Why Do Educators Do What They Do?
Talking to my favourite teachers about what makes them tick
Will Richardson says that our school system’s broken. Sir Ken Robinson informed us formal learning cuts our creativity. And Stephen Heppell made us believe that even the buildings we learn in are lacklustre.
They feel like paving stones marking a new path in education. But what happens between the cracks? What about the people still teaching despite all this? What about the educators whose passion survives low-pay and poor conditions?
Over the course of a year I started to interview them. I met teachers across South East Asia. I wanted to know what challenges they face. I wanted to know how they keep on doing what they’re doing.
Their answers have inspired me (and many others), made me laugh, moved me, but, most of all, they made me glad that they are out there, doing what they do, despite everything.
From classrooms with views of the local zoo, to waking from a coma speaking a language no-one around could understand, to beating the bullies in the best way possible, here are their stories.
Thuy Do, Teacher, Government Primary School, Ho Chi Minh City
I met Thuy Do just after she gave a demonstration lesson she delivered for a panel (which I was on) looking for the best teacher in Ho Chi Minh City. Her third grade students clearly adored her. And their level of proficiency far outshone any class’s I’d seen before.
“My school is located on Nguyen Binh Khiem street. From there, I can walk to the Saigon zoo. Sometimes I can look through out of the windows of my classroom and see giraffes eating.
My little students look at me as their idol. They touch my ao dai [the flowing traditional two-piece Vietnamse pant suit] when I go past them in the classroom. It’s like they want to confirm I’m really human, after all.
But my students make mistakes. They struggle to learn new words or new structures that I’ve taught them. I get so frustrated that sometimes I cry. When I cry, all my students cry too. They’ll use their hands to wipe their tears. But one time my students had purple ink on their hands.
And what happened then? Their faces were purple as well. At that moment I couldn’t help laughing. Then, of course, they all laughed too.”
Cynthia Nacar, Preparatory Teacher, Private School, Phnom Penh
Cynthia sat right at the back of a talk I gave (I think she’d arrived a little later than planned with some friends — also Filipino teachers taking on classroom duties away from home, in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh). Despite being right at the rear of the room, her hand raised to every question, showing that sometimes the smartest people do sit at the back.
“My school is beside a busy market. It’s not really a good learning environment for children. The rooms are old. There’s not enough space to move around and do physical activities.
The receptionists don’t really know what they should be doing. The guards don’t really provide enough safety for all the people in the school. Some staff are so busy with their phones even during working hours. I could go on and on with a long list of negative thoughts about the school so better I stop because I cannot describe it to anyone who has never seen it.
You might be wondering why I am still working there. For one simple reason, I love my students. I want them to learn many things, not just how to write and read but also to learn how to be independent in some ways, what the real world is.”
Fia Dwi, Vocational School Teacher, Yogyakarta
Indonesians often feel like the most exuberant educators: quick to laugh, emotional invested in everything they do, with closer connections to their learners…and each other. Fia Dwi is just like that.
“I wish I could remember when I decided to become a teacher. I had a bad motorbike accident, and since then I forget things. I was in a coma for a few weeks. My mom said when I finally woke up I spoke English. But none of my family could reply because they didn’t understand what I was saying.
My biggest challenge in this profession has been becoming a teacher with a background in engineering. I had no experience with children because I don’t have any of my own. I needed to take the opportunity to help my parents, and to be more independent. So I started at BIAS Islamic school who put me in their kindergarten.
When I resigned I began teaching at the vocational school. That’s since September 2012. My responsibility is to teach computer skills. But we don’t have an Internet connection. So I have to share my understanding of applications and operating systems.”
Ika Arianti, Islamic School, Surabaya, Indonesia
Ika is a self-confessed ‘talker’. She teaches in Indonesia’s second city, Surabaya. Though she says it must have been some administrative mix-up (it wasn’t, she’s way too intelligent), Ika has been specially chosen to receive extra training to help lead the implementation of Indonesia’s new, and rather controversial curriculum.
“I had one English teacher who bullied me back in Senior High School because my English wasn’t good enough. But that bad experience became my inspiration…I promised to never underestimate my students like that teacher underestimated me.
I met her again in 2013. I still remembered her face. She didn’t know I’d become a teacher, and we were attending the same training together. Of course, I said ‘Hi’. Then she remembered me. She asked what I was doing there. I told her, to her surprise, I was a participant.
Now, every year as a homeroom teacher has its moments, and several students will have problems. It’s usually due to issues with their family.
One time, my student’s parent warned me he was very moody in Elementary. But when I was his homeroom teacher he became gentle and not moody any more at school and at home. Sometimes students just need someone to share their problems with. They respond so positively that even their parents are surprised.”
Darlenne Pebris, FPT University, Hanoi
Hanoi can feel cold and unforgiving sometimes. Maybe because the winters have real bite (unlike the perpetual summertime in my home city of Saigon). Even the northern accent feels brusque and unpolished (although, of course, that’s not the case). Teachers like Darlenne braved the transition to do what they love.
“At university in the Philippines, I had some hard, painful moments. Teaching was looked down on by most of the people I knew. Whenever I caught up with them, they’d say, “You know you can’t get money doing that, don’t you?” or ”What a waste of knowledge and talent”. Those moments almost made my enthusiasm die.
Luckily, I did observations that allowed me to step inside real classrooms and watch teachers demonstrate their lessons. Pupils were so excited to see us student-teachers and I was greeted with “Hello, teacher Darlenne!” Those moments made my heart overflow with delight and I felt like my motivation was 100% charged once again.”
Ever since I was a child, I knew I would become a teacher. I remember my primary school days when we talked about ‘Dreams in life’. I always drew myself with a sweet smile holding a stick pointing at the ABC on the board and carrying some books in my other hand.
While growing up, when I was role-playing with my cousins, I was always the teacher. And in school, I always volunteered to become one of the substitute teachers during ‘Teacher’s day’.
