"Teacher, how many sons you have?" What ? I thought I heard wrongly. It's usually very difficult to hear them speak the language in class. Hmm..not bad , at least today Mr. New ( his real surname) started the conversation in English.I smiled and told him I'm still single therefore I don't have any sons. The conversation wasn't ended there.Then I realised that he couldn't differentiate between Mr, Mrs and Miss. Can you imagine ?! When asked how do you address a lady who has married to Mr.Chan? His friend, Professor (nickname),sitting beside him quickly said, "Call her Ah Soh-lah !" :D
After explaining ,Mr New finally understood "Miss so and so "means someone who is not married yet. Then came back to the question he asked earlier. Actually he wanted to know whether all my sons are clever ! With his broken English he carried on telling me that how frustrated he is because her mother always compared him with his neighbour's son who is good in studies. His mother commented that he is not clever as he has no A's in his result.Poor boy,don't mention about "As", getting a pass is already so difficult for him.He feels so "small" whenever his mother compared him to other kids or even to his younger brother.Then he said that his grandfather only knows to read a little but could also earn a lot of money by selling noodle.He sees the point that "not clever" can also earn a living.Our conversation continued about the benefits of education, and to see himself capable of doing something else which are equally important to make him a worthy person in future.
Today's lesson is considered successful as Mr.New had carried out the whole conversation in English. Oh Yes, Mr. New boleh !
(* Reflection *)
Our education system is too exam-orientated. As a result, today the majority of the parents (many teachers too) measure a child by checking how many "As" in their exams. Poor kids ,they too have a wrong concept that without any "As" ,they're not intelligent and worthless. They grow up with a LOW SELF and this will definitely affect the way they value themselves and ultimately influence the way they handle their lives. Besides studying,another essential element which is absolutely important in our education is to guide our children to identify their strengths such as they're caring, helpful, honest,analytical, observant etc.
Let's be kind to our kids especilly those who have tried their best but just managed to get a pass or a grade lower than an "A" or even to those who are struggling in their studies, be more appreciative , love and accept them.Help them to see their other strengths as well . :o)
2 comments:
In this crazy world of materialistic, people has developed a concept that everything must be measured and quantified to weight which is good and which is no good, clever and not clever. But in reality can we really measure kindness that comes from inside? Those are the real 'A'.
I received this comment via sms :
" I've read your blog, there're very interesting! I hope your blog should be opened freely so that more people can read it. As this sharing,I think teachers should use their heart while treating the students."
~HFT~
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