The bell rings
and school is now in session. As you open your mouth for the very first
utterance, someone raises his/her hand to complain that someone is talking.
After addressing the matter, you attempt to impart some knowledge on this fine
Monday morning. Halfway through the lesson, you notice an ensuing argument at
one corner of the classroom. Again, you have to stop the lesson in order to
regain control of your classroom. At break time, or recess, a screaming student
returns to complain about the others who have been picking on him/her. Recess
has to be cut short in order to address the lifelong psychological scars that
can occur from students picking on each other. The day continues like this and
is repeated until Friday when its time to go home and relax…
WRONG!!!
Lesson plans
need to be prepared for the following week, so you tell your spouse you will
definitely spare a minute or two when you’ve finished creating the plans. Then
it’s Monday morning again, and your spouse is still waiting…
Ladies and
gentlemen… this is known as
“Teaching” or “Being a Teacher.” Nothing stops. Recently, there has been some
backlash coming from the Jamaican government regarding the status of teachers.
There has been no increase in salaries; the government has been cutting social
benefits at an alarmingly rapid rate; and of all the public sector jobs,
teaching jobs have been suspended until September 2015. The government even
suggested that teachers must seek “alternative employment,” but how can you ask
a pilot to perform surgery? How can you ask a blind man to drive? All those
precious years in college have been flushed down the drain and have been
replaced by hopelessness and a sense of loss. I read this in the news and had
to ask: Could the North American
government even attempt this outright slap in the face of its public sector
workers? The answer is a resounding NO.
I have personally seen the economy take a turn for the worst in 2008, and
some teachers in North America were displaced. They did not lose their jobs
for the most part, as they were provided
with alternatives. I am annoyed, too, by the actions of the teachers. Most sit
around and complain on Facebook, while others who have other options simply
don’t care. I believe if all those teachers come together and take action, the
government will have to accede to their needs.
The Jamaican education
system has been hijacked by ignorant policy makers who obviously have never
been in a classroom, yet alone teach.
What about investing in the future? What about building more schools in order
to accommodate the fresh minds and ideas that are flowing out of the
universities? What about old, outdated,
ancient, antiquated, obsolete, archaic policy makers taking a field trip
into today’s classroom for a day or
two – BY THEMSELVES – in order to
fully understand the rigors of being a teacher? Not all teachers are teachers;
some individuals only fill the space in order to collect a pay check, and it
reflects on the children. But there are those of us who dedicate life and limb
to securing the minds of the future; shaping the minds of neuroscientists,
astrophysicists, doctors, presidents, and policy makers.
I speak because
I was there… I filled the shoe of nurse, doctor, counselor, banker,
accountant, parent, supermarket attendant, referee, nurturer, listener, and friend. Yes,
I was a teacher.
I only have one
question: Given the complexities of today’s society, could you have done the job of a teacher?
"Those who educate children well are more to be honored than
parents, for these only gave life, [teachers] the art of living well." - Aristotle
Jodi-Ann is an Environmental Studies major
in Nova Scotia, Canada
I interviewed some individuals regarding how they felt about the situation facing teachers in Jamaica. Video to be posted soon.
***Disclaimer: Pictures acquired from Google.
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