Extraordinary teachers help students reach potential
‘Not many people understand our job, though we are also teaching too,’
—Mrs. Phuong, teacher
Special education is for children with physical or developmental challenges who need to be taught in different ways from others. Unique instruction is required to help them achieve their highest potential and go beyond their limitations. Special education teachers are the ones who do that.
A chance to come
Trường Giáo dục chuyên biệt 15/5 is one of the places in Ho Chi Minh City teaching special education. It is nestled in an alley in District 11. Though the campus is not large, there are many trees, flowers and a small artificial grass area for the kids to play. The school has classes that are classified according to ages and functions. There is also a dining room and a place for nap time for those who stay all day at school. Its coziness makes this school look like home for these special students and teachers.
Passing by some classes, I suddenly stopped by the window of a room where I heard the students singing. “Cô giáo em, người xinh xinh, cô hay cười, mắt cô long lanh…” (a Vietnamese song describing the beauty of women teachers). There, Mrs. Phuong is teaching students, with intellectual disabilities, autism and Down’s syndrome. They are singing along with the lyrics written on the blackboard. They all looked happy together.
Twenty years ago, Mrs. Phuong chose to be a teacher. However, because of the the injustice in the school where she worked, she decided to leave. Soon after that, she headed for this special education school and regained her enthusiasm for teaching.
“I felt like I wanted to put all my effort into this teaching here. It is like when you were betrayed by someone you loved, when comes the next person, you would want to devote more,” she said.
Ms. Tam, a colleague, gave the reason she has chosen this occupation: “I thought it would be special because of its name, so I want to try.” At first, she was really afraid of the disabled because of their variety of disabilities. However, the more she has learned about them, the more she wants to share and help.
“As a special education teacher, you have to try double harder”
Teaching special students is not the same as the traditional classrooms. The educators have to deal with each individual’s situation. Only when they communicate enough with their students can they understand and know what they should do to help these children with special needs.
In the very first years of this education, the teachers may face a lot of difficulties. There are kids who beat tables and chairs, even chase and hit the others because they cannot control themselves. Moreover, daily activities seem to be hard for them to perform and complete. It may take up to half a year for a disabled child to know how to button his shirt. Other simple tasks like taking a shower, they also need to practice again and again. Sometimes when there is pressure around making them feel stressful, they may relieve it in class by acting out.
“As a special education teacher, you have to try double harder, even more,” stated Mrs. Phuong. “Not only just teaching the students from the very small things, you are also struggling to keep yourself not out of control.”
Love + patience = a good formula for these disabled
Despite the differences in their teaching methods (because they depend on each class), they all have these in common: love and patience. “The teachers may easily turn their backs to this job because of the frustration and not knowing how to communicate and teach these disabled kids,” said Mrs. Phuong. “But if I did that I will feel so guilty. So I have decided to try harder and harder.” They constantly improve their knowledge by reading books, researching on the Internet, and learning from each other. They have to work hard to prepare lessons in the simplest way, cut down on details and use many photos to help their students catch up. However, we cannot expect them to understand right away. The teachers need to be persistent, and patiently repeat over and over again so their students can remember and perform well.
Simple happinesses
When asked, “Are there any happy moments which you love the most?” Mrs. Phuong immediately smiled and told her story. One day, she was sad and her students recognized that. They came to her and asked:
“Why are you so sad, teacher?”
“I am having lots of things to think about. It is none of your business. Be quiet and go back to your seats, will you?” said Mrs. Phuong.
Surprisingly, they immediately went to turn on the computer in the class, and played a symphony.
“Teacher, are you happy now?”
“Hey, how do you know this piece of music?”
“I know that people will not be sad anymore when listen to this music,” one of them answered.
“I’d never believe that, I am so happy. That was like a payback for this tough occupation,” Mrs. Phuong remembered.
As a young teacher, who has just has been here for five years, Ms. Tam also shared: The first year she had a boy with autism, and he just did nothing during class. She tried many different ways to communicate but they did not work. One day, she heard from his mouth: “Miss Tam.”
“My God at that time I was so surprised, like I just received something very precious, more than money, very precious!” her eyes could not hide her happiness.
Those special education teachers are definitely extraordinary. Their love and patience are so admirable. However, there are some people who judge and look down on them just because their job involves the disabled (abnormal individuals). Though not many people realize how hard they have tried, they still seem to happy with what they have done to help their kids develop in the best way.
