eccentricities and stuff he said in and out of class... because of my lit teachers my perspectives changed tremendously whether wrt education or lit or just, life in general. Wanted to do econs and be a banker since 14 but that changed and I'm now reading Lit abroad - partly due to their influence as well. I know it sounds horribly cliche but it's real yeah :) Have left JC for 3 years and I still miss them... Money's a big incentive, but relationships matter a lot more to me I s'pose.
and anyway, as a teacher you certainly have an awful lot of influence with your students - more than ya think! I'm sure you'll meet students who make your day too... take heart and take care :)
- tobeteacher-
At 12:52 am
儒 said...
completely agree.
you tell them to "shove it!"